***

"There's someone in my head but it's not me." - Pink Floyd "Brain Damage"

***

Never could she imagine it would hurt this much.

Nia pulled herself up the ravine wall. Every now and again she would open her mouth and let out a silent scream of agony. Logically she shouldn't have been moving; the wound was still too tender. Forcing what strength remaining in her, she managed to scale the wall that had been impossible for her quarry to climb. Being Irken helped, she gave an inward chuckle. Removing her gloves, she tracked out her claws and used them as grappling hooks. By the time she managed to reach the top and flop belly up to the sky, her muscles were screaming. Nia gave herself a moment to pant heavily, to recover from her ordeal.

"Goddamn it," she muttered, her voice croaking from disuse. She turned over on her hands and knees and forced her agony-ridden body to its feet. Woozily she looked down from whence she came. Yep, the human was still there, blissfully asleep. Watching him now, she felt confused and angry. What happened between them couldn't be explained by any of her training as a soldier. He had shot her with that primitive but very effective weapon, left her basically to drown in her own blood, traded insults with her and then - inexplicably - helped her. Not only helped her but stayed with her during much of the course of the night.

And I let him, she made a face and turned away. Ugh. Humans disgusted her to no end and when she'd been ordered to capture this one alive, it only added to her revulsion. Given the perfect chance to eliminate Dib, the single walking danger to the success of Earth's conquest, and that miserable Zim wanted him alive. He was better off dead than alive, she remembered arguing. Besides that, what he was ordering her to do wasn't what she was trained for.

"Are you arguing with Zim?" the male Irken flared from his perch above her in his massive orbiting space station, his magenta colored eyes fierce with hypertension. "Are you QUESTIONING me?!"

Nia calmly took the floodgate of hostility. Zim was always doing that, screaming and over-exercising the power the Tallest had given him. She had grown used to it by now - as she had to most everything.

"No," she replied super-deadly quietly. Thinking, she amended. "Actually yes." He frowned. "What you want me to do doesn't make any sense."

Zim steepled his fingers beneath his chin, his internal struggle to keep his cool under serious onslaught. "Explain."

Explain. I have to explain everything to him. Nia fought to keep from groaning. "This human Dib is better dead than alive. His existence has done nothing but delayed things for the Empire. With him out of the way, morale among humans would drop and we'd be able to finally have this planet within our grasp!" She made a fist to emphasize her point.

Zim growled. "I don't care for your pessimism, soldier. You will do as you are told: capture the Dib-human and bring him to me." Pause. "Don't injure him either, humans are delicate creatures." Evil smile. "As you have already seen."

Nia nodded curtly. "Yes sir." She wiggled her antenna and left his chamber, a dark anger clouding her features.

Now thanks to his foolishness, here she was limping around in . . . in this Nevada place. One of their best strongholds was destroyed (thanks to this very human) and to top it off there was a few inches of lead stuck in her squeegily spooch. Again thanks to this Dib-human.

What was so special about him? She thought picking her way up a rocky hill. Hopefully when she got to the top she'd be able to get a better look around to see where she was. If she could get back to the stronghold, she could get to her Voot in its secret underground chamber.

Leaving him hadn't been her first choice. However she wasn't in any condition to capture him - and he was far taller and stronger than she was. Reluctantly she gave it up for what it was: a bad job. It would be hell explaining it to that miserable superior of hers. Not that she cared.

Finally seeing this Dib creature hadn't impressed her. Appearance-wise he was unremarkable for a human, just a typical male of his species. His finely tuned instincts and reflexes, she admitted, were amazing for such a naturally clumsy creature. If her blood-soaked uniform had anything to say for itself, she couldn't doubt his skill with a weapon. For all his stupidity he was possibly the smartest earth-monkey she'd had the poor luck to run into.

Although she hated to admit it, his odd compassion for her in light of what he had done put her out of sorts. What am I supposed to do with this? she thought. Zim told me he was a sneaky, cocky, cruel human - he didn't say anything about THIS.

Nia decided to leave the issue alone. Humans were too complex to figure out. They possessed odd viewpoints and traits considered weaknesses by Irkens. His not killing her had been his mistake. Nia grinned to herself without compunction. He's going to be sorry he let me live.

