Behind The Tube Glass

By alien freak And Xmimi89eR

story may contain gore/blood/violence/strong language

rating: T

ZaDr/ZaDf


English is my second language, my apologies if there are any mistakes.

disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim.


SEARCHING PAK SIGNALS LINE...

'IRKEN ZIM HOST IS NOT FOUND.'

DELETE FOLDER?

Y/N

999999

Trust is built hard, and falls easily.

It was a few hours of working on the ship before Zim decided to fix Gir.

The little robot kept switching from the 'crazy Gir' side, to the 'SIR unit mood'. He grew tired of commanding him to do what he wants but the robot would either forget or will have no idea what his master wants, maybe even screwing everything up. A good SIR unit can help his master fix any damage in his ship or even his PAK.

"Gir, come here." He called the robot who was building small houses from the tools. He jumped and walked to his master, smiling, "yes master?"

Zim studied his broken arm and eye, he will fix these later, right now he wants his real SIR unit back.

Though he kinda liked 'Gir' better...

"I want to fix you, now lay down." He pointed at his lap. The robot did what he was told, he sat down, head open to his master.

Zim worked at him, trying his best to get the 'craziness' his robot had out of his head, it was never an easy task.

He created a device to raise the electricity the robot was having in his 'brain'. This will lead to make him stick more to the SIR unit instead of being Gir.

He rose it, gazing carefully at the other, but nothing, his robot just stared at him with a goofy smile.

Raising it higher, the robot twitched, from red eyes then back to cyan. Yes, he was getting to it, though he knew doing such a thing wasn't the best of all.

Raising it to the highest level.

Electricity ran in the robot small body, Zim swore he saw smoke coming from his head, eyes from cyan to red then back from red to cyan,

But eventually, it stopped at red.

Zim stared at the SIR unit, it didn't salute like it would always do in the past, but that was okay, for now.

The SIR unit looked and scanned the irken in front of it... something was wrong with that stare.

Zim, he was on the ground, he had a bad feeling running in his blood, it's been a long time since he saw his normal SIR unit.

The scan was complete.

The alien was about to say something when a voice caught him off guard,

"INTRUDER!" The SIR unit yelled as it pointed a gun on the other.

"Wha-?" Zim backed away but couldn't hold to stand on his feet, "i'm your master—"

The robot scanned him again.

"IRKEN ZIM HOST IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND." He charged the gun, it thought it master was probably killed, and of course its duty is to kill whoever did it, it could only see one option in front of it.

"What a- a- are you doing!?" Zim yelled and tried to avoid the aimed gun. How could it not find the host?! Him??!

Was it his PAK? Because it's broken?

The robot ran to him as he back away trying his best to stand, "GIR!" He screamed as he held the device controller, just about to turn it off, the robot shot.

Dib was in the main room, he worked a little with the alien then went to do his job and complete some tests.

He was typing some results on his laptop when a loud noise made him jump, whatever he was typing was left behind as he ran to the other room.

Gazing around, he spotted the irken where he left him, besides his ship. Right in front of him was Gir, with red eyes, holding a weapon, its end smoked slightly, a proof that it has been shot. But at what?

Or who?

The robot looked at him, the weapon of which Dib assumed was a gun, was aimed at him, he dodged the SIR unit and grabbed something heavy, more like a hummer. He ran towards him and smashed him to the wall, the robot tried getting back up but it only stopped completely, the red eyes turned to lifeless grey.

Dib panted, he threw the heavy tool to the ground, it echoed through the room, it was quiet.

He looked around, where he last saw the alien. And there he was, collapsed on the floor holding his stomach.

Dib prayed it's not what he thought.

He ran to him and sat on his knees, hands shaking around the other, "shit-!" He hissed as he saw the pink liquid that sneaked through the irken's arms.

Zim slowly looked down at the wound, he didn't feel the sharp bullet go through his other side, which was odd since these weapons could make the irken explode, literally.

If it didn't go out, that means it's still inside, in his body, in his spooch.

That could never be good-

"Dear god, you're bleeding, can you stand up??" He knew his fear led him to ask stupid questions, it was not the right time!

"I g- guess..." he said while shifting himself.

Dib sneaked his hands around the other to help him walk, they headed to the exa-room, walking while small drips of pink blood marked their way back. Zim could feel the bullet.

They got inside the chilling room, the lights turned on as they walked in.

Dib placed Zim on the table, then hurried back to get bandages and medicine.

The alien sat as he hugged tight so blood won't sneak out.

When Dib returned he got the bandages and everything in his shaky arms, he placed them on the small table beside the bed and got his tools out, one to calm the wound and the other to close it, then he'll use the bandages.

Before he start he remembered something, a gun? If that was true then...?

