"Whatsername"

-
Thought I ran into you down on the street
Then it turned out to only be a dream
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face but I can't recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been
-

Why did I come here? I should have known that they wouldn't be here. Dib cursed himself as he stared at his burnt door. He walked up to it, turning the door handle which still worked. The door and the wall that was still standing did not fall over as he entered through the door. Neither his sister or his dad would be here, he should have known better. The house was still recognizable, he could still tell where the kitchen was, where the stairs were. The upstairs overlapped on the downstairs though, his room was in the kitchen, though not that many of things were in any shape to remember.

In the rubble, there was one thing that was not completely destroyed. He pulled out a photo that he had taken of Zim. She was in the picture, she had just shoved Zim over, causing him to almost loose his wig. He studied the picture, hoping that something there would cause her name to surface in his mind. All he could remember was the one girl from the Hotel calling her... whatsername. He felt tired and irritated that he could not think of the name. It was as if while his memory was coming back, that was the one thing that stayed away.

In the corner of his eye, he swore that he saw movement.

"Zim?" he turned around to face the alien, but no one was there. He did not move, as if silence would cause the movement to return so that he could make sure that he saw it. Nothing did though. He could not believe it, he cut out the drug's hallucinations just to realize that he always had been seeing things. Dib faltered, and sunk down to his knees.

"Where are they?" he asked forlornly, knowing that if he did hear someone respond, he was going crazy. He heard a movement come up behind him, but he did not budge just in case there was no one there.

"Ready to go home now, Dib?" a voice asked him. He turned to see Zim, not in perfect posture as he remembered from when they were kids (for Zim was a child then, despite however old he was in his own society), but slouching as he had when he had last seen him.

He wasn't crazy.

-
Seems that she disappeared without a trace
Did she ever marry old what's his face?
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face but I can't recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been
-

"Zim, you jerk," Dib smiled, throwing the picture at him. As paper thin as it was, and being paper, the air resistance did not allow it to go that far, just floating down between the two of them. "Don't you ever knock, or just say hello?"

"Waste of Zim's precious time," Zim said. "Better to get right to things. Now, to answer my questions, what took you so long?"

"I had things to fix, loose ends to tie up," Dib shrugged, standing up. "My question now."

"No!" Zim scowled. "You answer my questions first!"

"I already answered one of yours!" Dib exclaimed. "Man Zim, couldn't you try to listen for once?"

"I could, but I don't like to," Zim folded his arms across his chest. "Shoot then."

"Where are they?" Dib asked.

"Who?" Zim asked lightly. Dib frowned. They both knew who he was talking about, Zim was just being difficult with him. Again. Though it annoyed him, inside he was deeply relieved.

"Dad!" Dib replied. "And... her."

Why couldn't he remember?

"Her?" Zim rose an invisible eyebrow. "Who's her?"

"Who's she," Dib automatically corrected. "My sister, Zim."

"Oh, yeah," Zim appeared to pause in thought. "The scary purple haired monster!"

"Watch it," Dib intercepted, while Zim was trying to continue.

"You thought so too," Zim told him. "Hmmm... it's been so long, whatsername?"

"Exactly!" Dib threw his hands up to hit his forehead. "I don't know! I can't go back not knowing her name!"

"You thought you were coming back here, and you still did not know her name," Zim gestured at the remains of the house.

"You realize, you haven't answered my single question, and I've answered every single one of yours," Dib narrowed his eyes.

Zim opened his mouth in mock shock. "Oh no! The balance has been overthrown! What will we do?"

Dib sighed. "Great. A sarcastic alien."

"That and more, Dib," Zim grinned, his sharp teeth still pearl white. Apparently they did not stain like human teeth. "I can show you where your father is, but... oh, whatsername, I don't know where she is."

"Damn it Zim!" Dib clenched his teeth. "You know her name!"

"Ah, but you don't, my little earth monkey!" Zim clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "And what good would it do for me to tell you? What good what it do for you, for me to tell you?"

Dib stared at him blankly. "I would know her name?"

Zim jabbed him with a finger into his chest, he could not reach much higher. "But you do know!"

"But I don't!"

"You LIE!" Zim shouted at him, looking annoyed. He angrily withdrew from Dib and started pacing in the rubble. "Don't you humans have those times where you remember something, it's in your mind, but you just can't get the word on to your tongue?"

"Your point?" Dib said.

Zim stopped in his tracks.

"Maybe if you go see them, you will remember. Answer me this, Dib, are you ready to go home?"

Dib looked at the alien, then back at his ruined house. Was there even a doubt in his mind anymore?

"Yes, Zim, I am ready to go home."

