A/n yeah! 9 reviews! Mostly I was just expecting one or two, but this is great. I hope you guys enjoy my story, because I have worked hard on it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim. If I did, I would never have let it get canceled…but I will have it someday when I become the evil dictator ruler of the world (and the moon) but for now, I can only dream…

Now on with the story!

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Chapter 3: "So what?"

Zim drew for many hours into the night. He was determined to show Gaz a work that was worthy for her to see….

Zim blinked. Why did he care what the earth female thought? He was the almighty Zim! As an Irken invader, he needed no one but himself, his honour, and his SIR unit. He was solitary, and he didn't need some human to make him feel special…

Zim's television crackled and the symbol of Irk flashed on screen. Zim stumbled to the screen and the Tallests appeared, looking annoyed and exhausted. Zim deeply bowed before them.

"My Tallests, I expect you have received my few hundred reports on this planet of dirt?" Inquired Zim rather excitedly. The Tallests looked at each other and started to laugh insanely. Zim peered into the screen, somewhat confused. Were they laughing…at him?

"Oh Irk, Zim, not only have we received your reports, we also destroyed them to help cook our rice-a-roni! Like we ever wanted to take over Earth!" Laughed Tallest Purple. Tallest Red stared at Zim curiously.

"Wow! You sure got tall idiot! What have you been doing to yourself?" Yelled Tallest Red as he looked at Zim from head to toe. This caught Purple's attention and he looked at Zim with a twinge of jealousy.

"Ah! Zim, you are almost as tall as your almighty Tallests! That is a sign of rebellion! Irkens are supposed to stay almost as small as they were smeets!" Raged Purple as he grinned maliciously. Finally, a way to get Zim banished from Irk once and for all…

Zim looked down at himself and fell to his knees. "Please, my Tallests, I did not know what happened to me! Many years on this planet must have made me adapt to the human growing changes! I'm not rebelling!" Begged Zim as the Tallests continued to laugh.

"Well Zim, it's about time we got a reason to keep you away from the Massive! Now and forever Zim, you are hereby banished from Irk! We catch you trying to land on Irk or contact Irk any other way; we shall make sure your destruction is eminent." Said Tallest Purple. "You suck!" Yelled Red before the screen blacked out. Zim stared at the T.V., stunned. He fell to the floor, in a fetal position. He stared at the wall, inhaling large amounts of air…

…in an effort…

…not to cry.

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Gaz groggily pulled herself from the violet sheets of her bed. It was 6:30 a.m., and for some unexplained reason, she actually looked forward to going to school today. Gaz fiddled with the hem of her thigh-length black satin nightgown with a purple lace trim and skull embroidered on it. She shrugged and pulled on a pair of faded jeans. She preceded to lace on black ballet flats on her feet and clipped on a few Silver Star hairclips in her braided hair and pulled on a black blazer. Lastly, she put on her choker with the skull pendant.

Gaz fingered the little skull as it lay on her delicate collarbone. It's been there as long as she could remember. 'I can't even remember where I got it…" Thought Gaz as she grabbed her violet book bag, cell phone, and Game Slave 8. She hurried down the steps to find her brother, Dib, suffering the effects of a hangover. Dib drank his feelings in booze with a couple of the loser friends he managed to make over the years. Might as well have a tall glass of nada, nothing (a/n nada is a mexicano alcoholic drink that has every kind of liquor in it, thus the name, nada).

"I know….that damn Zim is up to…something…" Slurred words poured out of Dib's mouth as he glanced at Gaz and fell on the table, obviously trying to stay awake and go to sleep at the same time. Gaz smirked and grabbed a piece of toast and jogged out the door to walk to school.

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The day dragged on abnormally slow. Gaz hadn't seen Zim all day, and kept her ears open for the smallest 'stupid earth babies' or a rant of some sort. So far, in any of her classes, Gaz hadn't seen Zim at all, not even one hair of his obviously fake wig.

So Gaz, unfortunately, was stuck eating lunch with Dib.

