"Duct tape…it fixes everything…even broken hearts."


Closer
(Day 4 till Dib's Arrival)

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Stressed
Skoodge groaned as he glared at the murder scene. He had seen the way Irkens killed, and this way was not one of them. None of this made any sense to him. He couldn't figure out what killed Mark. Skoodge scratched his head and jumped off the now clean table. Mark's remains were now being taken to the morgue, which was only a building away.

"No sense," Skoodge mumbled.

"What was that?" Sara calmly questioned.

"Nothing," Skoodge assured as he watched her kneel to the floor. He groaned and sighed before he went back to looking for anything that could help him.

Sara sighed as she ran her fingers along the dug up cement. A perfect straight line was the cut upon the floor. Her pale yellow eyes narrowed in confusion when she caught sight of other lines like this. Sara quickly stood up and turned to Skoodge.

"Skoodge, I need your legs," Sara quickly said.

He raised an antenna in confusion and she sighed.

"You're metal legs," Sara corrected.

"Why?" Skoodge questioned as the legs extended and lifted him up.

"Are all the mechanical legs the same?" Sara questioned as she lined up his legs with the scratches on the floor.

"No, only the military, invaders, and Tallest have these legs…and some scientists."

"Is there anyway to distinguish between the legs," Sara pried with as she studied where his legs met the scratches.

"Yeah…military and invaders have a thicker type of metal that serves as more of an advantage for height, travel, and combat; scientists have a lightweight metal that serves any purpose besides defense, and the Tallest have a thinner slicing metal in their legs," Skoodge continued.

"This is cut cleanly," Sara pointed out.

"You think it was an Irken." Skoodge assumed more then asked.

"Yeah…"

"There's only Zim and I," Skoodge reminded.

"I know it wasn't you!" Sara snapped.

Skoodge's antennae stood up straight and he watched as she tensed. He could see the area around her eyes slightly going red. Skoodge's legs retracted and he fell to the floor. He walked over to her and took her hand. She was still kneeling and they were about eye level.

"You trust me?" Skoodge questioned.

Sara remained silent and looked away from him. Skoodge squeezed her hand and her eyes went back to him. He smiled at her and she closed her eyes.

"It's okay…to trust someone…I trust you," Skoodge admitted as he looked away.

"You shouldn't trust me…I'm a horrible person," Sara grumbled.

"You're not horrible…I've seen horrible and you're far from it," Skoodge softly assured as he watched her eyes slightly open. "It's like you humans say…'stop selling yourself short.'" Skoodge said as he smiled.

"I do trust you Skoodge…more then I like to admit," Sara replied as she lowered her head and lightly brushed her cloth-covered lips across his forehead.

Skoodge looked up at her in confusion and could see the sparkle in her eyes. She was happy and he was happy.


One more step…just a breath away. His blood raced through his veins as he watched her. Hips swaying left to right, breasts gently bobbing as watched her. His crimson eyes narrowed as she gently lowered onto her knees and leaned forward. He quietly pushed off his seat stalked across the room. Each step caused him to quiver as he drew closer to her. His skin twitched as he felt something stir within his form. His heart pounded in his chest begging to escape. He froze and he carefully pulled off the black gloves that covered his claws. The material gently hit the floor and he continued to stalk her.

"Zim?" Gaz questioned as she dug around the cabinets.

Red froze within Zim's shell and mentally growled. He stood up to his full height and cracked his fingers.

"What?" Red snapped at her.

"Crank ass," Gaz grumbled as he raised an antenna in question.

"What do you want?" Red carefully asked as he kept any anger from his voice.

"I want to know if you think this looks good," Gaz replied as she wiggled her rear.

Red felt his antennae twitch as she struggled to reach the back of the cabinet. He bit his lip and quickly moved behind the counter so he blocked his view of her. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the shell he inhabitant. His PAK couldn't stop the hormones that had already overtaken Zim's shell. He was forced to deal with it head on. Red couldn't understand the emotions he felt, they disturbed and intrigued him. Until he hurt her, he figured he would play around with these feelings. There were so many things that he could explore freely.

"I want to know if you think the control to deactivate the barrier will be safe here," Gaz grumbled as she appeared in front of him.

He opened his eyes and tried to jump away from her. His back hit the table and he groaned in pain. Red grimaced and noticed that her eyes lit up with humor. She reached up and patted him on the cheek. His hand quickly came up and grasped her hand. They stood there and he pulled her closer to his form. The height from her body caused the shell to go crazy. Gaz rose up and gently pressed her lips to his mouth. Red's crimson eyes bulged as she moved her mouth against his tense form. Red could feel his mind slowly slip away as he pressed his mouth against hers. Gaz pulled back and her teeth gently nipped at his lip.

"You're not paying attention," Gaz teased as she completely moved off of him.

"Getting bored?" Red questioned as he glared at her.