His hands went to Zim's shoulder to lean him down slightly, Dib looked around the other's body, around his PAK. The bullet either be too strong and would go through the irken's thin body, or it might be stuck inside, in his INSIDES.

He slowly gazed at the human, Zim looked from him to his wound, "w- what?"

It took him a minute to gather his breath, "is the bullet still inside?..."

Zim blinked, he closed his eyes and tried to feel it, immediately, a pain as if something was crawled inside his spooch told him that, yes, it WAS inside.

He hissed in pain then nodded.

The human seemed to take aback, he looked at the medicine in hand, then back at Zim, "we need to get it out, it's too dangerous to keep it in there..."

"What's that s- s- supposed to mean??" Oh, he knew what that meant... he could tell by the way the boy was looking at him.

"No way-! No no nonono!" He yelled and tried to flee but Dib grabbed his arm,

"What do you mean 'no way'?? Either this or you'll die." He argued back at him, holding tight, his gaze kept looking from the irken to the wound that bleeds heavily.

"I WON'T BE CUT TWICE!"

"So you want to fucking die??" He said trying his best to stay calm.

"NO." He struggled, but deep inside, he knew this was the only way, but how could he?

"Can you just trust me??, i'm not cutting you open, i'm just trying to get the bullet out,"

The alien shook his head while squeezing his eyes shut, "no no no no no no!"

"Lay down!" Dib ordered, pointing at the table,

But Zim kept saying 'no' while shocking his head. Dib was angry but scared at the same time, he shook the alien to get his attention, he wasn't going to be calm about this, not now, "zim!" He yelled at him, and surprisingly the irken stopped and opened his eyes, but he then shook his head again, "DON'T EVEN—"

"JUST LISTEN!" Dib yelled at him, making the alien flinch at the sudden anger, his eyes wide, he stopped, everything around them got quiet again.

Dib took a deep breath to calm himself, "listen, i'm ONLY going to get it out, i'm not playing here, and we've already wasted a lot of time," he looked at the alien's lap, it was covered in pink-sticky-blood, "and if I wanted to cut you, or harm you, i would have done it while you couldn't walk, hell, i could have done it while you're sleeping, i have no intention to hurt you." He locked his gaze with others, eyes full of determination.

Zim went quiet for a moment, he couldn't hold the human's gaze, so he looked at his bleeding spooch, it hurt him so badly... "do you promise...?" He whispered to him.

Dib was surprised with this reply, he stared at the other, did aliens even know what a 'promise' was? Maybe he saw how humans admired it on TV, "yes, I promise."

Zim looked back at him, he seemed unsure, scared, but eventually, he nodded his head and laid slowly in the bed, the alien swallowed and gazed at the ceiling, he could see the boy from the corner of his eye, he wore some blue gloves then went to get his surgical equipment.

Could he trust a human?

Could he trust anyone at all?

The boy returned, he didn't bother to get his coat off, "ready?" He asked in a calm voice, waiting for Zim to give him permission.

The alien gazed at him, he didn't say anything or nod his head, just stared with eyes full of fear.

"You can trust me." Dib assured him, "i won't hurt you."

Zim frowned even more.

Dib suddenly had an idea, he visited a therapist when he was in middle school, the man was nice, he tried his best to listen to Dib when he was young, and he knew ways to break others out of their square, to break the walls that held their emotions, he remembered his tech easily, it was tricky but at the same time, easy.

Dib would try this...

"How are you feeling?" He suddenly asked, trying his best to give a hopeful look.

Zim didn't seem to know how to answer, but he finally did, "anxious..."

"Why are you anxious?" He held the urge to not look at the wound.

Silence, it took the alien more time to answer, "because... I don't want this to happen again..."

Dib knew what he was talking about.

"I see. But this time is different, i'm doing this for your own good." he swallowed and held the surgical tool tighter,

No answer.

"You love your tallest, don't you?"

Zim didn't hesitate to answer, "yes," he nodded,

"And you want to come back to them, right?" He liked where he was taking this.

Zim nodded again.

"You don't want to disappoint them by not coming back?"

Zim frown deepened, he slowly nodded.

"For the love of your tallest, for your loyalty for them, you'd try your best to come back, like you were told to."

Zim's eyes narrowed slightly, he licked his dry lips and looked away.

"Trust me for them." Dib held his tool in his shaky hand, the irken was losing a lot of blood just because he was too stubborn!

This seemed to caught Zim's attention, his gaze went to the boy again, that was sneaky he had to admit, a way to convince him with evidence, explanation, and patience. He swallowed again, give the human a pleading look as if saying not to hurt him, then looked back to the side.

More silence.

Dib was about to open his mouth again when he saw the irken nod slowly,

Huh, so that did work...

"You don't need painkillers?..." he asked as he looked at the wound.

Zim shook his head, his PAK was broken, but it already sent him painkillers last time, it should do again this time as well.