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"Where were you yesterday? Gaz, I thought that crazed man who thinks he's Chickenfoot got to you! And…uhhh…why is the room still spinning?" Said Dib as he held a hand to his abnormally large head. Gaz snickered and turned back to her Game Slave 8 and vampire piggies. Her black painted fingers glided over the buttons with ease, and she reached another save point.

"Owww…" Dib moaned as he suffered from his migraine.

"If you must know, I was at Zim's house." Gaz said bluntly, not taking her squinted eyes off the screen, blasting a few piggies while she was at it.

"WHAT? Gaz, do you know how dangerous that was? Zim could have stuck you in suspended animation! He could have done so many…THINGS…to you!" Gaz ignored him. Dib glared at her. "He could have…"

"Killed you."

Gaz lost it. She grabbed Dib by the shirt and lifted him high above her head. She shook him like a rag doll, and then brought his face a mere inch from hers. Her amber orbs held anger, despair, memory, and sadness in their depths.

"He. Will. Not. Kill. Me. Nothing like that will ever happen. Quit bringing up harsh memories that don't matter." Growled Gaz as she threw Dib on the ground. Dib stared back up at her through half-lidded eyes as she stalked off, the cafeteria rumbling like an ocean as she went.

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Gaz reached her locker in a blind rage when the final bell rang. A few periods went by like a flash and she was tired like no other. People wouldn't come within 10 feet of her, cowering on the locker walls as she passed.

Running on the sidewalk to Zim's house, Gaz get snatching glances behind her in case Dib was following. She ditched him at school (more on the account that he couldn't walk straight) since he walks so slowly. She turned the corner and saw Zim's house on the end of the street. Gaz ran up to the door.

It was locked.

'No, duh.' Thought Gaz as she pounded on the door. More or so she expected a certain little robot to let her in, but there was no annoying screech of naive happiness. Sighing, Gaz pulled a safety pin from her blazer and began to pick the lock with it. After a few attempts, Gaz finally got it opened and she stepped into the dark house within.

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"Hello?"

Her voice echoed through the house in an eerie like tone. The entire house was still, silent…

…like a tomb.

Gaz shook the thought from her mind. Though she was incredibly morbid and evil, she still had her moments with the unknown fears of her soul. Shadows danced upon the walls in the low light, giving life to her long-dead nightmare.

Gaz trembled slightly. She had no time to dwell on past things. Wherever Zim was, Gaz knew that he wasn't well.

"I don't know why…" Gaz whispered to the darkness. "But I'm not going to back down."

She ran off to the trashcan secret entrance, feeling her way around until she activated it. The violet-haired girl took a deep breath, and climbed inside the pod that led to the most horrifying sight she could ever see…

…wait. Second most horrifying sight.

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Gir was shivering in the corner of the main lab located in the center of Zim's underground base. The little SIR unit shivered like a frightened child, oily tears dripping from his innocent blue eyes. He was scared, and now, Zim was the one scaring him.

Halfway across the room, Zim lay on the cold, tile ground. His breathing was shallow, and he sported black and blue bruises on his body. Never had he felt so…

…lost and alone.

"Why…" Gir's head picked up. "Why did they…banish me?" Zim croaked. "Wasn't I loyal? Wasn't I…good enough?" He groaned as he rolled over on his side and felt the cold tile sting his cheek. He could see Gir shivering in fear in the corner, obviously afraid.

Of his master.

Once the Tallests went off, Zim went into shock. He lay on the floor in a fetal position, before getting up and transporting himself to his underground labs. He forced himself to watch every recorded failure that he was rewarded with when he tried to take over the planet. Every image caused him to throw himself against the walls, the computer, and bring himself to the floor. Dented metal and broken glass now littered the area, making Zim feel even more alone.

"What the hell did you do to yourself?" A monotone voiced asked quietly.

Zim rolled over again to see a person he really didn't want to see right now, especially in his weakened state.

Gaz.

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The emotionless girl knelt by the battered body of Zim, looking down at him. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal blank amber eyes that stared into his own crimson ones. Gaz gently looped her arm around his back, and lifted him off the ground so he now sat next to her. She looked at him again, still no emotion in the depths of her eyes.

