~~~

Part 5 - Animosity

Dib had remained blissfully unaware of the romantics of the couple in his living room the night before. He had fallen asleep at about one in the morning while listening to his sister and Zim as they continued to play video games in the room below, completely bored at the lack of any really interesting interaction between them. He had woken up again, briefly, at four, to the sound of his sister's door closing across the hall.

He had stared at the ceiling for a bit, wondering why, exactly, he was on the floor instead of in his bed. Then he realized. After a mild stint of swearing under his breath about how completely un-investigator like it was of him to fall asleep in the middle of his observations of his sister and Zim, he moved away from his spying-vent and crawled into bed. He fell back asleep assuming that sister was fine, as he had just heard her go into her room, and assuming that Zim had done something reasonably human and had gone home for the night.

He assumed wrong. Dib was met with a surprise when he walked into the kitchen that morning. Zim sat at his kitchen table, blithely nibbling on a piece of toast and reading the newspaper. Across from him sat his father, reading a different section of the newspaper.

His father looked up at him as he entered the room. "Hello son!" His father greeted him cheerily. "Did you know that your foreign friend spent the night over?"

Dib's eyes narrowed at Zim. "No." He replied, his voice cold and sharp. Once again he thought to himself about how foolish it had been of him to fall asleep the night before. 'If Zim spent the night HERE, then did anything *happen* between him and my sister?' He thought, suddenly paranoid.

Zim answered his question for him. "I stayed on your couch Dib, no need to get all worked up," the alien said, without even looking up from his paper.

Dib grunted and padded on bare feet across the room to the counter. He watched the alien out of the corner of his eye as he placed two pieces of bread in the toaster. He couldn't help but to notice that Zim looked really comfortable, sitting there at HIS table.

"I'm off to work then!" His father said suddenly. "Have a good day at skool son. Zim."

"Yup. Thanks Dad. You too." Dib nodded absently as his father left the room, his gaze completely focused on Zim. He was about to open his mouth to interrogate the alien when his father's voice drifted from the hall. "Good morning Gaz," His father's voice said. Dib shut his mouth, cursing very softly under his breath.

A grunt was the only response Dib's father received. A second or so later a rather bed-headed and tired looking Gaz in a housecoat appeared at the entrance of the kitchen. She took one look at the occupants of the room... her brother with his back stiff against the counter and a look that could kill on his face, and Zim at the table casually pretending to read the paper and pretending to sip liquid out of a mug of coffee... and smirked. Her day just got a heck of a lot better.

"Good morning," She chirped... her smirk growing decidedly evil. She flounced across the kitchen floor, stopped at Zim, leaned down and gave the alien a quick kiss on the cheek.

Both her brother and the alien reeled. Dib made an odd strangled sound and turned back towards the toaster.

"Whatwasthatfor??" Zim gasped, startled and caught completely unaware. He fell backwards and attempted to bat her away with both of his clawed hands. As he did so the coffee he wasn't drinking but holding anyway sloshed out of his cup and fell on his shirt. The alien screamed as the scalding liquid began to eat through his cloths and smoke as it began to burn into his skin. He leapt to his feet. He continued to scream as he dashed over to the front door and ran from the house.

He was gone in a matter of seconds. Gaz and her brother both watched him go.

"Opps." Gaz muttered. "I didn't mean to do that." Then she shrugged and went to get her breakfast.

"Why DID you do that?!" Dib shot at her as his toast popped up. He violently wrenched it out of the toaster.

Gaz stared at her brother for a moment. "Because I felt like it?" She replied as she brushed by him. She placed her own bread in the toaster and clicked it down.

Dib glared at her as she went. "What did you two do last night?" He asked quickly.

Gaz shrugged. "Nothing much," She replied casually.

"Then why did you kiss him just now?" Dib asked again.

Gaz' eyes narrowed. This was starting to become annoying. "I told you DIB," She said. "Because I FELT like it." She shrugged again. "It's not like I haven't done it before." She added, insinuatingly.

Dib's mouth fell open. "You're... kidding." He returned in that dry voice of his.

Gaz shrugged again and studied the toaster. "Am I?" She returned. There was just the barest hint of challenge in her voice.

For the longest time Dib just stared at her, then she watched out of the corner of her eye as the most interesting change came over his face. It went from shock, to anger, to absolute rage. She could see that he was practically seething as he buttered his toast with quick rasping strokes.

"He's. An. Alien. Gaz." He finally grated out. He made a wide flailing gesture with his butter knife. "For all you know he could... you know, reproduce by laying EGGS in your stomach. Or something." He looked disgusted as he said this.

Gaz looked down and patted her stomach. "That would be... interesting." She said as seriously as she could, completely enjoying her brother's discomfort.

"What?" Dib's jaw dropped again. He glowered. "Don't you CARE?!" He finally exploded. Putting down his knife, he stepped forwards and grasped his little sister by her shoulder, shaking her. "What is WRONG with you?" He shouted at her.

For a moment Gaz looked shocked that her brother had dared to touch her AND yell in her face, then she glowered and violently wrenched her shoulder out of his grasp.

Dib let his hand fall to his side. "I don't want to you to spend any more time with him." He said in a much more calm voice. His eyes pleaded with Gaz to understand why he was asking this of her.