Reaching the top of the hill, Nia scanned the terrain. Ugh, what a mess. Dead humans and Irkens everywhere. You couldn't tell the dissenting apart from the loyal Irkens. Green blood mixed with red on the loose desert soil.

The Tallest would be angry, she thought. This many dead was a throwback to the invasion. There was a good chance she was the only survivor.

"Stupid humans," she muttered lifting her gaze further. Ah, yes. There it was the remains of the stronghold. With a little more than ten minutes, she could get there and get off this filthy planet.

Before sliding down hill, she spared one last look at the ravine. She felt a deep sense of frustration. Dammit. Just dammit. She had never ever failed in any of her missions before. He would pay for sparing her life.

Oh how he would pay.

***

"WHAT?!"

Gaz colored a little. "I thought it would be best to tell you before we got there."

Dib slapped himself on the forehead. God didn't spare me, he just delayed things. Forcing his feelings back, he hung his head. "Excellent."

"Whatcha guys talkin' bout?" Their Irken pilot called from the front over the loud din of the copter. "We're almost there by the way!"

"Nothing," Dib called back. "Good," he added.

Gaz moved over to sit beside him. "How bad is your leg?"

"Just a flesh wound. Nothing seriously damaging." He sensed the urgency behind her words. "Why?"

Gaz folded her arms. "Something major is happening. The Empire's sending its armada in."

"Yeah?" Dib said vaguely. "So? They've done it like ten thousand times."

"It's more than that, Dib," Gaz told him. "They're actually attacking from the air. No more orbital attacks."

Dib's lower jaw dropped. "Shit. You mean they're gonna do that Independence Day thing?"

"Uh-huh." She didn't look thrilled. "Not the worst part either."

Dib sighed and put a hand to his ear. "Don't tell me there's more good news." He clenched his teeth together and punched the side of the chopper. "Goddamn it."

Gaz went ahead. "Dib, this concerns you personally."

He paid attention.

His sister looked torn. "Zim . . . he knows where you are. He knows you're stationed in Groom Lake."

Dib paled. "Th-That's impossible. Everyone - we all agreed . . ." He groaned. "Nothing is sacred anymore. Not even hiding places." A kind of haunted glaze came over his eyes. "I'll have to leave. If I stay there, he'll level the place. I . . . We can't let that happen again."

Gaz nodded.

Her brother's shoulders sagged. "I'm so fucking sick of this."

She said nothing.

He raised his eyes, his face fierce and unreadable at the same time. "Maybe I should just give myself up."

Gaz's mouth opened and she shook her head. "No. You can't, Dib. He wins if you do that." She laid her hand on his arm. "You're probably one of the last chances we have at beating this assholes. If you give yourself up to the Empire, it's like telling them they win." She paused and anxiously continued when he didn't answer. "Dib?"

Her brother suddenly looked at her. There was something about him that she had never seen before. A weariness. A sense of defeat. "Gaz, I love you," he said simply.

She held up a hand and tried to play it off. "Whoa, Dib, you don't have to gross me out anymore. Just looking at you is enough to do the job."

It worked. He burst out laughing and inadvertently smacked on the injury. He shouted an obscenity. Gaz snickered and gave his shoulder a squeeze before going up front to sit with Skoodge. In truth his admission had frightened her. If Dib was starting to say things like that, things that were usually left unsaid, he was thinking about doing something drastic. It worked in cycles like this between them. It seemed like every single time Dib went out to fight, he would come to her before they left and muttered a confession of having wronged her in some way. Long she'd forgiven him his transgressions and told him so. He never believed her.

This latest one scared her most of all. The last time he told her he loved her was after she'd been released from the Empire - near death as a result from what the Irkens (Zim specifically) had done to her. She been unconscious but aware of sound and she remembered him crying at her bedside (the last time she ever heard him cry) and begging her to live. When she woke later, she never told him she knew he did that nor did he bring it up, figuring since she didn't mention it, she didn't remember it. But she remembered it.

When she slid in beside Skoodge, the alien cheerfully looked up and grinned. "How's he?"

"Middling. Kind of out of it, if you know what I mean."

He nodded. "Yup. I sure do." Pause. "No, I don't."

Gaz laughed and gave the former little invader a poke. She liked Skoodge a lot; he was cute in a puppy dog kind of way. His innocence reminded her of Gir, Zim's recently late SIR unit (the little bot was destroyed quite by accident by Zim himself). Putting on a helmet, she took back her position as co-pilot. "So what have we got here?"

