Rejection Chapter Five

DISCLAIMER: All characters except Libby belong to the genius that is Jhonen Vasquez.



Dib ran along the sidewalk as fast as he possibly could. He had seen the smoke and heard the scream. As he turned down a familiar street, it soon became evident where the fire was.

"Waaahh! Big-head boy! Save meee!"

A frantic and screaming GIR ran out of the burning base and grabbed onto Dib's leg with an unbreakable grip. Dib tripped, and fell to the ground, GIR still crying and clinging to him.

"Get off!"

Then, a scream rang out. Turning, Dib saw that the neighboring house had also caught fire. Libby's house. And she was in trouble, based on her screams. Dib ran towards the house, and kicking the door open, raced inside and up the stairs. GIR was screaming more than ever now, the flames all around making him panic. He refused to let go of Dib's leg, and he tripped him. They both fell down the stairs, crashing through part of the drywall at the bottom. Dib fell first, and hit his head against the support beam hard. GIR landed on him, let go, and ran out the door screaming.

"Someone help..." The statement started as a shout and Libby's voice faded to a whisper. A soft thud revealed she had passed out, most likely from the combined influence of panic and smoke inhalation. Dib dragged himself to his feet and ran up the stairs into Libby's room. She was slumped against the wall near the open window, flames moving dangerously close to her. Dib ran over, and lifted her up. Walking towards the stairs, he felt extremely light headed.

"Libby...I tried....don't say I...."

He collapsed in the hallway, still holding Libby.







Dib awoke on the couch in the Membranes' living room. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see his home, and not somewhere else.

"Gaz? Dad? Anyone?"

There was no response.

"Hello? Am I alive?"

Once again, there was no response. Dib sat up slowly, realizing that there was no way he was still alive. Yet, here he was, in his house..

"Shut up, Dib. I'm playing my game."

Okay, maybe he was alive.

"Gaz, how did I get here?"

"Some emergency guys came, said they were taking you to the hospital. They made me lose my game, so they decided to leave you here, after I was through with them."

Dib chose to ignore that, knowing all to well what she meant.

"What happened to Libby?"

"Who?"

"You know! Red hair, blue eyes, accent, trenchcoat."

"They didn't say anything about her. Now shut up so I can win my game."

Dib jumped off the couch, and looked at himself. He was perfectly fine, aside from rips in his trenchcoat and his head hurting horribly. But there was blood on his hands, and based on his lack of cuts, scrapes, or wounds, it wasn't his. Scrambling to the door, he threw it open, ran out, and promptly crashed into someone else.

"L-Libby! But how-"

"Escaped from the hospital."

"The hospital?"

He showed her his bloodstained hands, and as he began to speak again, Libby interrupted.

"They said you'd tried to rescue me," she said. Rolling up the sleeve of her trenchcoat, she motioned to a large, bloody gash. "Slipped, cut it on something when I collapsed from smoke inhalation. Exactly what is beyond me. But, there's something rather odd that I must show you. Come on."

Dib followed Libby down several streets. He was pretty sure they were lost when they came down the street she lived on, but from the other side of where he normally turned onto it.

"Look," Libby said, pointing towards her house and Zim's base. Both looked as if nothing happened.

"What the.....But how? Both areas burned down!"

She shook her head, and then looked at Dib.

"The fire started from some stuff in Zim's base, and he decided to cover the whole thing up by rebuilding both houses. He tried hypnotizing the neighbors, but I doubt that worked. I never thought an alien would be that stupid, and it's a disappointment after waiting so many years."

Dib smiled, meeting Libby's eyes, and she sort of withdrew, realizing she'd said too much.

"I ought to, uh, leave," she said, and began walking off. Dib followed her silently for about ten minutes before she turned around and noticed him.

"Still here?" she asked, unintentionally sounding mean.

"Yeah. It's a shame that I exist, huh?"

Libby kicked at a pebble on the ground, unresponsive. Dib had followed her rather far into the forest behind her house, and it was dark now. The moon and stars shone with an almost unnatural light, making their appearances ghostlike.

"I've believed in the paranormal since I was little. They told me I was crazy, it got worse after my parents got divorced and my father started working for some science place. I moved here, no one likes me," she rambled, staring off into space. "I don't like them; I haven't cared about anyone since I was three. I tried to kill myself at least five times."

She stopped talking for a moment. Her sleeves were still rolled up, and she traced a long scar down her wrist with her finger.

"Dib?"

"Yeah?" "Why do you care?"

"Because. You're a lot like me, Libby."

She didn't respond. Instead, she continued drawing her fingers down the length of the scar, almost hypnotically.

"I don't like myself much."