She didn't understand. Eyes narrowing, Gaz reached out and grasped Dib's butter knife, thrusting it in his face. Dib stepped away, startled. "Fuck OFF Dib, you have no right telling me what to do with my life." She snapped. She slammed the knife back down on the counter and turned away, visibly upset. "Touch me again and die." She added, forcing her voice steady. Even so her voice cracked a bit on the last word, and she winced. 'Exactly when did I loose control of this situation?' she thought to herself wildly. 'Damn, I can't believe he...'

Dib was silent for a long time. Gaz listened as he finally moved to gather up his toast and quietly walked upstairs.

A couple of seconds later she heard his door slam.

Gaz ate her breakfast alone. When it came time to go to skool Dib still hadn't come out of his room. Not that Gaz particularly cared. She called up a grumpy "I'm going now!" and left without him, being sure to slam the front door behind her as she went.

Dib still hadn't appeared at lunch hour. Though she didn't show it, Gaz was just a touch worried as she sat down next to Zim. And pissed off, there was no doubt about that. But no matter how badly her and her brother had ever fought before Dib had never missed skool over it.

Zim, who was usually nervous at lunch hour, usually because horrible things happened to him then more than anywhere else; (something to do with the readily availableness of foods that could seriously hurt him,) looked relieved as Gaz came and sat down next to him. His look of relief slowly turned to one of concern as he inspected the girl. Gaz didn't instantly haul out a gaming system or a book like she usually did, but instead sat and moodily picked at her food.

Zim desperately went through his rather pitiful knowledge of human emotions and feelings. He wondered what was upsetting her. Was it because he left abruptly at breakfast that morning, and did not acknowledge her affection appropriately? Was it because Dib had been upset this morning when he found Zim at his house still? Was it something he did last night? Did it have something to do with her brother not being here right now, which he had just noticed?

He thought for a long moment as Gaz continued to pick at her food grumpily. After a moment he decided to opt for the easiest, most obvious approach.

Zim cautiously poked Gaz in the shoulder with a gloved finger. "Where is your brother?" He asked when the girl looked up at him.

Gaz shook her head slightly and looked down again. "At home," she muttered. She poked at her peas violently for a moment, then looked up again. "We had a fight." She said finally.

Zim looked at her.

"It was about you." Gaz continued, returning her attention to her food.

Zim searched his brain for an appropriate response. 'I am honoured? I am sorry? I am an ex-member of the Irken Elite and I'm going to... what? What do I say?' His mind came up dreadfully short. His mouth opened and shut again, with no other sound emerging beyond a rather foolish "... Oh."

Gaz looked up at him. She studied him silently for a long moment, then threw her head back and laughed.

The sound sent chills up Zim's spine-- only because ever since Tak had come to the planet over four years previous he had come to associate female laughter with bad and terrible things. It was partly why Gaz' laughter had set him on edge the night before. After a moment however, he cautiously cracked a smile. When Gaz continued to chuckle, he threw back his head and laughed as well.

Gaz stopped laughing nearly instantly, Zim did too, his eyes widening. Gaz frowned a bit as she looked the alien up and down. Then she sighed and went back to her food.

"What is it?" Zim questioned nervously. "Why did you stop laughing?"

Gaz shrugged. "Because I'm not really happy," She mumbled. There was a significant pause. "And neither are you." She added as she looked at him out of the side of her face.

Zim blinked. Then he put down his fork. "Of course I'm happy." He said. Suddenly he leapt up on the table, ignoring Gaz' embarrassed hiss to sit back down, threw his arms wide and announced. "I am HAPPY!"

Silence descended upon the cafeteria. Gaz put her head in her hands. Zim sat down proudly, enjoying the random calls of "way to go man" and "good on ya" and "pothead" from the half-stunned occupants of the cafeteria.

"I wish you hadn't done that." Gaz muttered from behind her hands when Zim re-took his seat.

"I thought you didn't care what people thought about you," Zim returned at her, confused at her embarrassed reaction to his behavior.

Gaz looked up from her hands. "You're right," She replied. "I don't." With that she returned her attention to her food, picking up her fork and stabbing violently at her peas.

"It not like the Dib-human to miss skool," Zim noted after a moment.

Gaz shook her head in agreement. A pea went flying. Gaz watched it go, then continued the brutal stabbing.

"Do you think he's okay?" Zim asked.

Gaz shrugged. "Eh."

Zim tried again, finding this trying to communicate with relative unresponsiveness vaguely frustrating, but refusing to give up so easily. After all he was ZIM... and all that. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Gaz shrugged again.

Zim let out a little huff of frustration. Then -- "Would you please stop stabbing at your peas like that?" the alien asked. "It's giving me the creeps."

Gaz stopped and looked up at him, surprised. She didn't say anything though. Zim looked at her silently, wondering what he should say next if she wasn't going to say anything. He went though his possibilities for a moment, then realized. She mentioned that she had had a fight with her brother. Her brother wasn't here right now, and she would be walking home alone. Ever since he had come to the earth, Gaz ALWAYS walked to and from skool with Dib. He wondered if it would make her happy if he walked with her home instead, seeing as there was no one else to do it.

He figured that there wasn't MUCH harm in asking. "Would you like me to walk with you home after skool today?" He asked very cautiously.

Gaz blinked at him, looking very baffled for a moment. Then she smiled and got to her feet. "That was really unselfish of you Zim," She offered. "Maybe you aren't such a lost cause after all." She added kindly as she picked up her tray. With that she turned and walked away towards the exit.

Zim was so busy trying to interpret Gaz's comment that it took him a couple of moments to register that she was leaving... without having answered his question. "... Wait!" the alien called out after her, flailing his arms about in confusion. "Was that a yes or a no?"