Skoodge tapped the radar screen. "No Irken blips for the next thirty miles. Think it's safe to say we're gonna make it back." He appeared proud of himself.

"Great." Gaz smiled at him awkwardly. She was not used to being friendly. "Thanks for doing this, Skoodge."

"Hey," the alien replied breezily, "no problem. I understand the importance of the Dib-human to your victory."

Not the reason why I rescued him but like Irkens understand the ties between blood relatives! The woman's hand moved the joystick and helped Skoodge get over a mountain peak. "Do you think Earth will win in the end?"

"Of course!" Skoodge gave her a look that decried the absurdity of her statement. "Your people are capable of changing tactics at the last minute and to ad-lib according to the conditions as they change. Irkens don't do as well with that." He shrugged. "Take the last battle as an example."

I'm glad he's so optimistic. Gaz nodded. "I guess you're right."

In the back, Dib listened to their conversation. He felt Skoodge was wrong and the melancholic answer his sister gave told him her sentiments echoed his. Both he and Gaz felt all this fighting would end up in futility. In the end the enemy would stomp them all out of existence. Irk always won in the end. If it came to that, he and Gaz made a deadly pact to make sure they wouldn't have to suffer that kind of humiliation. He desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that. He wanted to see the end of this. Earth HAD to win.

Dib shut his eyes and cleared his mind. He wondered where that Invader Nia had gone to. Crawled off to die in peace? Some animals did that when they were dying. Or had she recovered enough to get away? If so, then why hadn't she taken his gun and forced him to go with her if her mission had been to capture him? Irkens were kind of dense, he could bet it probably hadn't crossed her mind. Thank God.

Killing her would have been better. He'd done it all the time to Irkens in battle, why had it been so difficult to shoot her? Maybe it was because she was unarmed. Cold blood wasn't Dib's thing. So helpless and bloody she'd looked lying on the ground. Despite her hateful tone and foul manner, her dark eyes had been so frightened. Unlike most of the other defiant alien soldiers, who died with the determination still shining in their eyes, Nia's eyes had been . . . faraway. Removed from where she was, like she wasn't really THERE.

Dib shook his head of the thought. No, it wasn't that at all. He'd seen what he wanted to see, what he wished he could see. It would be better to forget about the incident.

Besides, he thought with a certain amount of annoyance, I have other problems to deal with.

***

Being the boss, Zim reflected, was hard.

A lot of Irkens would think the Tallest and other high ranking soldiers led the good life cruising on privilege's good will. Not true, as this short little green alien found out. It was easier being the recipient of orders rather the giver of them because the giver of orders had to . . . I dunno, make up some pretty intelligent orders.

I am running on empty, as those inferior humans like to say.

Zim sat back in his chair - truthfully it seemed like he hardly left it these days anymore. He could barely leave the room either - the computer was always beeping with some communication from someone or other. Fervently he wished everything would just shut down for a couple of minutes. Just a few minutes of silence.

"I can't," he grumbled letting his skinny arms flop over the arms of the chair. "I have to sit here and scream orders like some crazy thing!" He didn't have the energy for a fit so he just added a sigh in. "I want to be out there, I want to be the one going after . . . after him! I hate wagging my tongue, expecting others to do what Zim should be doing! IS THERE NO JUSTICE?!"

The PA interrupted his tirade. "Invader Nia is here to see you, sir."

"Perfect. Send her in." He hit a button. "This better be good," he muttered swiveling around to face the chamber door.

Invader Nia entered, looking as haughty and conniving as she'd been when she'd left. Zim was first to admit he was rather fond of this Irken - her sharp mind and cool manner were qualities that reminded him of himself at his best. But her smoldering aversion towards him all too well reminded him of someone else. Someone else she'd been sent to retrieve.

He eyed her suspiciously, a bit put off at her apparent listlessness and the large fresh bandage around her midsection. The color in her face wasn't very good and one of her legs kind of dragged. Scooting to the edge of his seat, he trembled inwardly with anticipation.

Invader Nia put both hands behind her back. Her antenna rose once and lowered. The body language told Zim all he needed.

He roared. "WHY CAN'T I FIND COMPETENT SOLDIERS AROUND HERE?!" Softly he added in a barely contained rage, "What happened?"