"Never…I'm just anxious," Gaz assured.

"For what?" Red questioned.

"I can't wait to get Red back," Gaz darkly answered as Red found himself chuckling.

"I'm sure he can't wait to get you back," Red replied with an ironic grin.

"This time, we'll be ready," Gaz firmly assured.

"Gaz," Skoodge's voice came from the communicator.

Gaz sighed and pulled the communicator to her mouth. Red watched her as she pushed a button and gave a casual "yeah."

"We were cleaning the labs and found some interesting things," Skoodge warily assured.

"Talk to me," Gaz urged.

"I want you to come down here and take a look," Skoodge cautiously replied.

"Zim and I will be there," Gaz answered in confusion.

"No, you only need to see this," Skoodge quickly said.

"Okay," Gaz drawled as she cut off communication.

"It sounds important," Red calmly said.

Gaz nodded and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she left the room. Red watched and softly chuckled once she was gone.


Gaz pushed open the door the medical bay and raised an eyebrow in question. Sara was kneeling on the floor and pointing something out to Skoodge. Gaz let the door softly shut and they looked up to her.

"What's important?" Gaz questioned.

"Look at these," Sara said as she pointed to the marks in the cement.

Gaz stepped closer and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sara stood up and backed away from the marks. Gaz kneeled and ran her hands along the perfectly cut lines.

"Irken," Gaz mumbled to herself.

"There's been no attacks since the one that Red appeared in," Skoodge assured her.

'But it's Irken,' Gaz thought as she felt her mind reel.

"Be careful who you trust," Sara softly warned.

Gaz quickly stood up and glared at Sara. Her amber eyes sparked with anger as she met the girl's eyes. The shadows on the floor began to twitch.

"Are you accusing Zim?" Gaz challenged.

"No…but you said it first," Sara mocked with a grin.

"Zim wouldn't do that…he's wouldn't betray us…betray me," Gaz firmly declared as she felt herself dither.

"What if he isn't Zim," Skoodge pointed out as she turned her amber gaze to Skoodge.

"Why wouldn't he be Zim?" Gaz questioned back.

"Did anything happen to his PAK?" Skoodge seriously questioned.

Gaz tensed and watched as the scene replayed in her head. She could see Zim's PAK flying off…getting mixed up with Red's.

'But he hasn't acted weird,' Gaz reasoned.

"Did anything happen?" Sara asked in concern.

"No." Gaz coldly said before she left the room.


"Cool…we're entering the big swirl thing!"

"It's the Milky Way Galaxy," Tak's annoyed voice pointed out.

"I think we should activate the barriers," Dib suggested.

"Activate the barriers!" Lard Nar shouted.

"Activating barriers!" Shloonktapooxis shouted as he repeatedly pressed a button.

Dib sighed and dropped his face into his hands. He had a feeling that there was going to be trouble. His scythe like hair popped back into place as he stood back up to watch the aliens. He wondered why all aliens appeared to be smaller. His brown gaze landed on Tak and he smirked.

"Let's attack the Massive again!" Spleenk shouted.

"NO!" Tak shouted as he cowered.

Dib glanced over at the green alien and sighed. He wondered why Lard Nar even considered half of Spleenk's ideas. The alien had wanted to fly close to a black hole on their way to Earth. Dib could see Tak beginning to twitch. The barriers sparked into place and everything flashed blue before they went invisible.

"Woo! That was cool! Let's do it again!" Shloonktapooxis cheered.

"I need an aspirin," Tak grumbled as Dib chuckled.

"Once this is over we won't really have to spend time with them," Dib assured with a smile.

"That's if I survive this," Tak mumbled back.

Dib cautiously walked over to her and draped an arm around her shoulder. Tak tensed before she relaxed into his comforting hug. It had been like this for the past year, spending time with her, getting to know her again, and not having to worry about the earth being destroyed. Tak began to hum and Dib raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why that song?" Dib grumbled.

"Because I played it so much that it's stuck in her head…like some sort of mind tunneling worm," Klavier happily pointed out as he wiggled his fingers for emphasize.

"I like that song," Lard Nar sighed.

"See my music's famous!" Klavier cheered.

"Just because one person likes it doesn't make it famous," Dib growled as Tak began to smirk.

"Hey! Let's play it over the sound system!" Spleenk declared.

"Do it," Lard Nar agreed.

Dib groaned as the music came on. It sounded like a bad rendition of Beethoven. Tak began to laugh as Spleenk began to sing.


Author's Note:

It seems like it's been awhile since I updated...hm...anyways, updates might be a bit slower and I have good reasons!
1.) I am traumatized from a road rage incident (Yay Trauma!)
2.) I am currently being tested for Lupus and Fibromyalgia
3.) There really is no three...but I'm really stressed

Please leave a review and I'll try and update soon