For two days Dib drifted in and out of a sedative induced sleep. When he fully woke up at the end of the second day it was to the nasty shock of having machines pull themselves out of his flesh, internal injuries fixed. He was also firmly strapped to the table. The black haired boy took in his surroundings blearily. The last thing he remembered was getting the crap kicked out of him. Where the hell was he?

His question was answered when a black gloved hand slipped his glasses on his nose and Zim came into focus. The irken was reading the progress readout on the screen abouve Dib, completely immersed, having put the humans glasses on him unconsciously. Zim jumped when he heard the boy speak, as lost in thought as he was.

"Where am I?"

"The medical unit in my base." Dib had the feeling Zim wasn't really paying attention.

"…Can I get up now?" The Irken read the screen again.

"Not yet. Give it another half hour to finish repairing your arm. You were really fucked up when I dragged you down here." He listed injuries on his fingers. "One complex fractured arm, four cracked ribs, two broken. Not to mention the myriad of bruises."

Dib closed his eyes. He had forgotten Zim had seen that lovely part of his life. He opened them and looked around again. Distracted again it took the alien a moment to process that the human was speaking again.

"Eh?"

"I said, is this how you fixed me before?"

"Oh. Something like it. This one I designed for me, so I wasn't sure if it'd even work on you."

Dib's eyes widened, glancing at the complex technology abouve him. "You designed this?" Zim glared at him, annoyed by the implication that he was incompetent.

"Of course I did. I AM ZIM! Now if you'd just shut up…"

The irken trailed off, distracted by the screen again. What was it? He pondered, rereading the progress report again. In front of him was the result of the full body scan his computer had done on the human and it was causing some severe aggravation. The Dib monkey seemed healthy enough, if a bit dehydrated and physically strained. But that's not what was bothering Zim. There was something that wasn't matching up. He didn't know what it was. Something…something inside Dib was throwing off his readings. He stood there, contemplating, running possible ideas through his head when the earth creature interrupted once again.

"Zim. Ziiiiiim. Ziiiiiiiiiiimmmmmm."

Zim clenched his hands into fists, patience snapping. Incessant talking!

"WHAT DIB?"

"Is something wrong? You seem really…distracted."

Zim sighed in frustration and rubbed his forehead. Great. He had a headache now. He glanced at the screen for the zillionth time and decided to ignore Dib's question. "You can get up now." He touched the screen to save the data, and then had the restraints undone. After checking to see that the Dib could in fact move on his own, Zim stalked out of the room to go to his main computer. He could worry about the glitch in Dib's system later.

Dib sat up and watched Zim leave. He quickly followed. It would probably not be fun to get lost in the base. Who knew what the hell Zim had let escape over the years. As they entered together, Dib could plainly see that Zim had been working on something, evidenced by the Irken scrolling up the screen on several of the monitors. Gir sat on the floor playing with Mini Moose. He watched his nemesis slouch into his chair, typing speedily(I love that word), then checked the clock Zim had on the corner of one of the screens. It told both Irken time and Earth time.8:38 pm.

"Oh crap. It's already Friday night? How long was I out?"

The alien turned his head and looked at him, amused. "It's actually Sunday night, so about 50 hours, give or take a few."

Zim laughed at the Dib's expression of disbelief then turned back to his work. After a while he heard the stinkbeast walk over, then felt it when Dib leaned on his chair. He had the suspicion the human was trying to read over his shoulder. He sniggered. There was a reason he did everything in Irken. A few minutes passed in semi-companionable silence until Dib shifted, bored. Zim hissed when the earth monkey started to play with his antennae.

"Stop that!" He snapped.

"Stop what?"

" My antennae. Stop. They're overly sensitive to touch and it's distracting. Not to mention annoying. Don't you have something to do?" He could just hear the grin in Dib's voice when he replied,

"Nope."

Dib squeezed the tips of the antennae he held in his hand. Zim shrieked and writhed in his seat not liking the edge of pleasure that came with the pain.