Nia squinted an eye at him. "He shot me."

"So?"

The female frowned at him. "I was in the process of dying, Zim."

Zim clenched his teeth together. "Address me properly before you decide to open your noise hole."

"I was in the process of dying, Zim, sir," she repeated sarcastically. Dumbass, he could practically hear her think. He almost went blind with anger at the implication.

"Tell me EXACTLY why you failed. Why you could not do this one simple thing I have sent a thousand others to do."

Nia approached him, encroaching personal and professional boundaries as a result. "I failed, sir, because you have us chase this worm with the assumption he has not changed in the last ten years. He is GOOD, sir, very good." Nia spoke through her teeth, which wasn't a good thing in females. If human men thought human women were bitches, they needed a wake-up call. She made an angry gesture to accentuate. "He managed to avoid me during the entire battle. Hadn't he been such an amazingly good shot, I would have gotten him. His size and strength also give him twice the advantage."

Zim curled his claws into the armrests. "What do you mean?"

Nia growled. "He's no longer in the human definition 'a child.' He has become a full grown member of his species. Unless you come to understand that he does NOT have the mentality of an Irken at that age, you will NEVER capture him."

Zim didn't like this indictment one bit and considered terminating Nia on the spot for pure spite. "You're saying . . . I must treat him as of one of superior intelligence. That he is as amazing as . . . as Zim." He spat.

Nia gave him a Look saying this was something that ought to have occurred to him a long time ago. "Read whatever you want into what I'm telling you, sir. I only know what I saw when I met him." She turned to go the defiant little thing not even bothering to be dismissed yet.

Zim got up and reached out to her. "WAIT!"

Nia stopped and came back.

He got nervous. "Um . . ." Zim stopped, rehearsed what he wanted to ask and then went on. "What did he look like?"

"Huh?"

Reword. "The last time I saw him was when he was barely a worm five years ago."

Nia waited a moment, trying to maneuver around the odd inquest. "He's very tall. Doesn't wear those 'glasses' and he doesn't dress in black, as you described. Frankly he resembles a typical earth adult male." Shrug. "Nothing special, if you ask me."

"Oh." He waved her off. She marched out in obvious relief. When she was gone, he hopped over to his terminal. "Computer?"

"Yes?"

"Activate camera five on the orbiting satellite. I want to see where Groom Lake is located."

Pause. "Camera five unavailable."

"What? How is that possible?" Zim was perplexed.

"It blew up."

"How?"

"The humans sent a missile up and it exploded."

"Oh." Zim scratched his head and fished for solutions. "Ohhhkaaaay, how about camera

six?"

Beep. A screen winked on. It had a dead center shot of the United States. Pressing a few commands and coordinates, the screen zoomed in on Nevada and then kept doubling in until Groom Lake filled the picture. Zim tilted his head to the side, observing the military compound. Nice little set up the humans had there . . . too bad it was going to be a smoking ruin soon. He grinned nastily.

A helicopter appeared after a few minutes. "Ooh, what's going on?" Zim murmured to himself. He hit another switch and it focused so closely on the base, the camera could have been right there on the runway.

It circled and landed. Humans and Irken traitors who were working outside ran up to the helicopter and waited it out as it landed with a lot of noise and wind gusts from its rapidly rotating whirligig-thing. Primitive though human technology was, the copter was a cool display of raw power.

The first being to dismount the machine was someone Zim recognized. His mouth dropped. Skoodge?! He didn't even know the alien had betrayed the Empire! Well, at least he knew where he'd been all these past few months. One mystery solved at least.

The next was Gaz. Zim's mouth dropped, having not seen her since she was a short eighteen-year-old worm-baby. Now she was taller and everything about her screamed the realities of human maturity. He could bet her unusually sharp human mind had improved too. Zim still kicked himself for letting her go when he did. Squirmy humans.

She started walking away from the chopper, seemed to hear something behind her and came back to it. Reaching in, she helped someone jump out. He half-collapsed on her, making her stumble. Putting his arm over her shoulder, she called to a few humans standing nearby who came and aided her. Curiously Zim zoomed in further on this human and gasped.

Invader Nia hadn't been kidding.

"Dib." He said his enemy's name with same amount of relish he always did. He grinned evilly.

