Disclaimer: Once again I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Two

After wolfing down the pizza to the crust, Gaz tossed the crust to the puppy before unpausing her game and sinking back into it once more. Piggy instantly finished off the scrap and looked at her once again, tail wagging, hoping for another. In the past few weeks he had grown noticeably; a crust no longer satisfied him.

Gaz screwed up her face. That selfish dog. First he was perfectly happy sitting next to her, contented with what she gave him; now he was getting more and more ungrateful. "You thought you were getting ALL the pizza! Well you know what Piggy, you're NOT. You're just NOT!"

His tail wagging, Piggy lifted his ears and cocked his head as if trying to figure out how soon the pizza Gaz had just mentioned would appear.

Having finished washing the dishes, Dib now came into the living room. "Did you feed the puppy, Gaz?"

"Yes I fed the puppy!" Gaz repeated in a mocking singsong. Not only her father, but now Dib was nagging her to feed the puppy too... every single day! Everything always got done anyway somehow, so why did they always make such a big deal out of it, she thought resentfully.

Dib now knew Gaz wouldn't object to his taking Piggy outdoors. He had barely pursed his lips to whistle before the puppy had leapt from the couch and was bounding toward him.

By this point, Dib made sure to leave by the back door. Once in the kitchen, he made sure Piggy had a full dinner and refilled Piggy's water dish as he waited for the dog to finish eating. The daily tasks that came with owning a puppy had already become too much trouble for Gaz; so much for Gaz taking care of the indoor chores. Once again Dib was taking up the slack for her like older siblings everywhere, as once again all the responsibility for doing every single thing in the house was ending up on his seven year old shoulders. He was now adding the indoor dog-related chores to his original outdoor ones.

But Dib resented none of the additional work. Not only did this allow him to spend more time with Piggy, Dib could tell that the puppy actually appreciated his efforts. Once more Piggy looked up from the empty dog dish and licked his lips, and the satisfaction in his eyes was thanks enough for Dib. Once he finished drinking, Piggy finally walked over to have the rope slipped over his collar before before they slipped out the back door.

Dark now closed in a little earlier with each passing evening, and it was growing noticeably cooler. The leaves, now lying in lifeless piles along the ground, added to the general feeling of chill and gloom. Their walks had lengthened to take in the entire block, two blocks if Gaz was in one of her viler moods. As the boy strode along the sidewalk, peering around carefully for any sign of anything out of the ordinary, the puppy trotted briskly by his side, his ears flipping up and down, head turning from side to side as he took in the sights, sounds and smells of the neighborhood.

Dib smiled whenever he recalled the evening when he KNEW he'd definitely seen something fluttering from a neighbor's front porch. So positive was he that he'd finally seen an actual ghost, he'd nearly fallen over his own feet in his excitement. Stopped by the sudden pull on the leash, and picking up the boy's agitation, Piggy looked around but could see nothing unusual let alone dangerous. He turned his head around to take the rope in his teeth and pull on it, in his impatience shaking his head as if saying no, and Dib realized he was just looking at an early Hallowe'en decoration.

By the time he turned the final corner to return home, Dib invariably felt genuinely happy. Only now did Dib realize just how lonely he had been, now that he finally had a companion that did something other than tell him to shut up.

- - - - - - -

Having brought Piggy back to her at last, Gaz patted the couch to order the puppy to jump up next to her. Dib couldn't just sit there keeping his mouth shut until she wanted him to fetch something. Easy though that is, Dib's still too stupid to do even that much. But the puppy'd keep quiet. While Gaz might ignore the puppy for the most part, she still wanted him there.

Piggy looked at Dib, sighed, and walked over to the couch, then jumped up and sat down, his eyes fixed on Gaz in case she wanted him to do anything. Gaz never patted him or held him for very long these days. Piggy sighed, following Dib upstairs with his eyes. Whatever he did up there, it was more fun than this.

- - - - - - - -

The girl didn't notice the room was empty as she focused every atom of her attention on the fake world behind a screen no larger than her own face. On the couch next to her a puppy abruptly dropped down on his elbows, a dog's charming invitation to play... to chase and run and wrestle and explore, to play a game with somebody other than herself for once! When she didn't move, he yipped. Still no reaction... other than the darkening of an already sour face. He then did a clumsy dance up and down the couch, reaching out his paws in her direction, inviting her to play with him...

But not much could compete with a video game for the girl's attention. "Quit bugging me."

Only three words... but those three words were filled with menace even a dog could sense. The puppy stopped dancing and slowly sat down, then finally lay down and lowered his head to his front paws. He sighed and lay still, moving nothing more than his eyes.

The girl played on, surrounded by the silence of the empty living room.

- - - - - - - -

Piggy started at the sudden sound, thinking Gaz had spoken to him. She hadn't. The sound again! Piggy jerked his head back up and faced the door, ears alert, trembling...

Something big was coming up the walk... coming straight for the house! Before Gaz could grab him, Piggy leaped off the couch and sprang to the door, making as much noise as if the Boogeyman himself was opening the door and barging right in.

"Shut up!" barked Gaz. "I said shut up!"

When the doorbell rang Piggy got louder than ever. Dib ran to answer the door before things really got ugly, and found nobody more dangerous than a delivery man from his father's favorite scientific supply house. "Quiet, Piggy, it's okay! He's good."

"Does Professor Membrane live here?" asked the delivery man, reading the name from the label without even looking at Dib.

"Yes... I mean no. I mean, he lives here but he's not right home now," said Dib. The delivery man didn't realize just how good a question he'd just asked.

Both Piggy and Gaz continued to bark, so that both Dib and the delivery man had to shout to be heard over the din. "I have to hand this right to Professor Membrane."

"He's at work right now... but he does live here." Dib reached out his hand.

"Well, I have to hand deliver this to Professor Membrane."

"I'm his son! He lives here, I tell you!" Dib managed to catch a glimpse of the address label. It was their home address, all right; usually the Professor had the really important stuff delivered to his work address and had the bill sent to his home address. Dib could picture his father receiving the bill at work, briefly wondering what he'd ordered this time before setting the bill aside and immediately forgetting about it.

"Where is he? I need to hand deliver this." The delivery man was sounding like a broken record.

Dib picked through the odds and ends on the table next to the door until he found an old envelope with his father's work address on it, which he handed to the delivery guy and soothed the puppy. "Piggy! Be quiet! It's okay!" Piggy uttered a final warning as Dib closed the door.

"Both of you shut up!" Gaz was now barking, still playing her game without having made one move toward answering the door herself. This time she didn't pat the couch to summon Piggy. "Is that dumb dog going to bother me like that every time somebody comes to the door?"

"Piggy didn't know why he was here," Dib explained. "Dogs watch for danger and protect us; that's what they do."

"Get... this... through... your... head... there WAS no danger, stupid!" Gaz growled.

"We know that, but Piggy doesn't."

"Just make that dumb dog shut up... before I doom you both!"

"Shhh, Piggy, shhh." Dib stroked the puppy's head as they both stared out the window after the departing delivery man. The dog had wanted to protect them. Actual danger or no actual danger, you'd think such an urge would be appreciated at least a little, wouldn't you?

End of Chapter Two

(A/N) Before anyone starts wondering, yes, that last sentence refers to Dib himself as well.