"Let go! Dib, you motherfuckingpieceof…"

Needless to say, after being stuck on earth for the past seven years, Zim had picked up quite the impressive vocabulary. Dib listened, amazed, as the alien's curses degenerated into Irken. There seemed to be a lot more obscenities in Irken than English. Gir looked up from his playing, giggling.

"I don't think that one is possible, master…"

Laughing, Dib let go. He instantly regretted it when Zim swung his chair around, hitting at the knees and making him topple over. The alien got up angrily and leaned against his monitors managing to spit out through his rage, "Computer. Remove this pest."

Mechanic arms swooped from the ceiling and effectively dispelled Dib from the premises. Zim watched from his computer as Dib dusted himself off and wandered away. He sighed feeling depression settle on him once the human was out of sight. That was a little rash he supposed, and Dib did provide a convenient distraction from his work. He glared at the screen with the scrolling Irken then dejectedly turned it off. It's not like this plan was gonna work anyway. It's not like anyone cared if it did. He rested his head on the keyboard. What was the point anymore?

Dib brushed the dirt from his clothes and started to walk. Now where the hell was he supposed to go? He couldn't go home, not after Friday's incident. Fuck…then an idea hit him. Todd Casil. Squee, as everybody called him, was one of the few friends Dib had. He turned in the direction of house 779.

As Dib approached Todd's front door, he waved to a tall, thin, blue-haired man as he left the house next door.

"Hey, Nny."

The man grinned, making him seem deranged, and waved back. The sun glinted off of the knives sheathed on his wrists. Squee's front door opened then and Dib was greeted by a women wearing an apron that read "I Hate My Son". How true.

"Uh…hey, Mrs. Casil. Is Squee here?"

She looked blankly at him, the name registering after a few seconds. "TODD GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" was followed by a rush of footsteps on stairs and the appearance of a boy about 16 or so. His hair was a mess of natural spikes that only slightly obscured the wide eyes beneath.

"Oh, hey Dib. Come on up."

Squee turned and Dib followed him to his room. Todd had moved upstairs after he got sick of Nny shattering his window. The homicidal maniac actually had to use the door now. Maniacal laughter greeted them as they walked in. Pepito, the Alter Boy of Doom himself, sat on the floor melting the heads off voodoo dolls of his and Squee's classmates.

Dib woke up the next morning disoriented. Where the hell… Oh that's right. Squee's house. He hadn't gone home after Zim kicked him out. Todd and Pepito were still sleeping, curled around each other. He laughed quietly. It never stopped to amuse him that the antichrist had become Squee's terror sponge after Shmee finally fell apart. He did a double take when he glanced at the clock. 9:30 am. Monday morning. Damn. Late again for school. Dib looked himself over. He would have to go home, which he dreaded, but he really needed some clean clothes. He left a note for Squee thanking him for allowing him to spend the night. Todd and Pepito skipped enough skool, he didn't bother waking them. Why break the streak?

Dib slowly opened his front door, waiting for an ugly confrontation. He shut the door as quietly as possible and tiptoed to the stairs. He had seen his dad's car in the driveway. He was three stairs up when Professor Membrane's voice came from behind him.

"Hello, son."

Dib froze, his breathing restricted. His Dad sounded calm and almost…happy…to see him. He turned slowly to face his tormentor. Membrane waved a little.

"So, my poor crazy son, do you want to come to work with me? There's really no point in going to skool now."

Dib stepped up one stair. "Uh…thanks, Dad, but I really would like to go to skool. I have…umm…tests and stuff today."

His father moved quick, grabbing Dib's arm and pulling. Hard. Dib tumble down the few steps and landed painfully on the floor. Professor Membrane leaned over so his face was inches from his son's. The was coming from behind his Dad, so Dib could clearly see his cold and hateful eyes through the goggles. He stood, terrified. That was his Dad for you; scary in a subtle way.

"Um. Alright then." Dib's voice wavered a bit. "Just let me go change." He fled up the stairs. It was a good thing the coat's neck was so tall on his father. Dib couldn't see the sinister smile that twisted his fathers face when he looked back at the top of the stairs.

TBC