By animeninjaNIPPON
Hello all. I'm still alive, I've just been busy with schoolwork and publishing. But I was convinced to do this by Darky for LJ community dadrwhores. Notice this is a one-shot, though - I don't have time to start another chapter story yet. (And I will finish the ones I started, eventually, when the muses return.) This story is DADR - that stands for Dwicky and Dib romance. (Mr. Dwicky is the counselor from "Vindicated!") That means SLASH - you have been warned...
Those who follow my work know that I'm no stranger to strange pairings, especially when it comes to IZ. Those who follow my work also know that I don't own Invader Zim and that I'm not Jhonen Vasquez (so I can't keep the cast perfectly in-character all the time).
"Closer...Closer..."
Dib focused his camera in to catch Gir's metallic legs, but that was all he managed to get. If he tried to sit up from the bush he was hiding in he would be seen, but from where he was crouching it was hard to get a good photograph of the amazing Irken whatchamacalit that the little robot was holding. And that whatchamacalit was possibly the proof Dib needed to show the world that Zim was an alien.
The bush was beginning to irritate Dib all over his body, and after five minutes of suffering he couldn't take it anymore. "AAH-CHOOOO!"
"EEEK!" Gir screamed. He dropped the whatchamacalit, which promptly exploded into nothingness as it hit the ground, and ran in the opposite direction of which he came.
"NO!" Dib jumped out of the bush to examine the smoking ground. Out of nowhere, a giant robotic hand grabbed him by his trench coat and lifted him a foot off the ground.
"YOU!" came the unmistakible voice of Zim, and the little alien came into Dib's view shortly after. "Filthy HUMAN! Prepare to be DOOMED like you've never been DOOMED before!" He brandished a remote control. "Now, FEEL THE WRATH of the amazing ZIIIM!"
With that, he pushed a button on the remote, releasing Dib to the ground.
"Hey, thanks Zim." Dib picked himself up off the ground and walked away, whistling the "Mysterious Mysteries" theme song.
Zim clenched his fist so hard that he broke the remote. "Sleep TONIGHT, Dib-worm," he called after the human, "for soon I will DESTROY you! ZIM will DESTROY your pathetic worm-baby BODY!"
-----
That night, Dib couldn't sleep. He was too busy thinking of ways to prove Zim's extraterrestrial existence...all of his attempts had failed so far. How hard could it be to expose a cosmically inept alien?
But perhaps the true problem rested not with Zim's seemingly evasive nature, but with the humans who chose not to notice him. Gaz wasn't interested - she just wanted to be left alone with her video games. Ms. Bitters wasn't interested...in much of anything. Professor Membrane was too busy to notice, plus his theories on what "real" science was didn't give him a reason to want to notice. No one had ever believed poor Dib...
...Wait. A long time ago - or maybe last week, who knows? - there was someone who believed him. That skool counselor guy...Dwicky. He was even going to help Dib capture Zim. But then he went away with those aliens he and Dib accidentally summoned to Earth and was never heard from again.
Dib closed his eyes. There was always tomorrow...
-----
The alarm went off at 7:46 - Dib was late for skool. Gaz had already left on the skool bus, and Dib was forced to walk - or rather, run.
He bounded through the double doors as if running for his life, not wanting to be late for class again. As he raced down the corridor, he smacked into someone and fell back on his butt with a loud thud. His backpack went flying into oblivion.
"Sorry - " Dib began, standing up in a hurry, then froze, staring up in shock.
"Hello, Dib." The man before him, bearing shaggy black hair and a goatee, spoke rather calmly for someone who was dripping with morning coffee. "Do you remember me?"
"Mr. Dwicky?" Dib blinked. "I thought you were traveling with the Plookesians."
"I was." Dwicky took some photographs out of an unseen pocket and showed them to Dib. "We had so much fun!" He gave a brief commentary on each photo - one showing himself and the aliens in Hawaiian shirts, one with him sitting in a spacecraft, one of just the Plookesians... "...But then they took me back to Earth."
"Wow..." The younger of the two was awestruck. He gazed at the photos in disbelief, slightly jealous, but also impressed.
Suddenly, the bell rang. Realizing that he was now even later than before, Dib grabbed his backpack from its random landing spot and ran toward Ms. Bitters' class. "'Bye!" he called to Dwicky as he disappeared down the hall.
-----
"Sorry I'm late," Dib gasped as he entered the classroom.
Ms. Bitters was not amused. "What is it this time, Dib? Did Bigfoot reset your alarm clock?"
"No, but - " Dib caught sight of Zim sitting smugly at his desk. "ZIM!" The dark-haired boy directed a menacing finger toward his sworn enemy. "You snuck into my room and reset my alarm clock, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Dib-stink," Zim replied.
"Why would anybody want to sneak into your room and change your alarm?" Zita asked.
"Yeah," the letter M piped up.
"Because he swore revenge on me yesterday when I stopped him from experimenting on me!" Dib responded.
"LIAR!" Zim stood up on his desk and pointed at Dib's rather large head. "STOP with your LIES!"
"Sit down, Zim," Ms. Bitters ordered. Zim sat down slowly. Dib hissed something negative to Zim as he walked to his own seat.