~~~

Dib didn't know what to do. He had spent the entire day at home, avoiding the holo-dad and pacing around the house. His brilliant mind worked a mile a minute, going after possibility after possibility. He found that the more he thought about what to do about Zim, the more upset he got. And frustrated. By two in the afternoon he was about ready to pull his hair out.

He considered calling the members of the Swollen Eyeball and telling them when his classes were and telling them how to identify Zim. It would be by far the easiest way to get rid of the alien. He could do it in an instant. But that was also why he hadn't used that option before and refused to use it to this day. Zim was HIS to take out... his alien. He wanted to capture him! Except, until now, he actually hadn't wanted to do that. Not really. Over the years he had found the alien fascinating. He enjoyed their battles of wits, found it intellectually stimulating to chase the alien and break into his base, only to be captured and kicked back out again. And he knew that Zim enjoyed his constant interference as well... at least until recently.

He had come to the conclusion that this recent development was all just part of the game to the alien. Even if the alien appeared confused at Gaz' overly friendly overtures, he couldn't help but to think that it was related to the alien's real intention. His real goal must have been to steal Gaz from him by befriending her. Who knows what he would do to her, who knows what vile purpose he had in mind for the girl. He shuddered, remembering the kiss at the kitchen table that morning. He also remembered the various animals he had seen in suspended animation around Zim's lab the one or two times he had actually been able to break deep enough into the underground base to reach those labs. Heck, he had been placed in suspended animation often enough the one or two times when Zim had captured him after he had broken into his lair. He shivered. He had been lucky enough to escape, but he didn't want to think of his sister in that kind of situation.