"Ready?" He held a tool that keeps the wound open,

Zim hesitated but eventually nodded.

The human sighed, he could do this...

His shaky gloved hand moved to put the metallic tool between the wound sides, and made sure it won't lose its grip.

The irken hissed and held into the table, his head to the side as he squeezed his eyes shut.

The room seemed too cold now.

Dib got another tool, it was thin and scissor looking but not pointy at the end, but rather flat, he'd use it to get the damn bullet out, even though he didn't know how deep it was.

Zim seemed to notice, he drew his shaky skinny hand to his spooch and put it right under the wound itself, inches away, "it's here..." he could feel it, if he wasn't losing consciousness, he would have sworn it was moving.

The human nodded and bit his lips, sweat ran down his forehead, why was this sight too creepy for him? Didn't he want to do something like that when he was a kid? Maybe he WAS crazy back then.

The tool slid inside, too slow, fear of hurting the other since he knew nothing about his organs, he heard the irken hiss in pain, he grabbed his coat tightly with sharp claws.

He can't screw this.

he kept moving the tool from left to right, Then he felt it, something that wasn't soft like an organ, but rather soled, metallic, it should be the bullet.

He tried to catch it, but... "what--?" was it moving??!

He held a gasped at that and tried again, his attempts were clumsy as blood was everywhere.

Then he caught it- it was shocking even to him. Dib held the tool with two hands as he moved the bullet out, it kept slipping, too hard to keep his hold into, but eventually, the tool snatched out of the other and flew, smashing on the ground, the human ignored it as he went to get a towel. He wiped out the blood, letting the towel sucking it till its bright white color turned to pink. He removed the one keeping the cut open and used something that looked like a stapler (one of his father's creations), and started to close the cut with it.

It was never easy, he kept hearing the alien hiss or moan in the unbearable pain.

He made sure it was closed and used a new towel to dry the blood. He gazed at the medicine and got it in his hand, using a cotton, he put the liquid on it and then at the closed wound, the red and thick liquid seemed to suck at the flesh of the other, the skin began to almost melt together, but rather slow.

He leaned at the table then held the irken shoulders to make him lean against his chest in a sitting position, and sneaked his arms from behind, bandages in his hands, he started to roll it around Zim's torso.

Zim flinched at the other action, he grabbed his back, hissing, he put all his weight on the other, his face buried in the human's neck as he fixed him.

Dib made sure to wrap it around multiple times, but not too tight, he sighed against the irken's back as he finished, the room was too cold but his racing heart made it feel like he was inside an oven.

The irken drew his hands to his spooch, feeling the bandages around him, a small smile of relief played on his lips, he was fine, almost fine.

Slightly his arm warped around the human into a small bug, a happy blush formed on his face, he didn't fail his tallest, he put his trust in someone worthy of it.

"I think that..." Zim started, hiding his face in the other's neck, "... i can trust you..." oh yes, the human did promise, he didn't lie, or took it in his own good, he saved him, twice if he was honest.

Dib heard him murmured a 'thank you' if he wasn't wrong, he also had to smile, the experiment wasn't that pleasant but they are alive, Zim's okay now.

"Want to go to the main room?" Dib asked, the cold finally began to sneak to his pale skin, he drew back when he felt the other nod and took his coat off, it was already sucked in blood.

Dib hopped off the table and put his hands on the other's torso, and lifted him then walked out of the room, leaving the blood and the shaking bullet on the ground.

999999

A YEAR AGO.

THE MASSIVE.

Last phase of their plan...

After connecting with the meekrob, Tenn had a thought, what if Zim managed to escape or call for help? What if the tallest decided to go look for him? Zim was one of the best, she has to admit that, and that only made matters worst.

He was too good to die that easily right? He did survive a meekrob attack once, after all.

And to her luck, The meekrob called to thank them, and also to warn them; saying that Zim was badly damaged but still, he was alive, somewhere in space.

That made Red, Purple and Tenn shiver; but only made Skoodge want to jump in happiness, but this happiness won't last for long.

"Agh!! He has to survive!" Tenn hissed as she shoved a broken-looking weapon on the floor, Red and Purple shared looks.

"We have to do something!" She added.

"He doesn't know who did it," Purple said, folding his arms, he hated Zim so much, but didn't care to think about him surviving or not, Red however was with Tenn's side,

"No Purple, if he came back, he may become a tallest!" He glared at his fellow irken.

Tenn turned to look at them, her hands folded behind her back, "let me think..." she walked through them and to the screen, she searched somewhere within the computer, trying to force her mind to think, she can't let Zim come back! "You." She pointed at skoodge, "show me Zim's PAK signal."

Skoodge swallowed and walked on clumsy legs, he typed codes and passwords till he got access, he stared at the screen, eyes wide,

'IRKEN ZIM HOST IS NOT FOUND.'