***

Later after receiving proper medical treatment, Dib was walking around Area 51 like he hadn't a care in the world. Everyone was immensely relieved to see him alive, humans gave him hugs and handshakes while rebel aliens either smiled at him or saluted in the manner of their race. He reported to his general everything that had happened (except for the part about helping the alien he'd shot) until there was no more to say. What else could be said? The stronghold was destroyed, objective completed. Then of course there was the issue of Dib's next place to hide. He left the debriefing room with the expectation his next move would be told to him later in the day.

Dib sat on the bench in his co-ed locker room, staring into his open locker. It wasn't personalized like the other ones around him: he almost never stayed long enough in one place to express his individuality.

"Hi Dib."

Dib moved his gaze without moving any other part of him. He cursed inwardly. "Hello Ned." Just the person he didn't want to talk to. Bad enough the man stole his ex-wife's heart, he had the nerve to be ever so friendly to her ex-husband. But he understood Ned's position, being that he was one of Gaz's friends. Part of the package deal, Dib guessed. Crap.

Ned opened his locker. The man was in uniform, looking about as professional as a lab technician had to be. The man worked under Professor Membrane - a fact that continually pissed Dib off. Would this nightmare never end? Insomuch did he mind the man, given the guy was perfectly civil and so gosh-darned stand-up. Brown hair, blue eyes, to die for smile only women aspired to. Likable in all other regards. Except one.

"Glad to see you back," Ned continued in his chatty way. "I just arrived here yesterday with Michelle so I don't have all the details. I aim to get em all by the end of the day."

"You do that."

Oblivious to Dib's obvious contempt, he merrily went on his way. Dib stood up after a minute and started putting some personals into duffel. No telling how soon he would have to leave, it was good to be prepared. He went over to the sink and started the painful, irritating business of removing his contact lenses.

"Excuse me, have you seen Ned?" came a soft, shy female voice.

Dib froze. Shit. Blearily he stood over the sink, blinking hard as his eyes watered in aggravation. The lenses were out but what a job. Wiping them with the back of his sleeve, he put his glasses on and turned reluctantly to face her.

There she was. A tallish woman with dark blue eyes, strawberry blond hair and enough make-up to kill a supermodel. Since she was a civilian, she was wearing blue slacks and a black turtleneck sweater.

Dib gave her a wary reply. "Yes, he just left." He moved passed her and to his locker. He gave an inner groan when she chose to follow. No, no, spare me please.

Michelle stood behind him and crossed her arms. Dib stopped what he was doing and turned around to face her. They were so close in height, they almost met eye-for-an-eye. "What is it?" he asked impatiently. "He's not here."

She glared at him. "Dib, we need to talk."

He slammed his locker shut with more force than was necessary. "There's nothing to say." He eyed her. "Unless there's somehow ANOTHER paper I have to sign. You already have every stick of furniture, every asset imaginable to mankind in your pocket. I can't fathom there was something I forgot."

Michelle narrowed her eyes. "It's not about that. All the paperwork is in order. That's NOT what I want to talk to you about."

Dib shouldered his bag. "Then what? What could you possibly have to say to me now?"

"I was thinking . . . maybe . . ." Michelle shrugged. "We could patch things up. Make peace."

He gave an angry laugh and started walking away. "I know what your version of making peace is. Yell and more yelling."

Michelle tagged along behind him. "Hey, I don't start the yelling. You're the one that starts with all the yelling. Don't dump it all on me!"

He halted and faced her like she was his worst enemy. In a way, she kind of was. "I wouldn't talk, Mic. Your accusatory tangents sound just as mean when you say them softly as when they're yelled at the top of your lungs."

Michelle's mouth opened and closed. He had her there. She moved on to something else: her frustration. "I can't believe I married you."

Dib got in her face for a second. "Same here."

Michelle made a fed up sound. So did Dib and he kept on heading out. Michelle glowered and stood at the entrance and shouted after him as he walked down the hall. An Irken had the misfortune of being there to witness.

"I hate you!"

"The feeling is mutual!" he replied and disappeared around a corner.

Michelle shot death rays with her eyes after him before noticing the Irken's huge eyes staring at her.

"Please don't tell me it's like that," he mewled.

"It's not," she muttered going in the opposite direction. "It's worse."

She didn't know it, but in about a few more hours, these words would come back to her.

***