He also didn't want his sister to just disappear, especially if he wasn't sure if he could get her back again. Despite stubbornness and occasional bitchiness on her behalf, she was just about the only friend he had. She WAS the only confidant he had. She was also the only one besides him that knew that Zim was an alien. It was just that she didn't care.

Well she should. Gritting his teeth, Dib returned to pacing. Everytime his mind went over the possibilities of what to do about Zim, they always returned to the same conclusion. He had to take the alien out. And when he did, he would find out what that nasty Irken had done to his sister. And then he'd reverse it somehow.

But how would capture his alien...?

And then it occurred to him. He didn't need to wait until Zim was back in the safety of his base. He would prepare... and lay in wait...

~~~

"Thank you." Gaz said once they had reached her front porch. She turned back around to look at Zim where he stood behind her.

Zim cocked his head to the side. "For what?" He asked, genuine confusion on his face.

Gaz raised an eyebrow. "For walking me home?" She returned.

"Oh." Zim suddenly thrust his fist in the air. "It was nothing for ZI--" He paused as Gaz suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth. "Mmph?" He asked behind the hand.

"The response you use is 'You're Welcome'," Gaz explained, sounding slightly exasperated as she often did recently while explaining things to Zim. Then she removed her hand. Leaning down she gave the alien a kiss on the cheek. Zim wondered vaguely what he should do when it took her a while to pull away, and finally opted on running a somewhat affectionate claw through her short purple hair.

She was smiling again, he noted, as she finally did so. He liked it when she smiled. Usually humans were harmless when they smiled... well except for Dib, who had a rather evil look about him when he smiled at him...

A flash and a very distant rumbling sound of thunder interrupted his thoughts. Gaz gave the sky a slightly nervous look, taking in the darkening clouds that had grown more and more menacing as they walked home from the skool. "You'd better hurry back to your base," she said finally, turning back to Zim and pushing him away from her gently. "It might rain."

Zim nodded dumbly.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Gaz asked from the doorway.

Zim nodded dumbly again and watched as she walked into her house. Then he turned and slowly walked away.

Gaz thought dark thoughts to herself as she closed the door behind her and hung up her coat. She didn't know what she was thinking. Zim was still an alien, no matter how she felt for him. And she didn't even know *how* she felt for him exactly. She was confused. She liked him but... was she right to even think about hitting on him? It was obvious the alien didn't understand. He barely put up with it, and it scared him, if this morning and last night were any indication.

Not only that she was treading on very dangerous ground where her brother was concerned. Her brother's response to her interest in Zim had weighed heavy in her mind all day. He still didn't know that Zim was absolutely no threat to her or the planet... and she couldn't tell him about what Zim had told her... it wasn't her right to say. But she could TELL that Zim was different just by the way he acted. He acted like he actually wanted to be a part of the human race... not destroy it. Dib was refusing to see that, as the stupid way he prattled about Zim laying eggs in her stomach obviously indicated. The fact that he hadn't come to skool that day had bothered her too. She was torn between feeling concerned and continuing to be upset at the fact that he had had the gall to try to tell her what to do with her interests at breakfast that morning.

"Hello?" She questioned into darkened house as she hung up her jacket. She moved out of the foyer....

... And didn't get any further. A sudden movement to her left told her that Dib was in the living room, and a sudden sharp pain welling up from her arm told her that he had struck her with something. Startled she looked down at her arm, just in time to see Dib remove a needle from it.

"What...?" She began, outraged. She tried to turn, to hit her brother, or do something, but her muscles seized up. She couldn't move. Her view on the world started to tilt as she fell forwards. Strong arms came up to catch her, before she could hit the floor. And then she knew no more.

"I'm sorry sis," Dib muttered as he carried the unconscious girl over to the couch. "You're going to have to kill me for this... later." Carefully he laid her down on it. Even though he knew the sedative he had given her was relatively short lived and completely harmless, he quickly checked her pulse anyway to make sure she was okay. She was fine, and her heart beat strong and steady under his fingertips. He nodded once to himself, satisfied, and shouldered his pack. He had preciously little time... he had an alien to catch before he got very far away...