-
Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago
Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago

-

Watching Zim act without help from his pak or any alien weaponry, Dib was reminded deeply of a prey animal. Zim even nearly growled as the group passed them by, oblivious that they were being watched. Zim did not seem to care if they passed by a group, but Dib didn't want anyone to see them. Zim argued for a bit, then acquiesced and they hid on the side of the mountain road. Dib wondered whether Zim had been lying about that, for he seemed very hostile towards the humans, almost as if the group did notice them, he would attack.

Dib breathed a sigh of relief when the group was out of sight. "Zim, I said I didn't want to be noticed by them, it didn't mean I wanted you to kill them if they saw us."

Zim's hood finally came down, being moved by his antennae while in his angered state. "Make up your mind Dib-beast."

Dib smirked. "Whatever happened to just Dib?"

Zim glared. "Shut up! I'm working on it!"

Dib shook his head, smiling. He looked down in the direction that they had come, the direction that the group had gone in. "Anyways, I thought you said the only thing up here was Dad's new lab."

"It is," Zim huffed. "Those were some of his scientists. Down the road a ways, is their transport, but no one is allowed to bring up vehicles this far up the mountain." Zim shivered again, but this time from cold. It was late fall, and it had been raining a lot farther south, but here it was drier, but still cold.

"That means, we aren't far then?" Dib asked Zim.

"Yes," Zim nodded. "That's exactly what it means."

-
The regrets are useless
In my mind
She's in my head
I must confess
The regrets are useless
In my mind
She's in my head
From so long ago

-

He told Dib to wait in the front while he got him clearance to enter the higher levels and see Membrane. Zim thought he should be feeling more relaxed now, he did what he promised he was going to, but he still felt tense. If she was here and Dib didn't remember her name...

"Zim!"

Zim froze at his name. He turned around slowly to face her as she ran over to him and held his shoulders.

"Is he here?" she looked frantic. "Tell me Zim, did you bring him?"

"Calm down," Zim tried to regain some of his old composure. "Yes, I promised I would. He's in the front. I-"

He was cut off short by the air escaping his lungs as she hugged him. Feeling somewhat awkward in the situation, he slowly hugged her back.

"Thank you, thank you," she whispered into his antennae.

Zim didn't trust himself to say that much more at this point of her invulnerability.

"Just go see him," he told her, pulling away from his light part in the hug and pushing her in the direction. To him, it didn't even seem as if she was following his order, as if it were her own idea, as she fled down the hall. He shook his head, trying to shake the smile smile he had off his face as he went to go get the Dib's clearance. Not that it would be needed anymore.

-
(Go, Go, Go, Go..)
-

She stopped right in front of the door, catching her breath. She regained her composure quickly. It never occurred to her that Zim was pulling her leg. By now, she knew that he wouldn't do that. As he said, he would be right out there, waiting for his clearance to get in. She would be his clearance, no one could stop her. She put her emotions in check as she opened the door.

"Dib?"

-
And in the darkest night
If my memory serves me right
I'll never turn back time
Forgetting you, but not the time

-

He looked over to see... her. What is her name? Just as Zim said, it was right under the surface. She walked over to him in no big hurry. He wouldn't be surprised if Gaz beat him up for everything he put her through.

His mind paused in mid-thought.

Gaz.

"Hey Gaz," he gave a small smile. She walked straight up to him, looking up at him.

"You finally decided to follow," she said emotionless.

Dib sighed, he should have known better then to hope that she might have just been glad to see him.

"Sorry it took me so long to grow up," he told her.

She just continued to look at him. Then, slowly, Gaz's face slowly turned into a smile.

"Thank god," she said. "It did take you long enough."

"Stupid teenage hormones," Dib laughed, shaking his head. "I don't suppose you'll ever forgive me for it."

"I might," she replied. "We both have done things we've regretted, might as well try to fix that now."

Dib shook his head. "There is no way I'll ever fix that. I'll never forgive myself either."

"It's in the past," Gaz crossed her arms. "Whether you've forgiven yourself or not, you have to get over it."

Dib looked his sister over. She was willing to accept him back. He worried for nothing.

He could be part of a family again.

"Yeah, I suppose I do," he ruffled her hair.

Gaz scowled. "Just because I'm not going to kill you doesn't mean you get away with things like that."

"Sure, I'll try to remember," he grinned.

Gaz closed her eyes, giving him a hug. "Don't get used to these either."

"That doesn't matter," Dib hugged her back, a tear falling down his face. "You've just allowed me to come home."

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And it is over. I thank the people who have read this story, those who have commented, and those who have put me on favourites, Dancing Feather, Dark enchanter, DarkNeth, and K-chan 16. It was fun, but now it is time to give Dib other troubles that he isn't stupid enough to put himself in. Again, I apologize to Jhonen Vasquez, for doing this to his characters, when it obviously would never happen. But hey, obviously some people enjoyed it!