-----
Dib was relieved when skool finally let out. At lunch he learned that Gaz took the batteries out of Dib's clock to supply her GS2, and it had stopped working until sunrise supplied energy to its solar power backup. He and his sister began their journey home just before Dib felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around.
It was Dwicky. "Dib, can I see you in my office for a moment?"
"Uh, sure." Dwicky began walking, and Dib followed suit. "Don't wait up for me, Gaz," he continued, not realizing that Gaz was already long gone.
When they arrived in Dwicky's office, the older man motioned for Dib to sit, which he did. "You still believe that Zim's an alien?"
"Of course he's an alien!" Dib retorted. "Why don't people see it? I mean, he's green! And he doesn't eat! And he calls us humans 'Earth-monkeys'!"
"Well, I had a college friend with a sister like that," Dwicky reminisced, stroking his goatee, "but still, I believe you."
"Sure you do." Dib was skeptical of the guy. Had he really believed Dib before, or did he think Dib was crazy like everyone else did? Of course, either way, that time they spent together trying to exploit Zim was one of Dib's fondest memories...
"But I have proof."
That phrase got Dib's attention.
"The Plookesians ran into this group of renegade aliens called 'the Resisty,' and they said that the Irken Empire had threatened to conquer them."
"Zim's an Irken!" Dib exclaimed.
"Yes...the Resisty described the Irkens, and Zim fit the description. They'd never heard of an Invader called 'Zim,' though."
"I can't believe it..."
"Amazing, isn't it?" Dwicky leaned in closer to Dib. "So, what are you doing later?"
"Oh, spying on Zim..."
"I thought so. Let me go with you - think of how much information TWO MINDS can collect!"
Dib's face lit up. "Sure! I'll be there at six!"
-----
All he needed to do was grab his paranormal investigator's kit and (for some reason) run a hand through his tall, black spikes before heading out the front door. He was at Zim's house in less than fifteen minutes, and Dwicky was already there.
"Did you see anything yet?" Dib asked.
Dwicky shook his head. "He left, saying something about Earth-meats."
"OK, now what?"
"I think he went to Krazy Taco - should we follow him?"
"Yeah."
"All right, let's go."
They walked down the street, side-by-side, in the general direction of the taco stand. On the way, they conversed about their experiences since they had last gotten together outside of skool - Dwicky spoke more about his time on other planets, and Dib talked about the stupid things Zim had done.
"You know, it's interesting..." Dwicky began, then trailed off.
"What is?" Dib asked, then caught sight of the Krazy Taco - and Zim (in his human disguise) talking to the guy behind the register. "There he is!" He grabbed Dwicky's hand and pulled him into a nearby alley to avoid being seen.
"Now what are we doing?"
"Shh. He's probably got some plan to taint the town's taco supply or something. We'll wait here, and when he walks back this way, we'll ambush him!" Suddenly realizing he was still holding Dwicky's hand, he let go with a blush in his cheeks.
"Uh, OK." Dwicky sat down on the cold filthy ground, and Dib sat next to him, closest to the alley's entrance, casting a peripheral glance in hopes that Zim would come walking down the sidewalk any minute.
The two sat in absolute silence for a few minutes. Dwicky spent most of those minutes staring up at the starry sky and the POOP cola billboard on the roof of the next building, but then his gaze turned to the eccentric child beside him. Dib's large eyes were brighter in the moonlight, and his jet-black hair was shinier. Dwicky focused on Dib's features, thinking back to when he first met the kid...how his eyes sparkled when he thought that someone actually believed him when he said "Zim's an alien," even though at the time Dwicky was only humoring him until Dib revealed his "real problem." Of course, all that changed when the Plookesians came...
"You know, it's interesting."
"Huh?" Dib turned his head to face Dwicky.
Dwicky smiled nervously. "I actually stopped believing in aliens a long time ago. But because I met you, I also met those Plookesians. So because of you, I believe in things again."
"Really?" Dib's eyes widened in childlike innocence.
"Mm-hmm." Dwicky subconsciously leaned in closer to Dib.
It was Dib's turn to flash a nervous grin. "But you're the only one who believes me."
"Better to have one person believe you than no one."
Dib's eyes fell half-lidded. "Thanks."
"Sure thing." He gently placed a hand on Dib's leg, hoping that the heat of the moment would be strong enough that the boy wouldn't freak out.
It wasn't just yet... "Mr. Dwicky...what are you doing?"
"You're amazing." Dwicky's eyes were half closed as well, and by now the two were so close that their lips were on the verge of contact. Finally, shutting his eyes, Dib completed that contact.
Dib's heart was racing and his hands wer shaking as he ran them through his former counselor's hair. His first kiss - albeit from a man at least twice his age - could it be for real? And Dwicky was enjoying it, too...he brought his hand up from Dib's leg to rest it against Dib's cheek as they pleasantly exchanged affection and saliva.
As they kissed, Zim paced down the sidewalk ahead of Gir, who was happily bouncing along with a huge box of tacos. The alien duo paid no attention to anything or anyone around them and soon disappeared down the street.
Dib and his new "partner" failed to ambush Zim. But there was always tomorrow...
Fin