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Greetings! Thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoyed my last addition to the Angst Train. I figured Miyuki having to give away a smeet that she had already made for herself was perfect fuel to keep us going!
"...The treaty was nearing its expiration. The Control Brains summoned me to canvass the situation, make sure I was ready to deliver on what Miyuki had promised and...well, you know the rest from there."
Zim tried not to shrink too low as he took in the shocked expressions of his companions. The teens sat straight in their chairs, mouths hung open and a horrified glint in their eyes. Gir seemed to be the only one who was unfazed, having lost interest somewhere in the middle of his story. It was near dark by now and the overhead light shown brightly above them. The robot now occupied himself with the shifting shadows he created against the tabletop.
Eyes shifting awkwardly, the Irken cleared his throat, "Guys?"
"You gotta be kidding me..." Dib spoke first, his voice soft with disbelief.
"Uh...?"
"You left," he paused, "for years...to be married to some war-mongering space gator...for them?! You better tell me this is some sort of sick joke because I swear-!"
"You've already made this argument." Zim interrupted.
"And I'll make it again because somehow it's worse now! They cast you out, sent you to rot on some far off planet with no intention of ever dealing with you again. You didn't owe them anything!"
"What was I supposed to do?"
The boy threw his hands up, "Oh, I dunno, Zim...maybe give them a taste of their own medicine and let them deal with their mistakes on their own?"
The alien bristled, eyes slitting in hostility, "And then what? Live with the knowledge that my people went into a war that I could have prevented? Live with the reminder that I aided in the decimation of my culture? You would do the same thing for Earth!"
With that, Dib was on his feet in an instant, his palms slamming flat on the table as he shouted, "No, I wouldn't! I would never allow myself to become some PAWN in someone else's game! This wasn't your fight and you know damn well that the only reason they bothered to get in touch with you at all was because you suddenly became of use to them!"
"Dib." Gaz said, but her brother couldn't be stopped.
He started pacing, not noticing the rising glassiness in the Irken's eyes as he continued to yell, "I mean, honestly! I thought we- you were over this! You aren't part of their system anymore, yet they still have you at their beck and call. You solidified that fact! Why is that, Zim? After all that time of learning how to deal with living on Earth, we still weren't enough? 'Oh, but they needed me, Dib!' well, what about all the times you needed them, huh? Where were they? Off screwing everything around them because they knew they had you to fix it!"
"Dib!" something closed around his wrist.
"What!" he turned blindly toward the sound, his mind a flurry.
He was met with Gaz, her hand resting firmly on his arm and her face unreadable...but he could read it. Her eyebrows were drawn together and her mouth was set in such a thin line that he almost couldn't see her dark lipstick. Her eyes told him all he needed to know, however. Though darkened by the cover of her thick bangs, they flared brightly with emotion- with warning. She shook her head slowly and the whirring in his brain finally synced. The fire in his stomach cooled to ice in sudden shame.
Deflating back into his chair, he ears picked up on something peculiar; silence. He'd expected his friend to be quietly fuming. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike, ready to use whatever sharp response he'd come up with and shut him down just as fast. Claim he'd won and force another subject into the conversation. He was so good at deflecting, at bearing his personality down in the face of adversity.
But...
The person sitting across from him did none of those things. The alien sat low and hunched, his head bowed and his eyes dull. Whatever fight that had been there to fuel his argument was long gone, faded into subtle submission as he retreated into himself. Away from the conflict. He was deathly still, one of his thin hands crushing the other as he held them in his lap. Zim didn't know where he'd stopped in his tirade- he'd stopped listening the moment Dib pushed up from his seat- lost focus when he stood over him with such intense anger. His antennae quivered from the strong vibrations the boy's yelling produced. So, he did what he'd trained himself to do so well, what his instincts practically screamed at him, and yielded. He willed himself to stay alert, his mind rattling as he refused his usual process to disconnect.
Gaz took the opportunity to take over, "Zim..." he shifted in acknowledgement, "You said before that this whole this was to prevent a war between these guys..."
He nodded.
Leaning her arms on the table, she asked, "Then what are you doing here?"
It sounded cold even to her. As though neither of them were happy to have him back with them and she knew straight away that was how he was going to take it. He couldn't exactly blame her for being so critical, he'd just gone on a whole spiel about responsibility while simultaneously looking as though he'd abandoned it...but-
"The arrangement," he spoke, a small quake in his tone, "was...compromised. Based on the conditions stated in the formal agreement, I was within my right to leave."
That seemed to satisfy her and she let out a thoughtful hum. They sat quietly after that, none of them really knowing what to follow-up with. Everything seemed so trivial in its shadow...
A series of low buzzes broke through the air and Gaz slid her cell phone out from her pocket, eyeing it lazily. Quirking her mouth, she stood up and stretched. The boys stared at her in confusion and expectation.
"That was dad," she announced, looking at her brother, "He said dinner was ready. We better hurry before Clembrane drowns it in pudding."
Dib watched her dumbly before exchanging a look with Zim. His hesitance told her he was juggling for some sort of excuse to stay, but she'd be damned if that was going to happen. They needed to talk. She didn't spare another glance at Zim, and a slightly kinder part of her felt guilty for being so ready to go. It felt wrong to leave him here by himself. Her stupid brother clearly felt the same, but their emotions were running far too high to be productive right now...she'd seen enough tonight to know that they'd only cause more damage. He needed them, that much was obvious to her, but things were different- he was different. There was something lying dormant beneath it all, something had happened and as much as it hurt her pride to admit, she didn't know how to help him. The best thing she could offer at this very moment was space, and even that was in abundance for them. They needed to get themselves in order, figure out where this was going to take them...but she was no quitter.
"You...still have the clone?" she heard Zim utter behind her.
She turned, "Of course. We're kind of stuck with him, honestly. Had to clean out the shed for him and everything. Now, come on, Dib."
After one last pitiful exchange between the boys, Dib gingerly rose from his seat. He pushed in both his and her chairs and followed her to the door. Zim was close behind, feeling out of place sitting alone at his kitchen table, and made to close the door behind them when a hand loudly struck the outside, effectively stopping it.
"Hold on," Gaz growled, "Don't think for a second that you're off the hook. You aren't getting rid of us that easy."
"Wha-"
"We're coming back tomorrow. Be here."
He regarded her for a second, trying not to seem too outwardly relieved, "I...okay."
Turning on her heel, she marched down the walkway, grabbing her brother roughly by the arm and dragging him with her. Zim smirked, closing the door against Dib's fading protests. Gir had since made himself comfortable on the couch, enamored by some sort of hyperactive children's show. At least that much was still the same. He sighed and moved to join him, sitting on the far corner and allowing the robot to crawl over and rest against his chest. The Irken took what little comfort there was in it, but couldn't shake the emptiness.
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Oh wow, this chapter was not what I was anticipating when I first started. You guys have no idea how many rewrites I did! Either way, I just thought I'd get something out for you all. Thank you for reading!