"What...?" He murmured and searched again, but got nothing, Zim's PAK didn't send any signals for it being alive or not,

"What's that supposed to mean??" Purple asked as he walked closer, "they said he was still alive!"

Tenn seemed surprised but also relieved, "maybe he died." She said with a cold tone,

"Or maybe his PAK is too damaged." Red pointed out, he folded his arms,

"Maybe..." she give it another thought, "there is a chance that Zim is dead, but we can't quite tell,"

"Get to the point." Red hissed, he hated Tenn but had to work this plan out.

Tenn rolled her eyes, "tsk-, it means Zim is either dead or badly damaged. He still has his voot runner, and it's also damaged, i don't think it'll work again at all," she locked her gaze with Red,

"So?" Red snapped,

"If we blocked his voot signal, then he'll be helpless, dying somewhere in space. The tallest will eventually give up on finding him, the last signal his voot had was on the... 'milky way' whatever that part of the universe is called,"

"The what??-" Purple cut her off, what a weird name, it actually made him hungry at some point.

"It's far away from irk, about six months long, i don't think there's any life form in there. This means he'll be alone. He'll die either from his wounds, hunger, or crash against a big rock." She paced around and moved her hands, explaining her ideas to the two males in front of her,

"We just have to block him, everywhere, so the tallest won't be able to connect with him, and he won't be able to do the same." She grinned, yes this was a good plan.

Red rose an antenna, "you think this will work?"

Tenn held the urge to scream at him, "do you have another idea??" She hissed, her face inches away from Red.

"How are you going to do that?" Purple broke them as he stepped in the middle,

They went quiet for a moment, then their gazes traveled to the short irken on the floor, skoodge was drowning in his thoughts. He couldn't believe that he'll be the reason his friend died, just because he was a short, fat coward!

"I see." Red narrowed his eyes as he saw Tenn walking towards the other irken,

"Hey! Not time to sleep here!" She yelled in skoodge's face to get his attention. Her voice made Skoodge jump in place, he glared at her, not wanting to be a part of their sick plan anymore, he tried to stand on his shaky legs, putting the best possible hard expressions as he talked,

"I don't want to do this anymore." He hissed at her, and to his surprise and maybe even relief, Tenn didn't slap, bunch, or hurt him in any way, she just looked at him for a second before she burst into laughter,

"Oh! Tell me he's joking!" She could feel her eyes water from the strong laugh, "you're sad about your friend, eh? What are you two? In some relationship???" Her laughter only got louder.

Skoodge held the urge to slap her, "we're only friends, this has nothing to do with whatever you're thinking!!" It was a disgusting thought to say the least.

"Really?" Purple joined her with a giggle,

"Hey! You and Red are ALWAYS together, we're all suspicious about you two!" Skoodge shouted at them,

Instead of laughing, Red kicked him hard in his spooch, "YOU'RE the ONLY one that thinks that! We're twins you short ugly brat! We have the same DNA!"

"Yeah, you're too stupid to see that!" Purple said, finally calming down, "we literally have similar names!"

Tenn sighed heavily and pushed the twins aside, "enough of this. You, face the screen." She pointed to the computer, making the small irken shiver in fear. Skoodge did what he was told, he knew what they wanted from him, but yet had to ask, "what am I supposed to do?"

Tenn hissed in anger, "delete and block his voot and SIR unit signal, and block any incoming or out-coming calls from his ship."

Skoodge hesitated before taking a deep breath and doing what he was told.

After what felt like forever, the short irken managed to block his voot and robot, even from the tallest herself.

"Are we done here?" Purple asked, he could feel his spooch demanding food.

Red shoved Skoodge and typed on the keyboard, he searched every line for Zim's PAK or voot signal, but found nothing, as if the irken has disappeared completely.

"Yes, we're done." Tenn said after studying the information before her, her gaze shifted to Skoodge, she leaned down to look at him, "and of course, you won't open your damn mouth, or else..." she said as she moved the control device around, back and forth by its antenna.

Skoodge's gaze followed the device where to goes left and right in front of him, he swallowed then nodded, "good." Tenn smirked.

She shrugged and walked to the door, "we didn't do anything, right?" She gazed at Red and Purple.

They both nodded.

"Oh poor Zimmy, he's lost! We're so sorry for this my tallest." She played the drama queen, putting a hand on her forehead and pretending to be sad and upset.

Both twins didn't pay her any mind and walked away, leaving Skoodge shaking in the far corner.

"What have i done...?" Skoodge whispered under his shaky breath.

How could he fix this now? He hugged himself in the dark as he heard the door slam shut behind them.


END OF THIS CHAPTER!!

Alien freak: oh yes and again, thank you Mary for the help! I wouldn't have finished this chapter without you :D

Till next time,

This was alien freak, signing off.