"They abandoned me."

Gaz stared at the alien boy as his lips uttered those words ever so slightly.

"So?"

Zim stared at Gaz, confused. Couldn't she see the logic of it all?

"So what?" Asked Zim depressingly, wincing ever so slightly as he turned to look at her.

The violet-haired girl regained her neutral expression, and once again her eyes were closed.

"Exactly." Replied Gaz as she helped Zim get on his feet.

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Zim and Gaz now sat in his bedroom, or what looked like one anyway. It was red and held two mutated looking bunk beds. Gir was sleeping on the top one, as he had fallen asleep through the whole Gaz and Zim experience while he was in the corner. Gaz was busily putting ice packs on various bruises on Zim's arms, while the former invader stared at the sheets of his bed.

"You're the most stupid person I've ever had the misfortune to meet." Said Gaz abruptly as she led the last ice pack on Zim's forehead. Zim looked at her, and he sniffed.

"Well, then I'm stupid. Is it really your business, Gaz-human, what pain I bring upon myself? I don't remember asking you to tend to my injuries either." Zim spat back at her. She merely glared at him and brought her face close to his. Zim's sqeedly-sqooch sped up again, and he could feel that unfamiliar warmth spread to his face. Her amber eyes were boring into his, and he could feel himself drawn into them…

She brought her face away, much to his disappointment. He didn't even know what would have happened if he got any closer, so he pushed the thought away from him.

"Tell me what happened." Gaz said bluntly as his eyes widened.

Suddenly, Zim sat up and poured out his heart and soul (a/n technically, he doesn't have a heart, but now I say he does, so there) and Gaz listened intently. He recalled every detail of the whole experience, every bit of pain, and every moment of silence…

…until a single, Irken tear dripped down the poor alien's face.

Gaz looked at him with a bit of shock on her face. A boy…no, an ex-alien invader, was going to cry in front of her. She mentally smacked herself for asking what was wrong, until she felt a heavy weight on her shoulder. She looked down and…

…Zim.

Was leaning on her shoulder.

Gaz, naturally, freaked out. Usually, the girl is supposed to cry on the guy's shoulder, not vice-versa. Only Zim wasn't crying. He was just laying there, like he was asleep or something. Gaz felt a light tinge of warm streak across her face, and decidedly started pat his back in a sense to comfort him.

"Thank you for listening to me Gaz."

Gaz froze. Zim had just called her Gaz; not dirt-child, not Gaz-human, or Dib sister.

He just called her Gaz.

'So what? It's my name. It's no big deal if he calls me properly by my name.' Thought Gaz as she continued to rub his back.

'Then why does it feel so good?'

Zim rested his forehead against Gaz's shoulder. Her scent was so overwhelming; he wanted to just lie there, not moving. Zim winced slightly as Gaz touched a light bruise on his back, and then her hands continued upward.

Her soft hands were now on the back of his head, lightly brushing the base of his antennae, causing him to purr slightly.

"What I do now?" Asked Gaz curiously as she heard the faint purr from Zim. He froze and then cleared his throat.

"I…like it when you do that." Said Zim embarrassingly as he peeled himself away from her. Zim sat facing away from her, hopefully not showing the light shade of emerald streaked across his face.

Gaz smiled mischievously, and then scooted up behind him. She gently placed her hands on his head again. He tried to turn around to snap at her, but stopped when she ran her fingers over the black antennae. His eyes fluttered closed and he began to purr again.

Gaz was surprised at the coarseness of them. They felt brittle, almost as if they would break but were about the width of her pinky finger. Her fingers slid up and down and Zim continued to purr like a cat.

"Hmmm…" Zim leant into Gaz's frame with her right behind him. "That feels good…"

Gaz blushed slightly again, then smiled shyly.

"I'm glad you think so."

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A/n whew! Another chappie down, a lot more to go! You guys know the drill, if you want more chapters, you gotta review! I won't post another chapter until I get at least 5 reviews! Bye!