Author's Note: I didn't expect such a reaction from you guys. Surprisingly, you're assuming it's either Tak or another OC. I won't tell you who it is, but it's not who you expect it to be. Prepare to be blown out of several bodies of water.
Plot twists everywhere! To be honest, I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants and running with suggestions here. The only motivation I got is you loyal readers.
I'm just a fangirl crazy and selfish enough to write a fanfiction. I don't own Invader Zim, never will.
Flamers better make like a tree and get outta here.
=== DOOM ===
Even in the dim, pink-tinted light I can see the amount of decomposition on Zim's body. It makes my stomach roll and I restrain my urge to puke all over the corpse.
His skin has gone tacky and white with rot, which is odd but I remind myself that he wasn't human- decomposition must be different for Irkens. He isn't bloated; in fact, he's just skin and bones. I can count every one of his ribs(or whatever they are) through his magenta tunic: he only has eight. His eyes are closed and I'm afraid to open the lids and look at them.
And despite everything, he looks... peaceful. Sleeping, almost. Somehow that makes the whole thing better and worse at the same time.
"His pack is missing," Dib speaks for the first time in five minutes.
"Someone stole it from him, maybe. Did he keep important things in it?" I ask. My voice is weak from forcing bile back down my esophogus.
"Yeah, himself," Dib says. I gaze at him, bewildered. My expression is enough, apparently, because he goes on before I can ask. "Irkens download their personalities into these metal packs. Their bodies are mostly just for transporation. The pack can survive on its own, for awhile at least. The body, on the other hand, dies if the pack isn't reconnected in exactly ten minutes."
That would explain the lack of blood. Sort of. "Where is it, then?" I ask.
"Maybe the person who broke in took it," Dib suggests.
"Maybe," I agree. I pick up his arm and look at his hand. The three gloved claws have something shiny beneath them, almost metallic in appearance. I put the arm down and glance over his body, taking in little details. One of his black, wiry antennae is bent at a strange angle, like the ridges on a handlebar. Someone yanked it hard enough to deform it.
Murder resonates in my mind once again. Zim was killed, certainly. He would protect something that contained his entire self with his life; anyone would, and he probably did.
This is too much. Bombings, the possible end of the world, and now a murder mystery. My mind is spinning at speeds that rival those that dazzled me when Mom died. I slump back, falling on my backside, staring blankly into the distance.
"Tia? You okay?" I hear Dib's voice but the question doesn't register in my head. I'm connecting things faster than light.
Bombs that aren't bombs. The base broken into. Zim murdered.
"Whoever is behind the explosions killed Zim," I say, the picture in my mind illuminating once more.
Dib pauses. I look up at him, not really seeing him. I hope he sees the wheels spinning rapidly in my eyes. "Yeah, I could see that. He was really protective of Earth. Always said he was the only one who could destroy it. He shunted Tak into space because she tried to take it from him," the boy says.
"Tak?" I ask absently.
"She was another Irken. Had a grudge against Zim for causing a blackout that made her miss her invader test," Dib explains.
"A grudge." A grudge that would grow exponentially by being lost in outer space thanks to the little dead Irken before me. Motivation for murder? I shrug mentally; humans kill for less.
"You think it's Tak?" Dib sounds in both awe and distress.
"It's possible," I murmur.
"She wouldn't. It wasn't about revenge for Tak when she tried to destroy the Earth," Dib says. "She said so herself."
"You said she was shot into space by Zim. Who wouldn't want to kill someone after something like that?" I argue.
"Tak said that the earth is useless to the Irkens. Originally she was gonna hollow it out and fill it with snacks as a gift to their leaders," Dib continues.
"You said that Earrth is the furthest planet in the Irkens' map of the galaxy. It could be used as an observatory planet," I point out.
"You do realize you're probably the only person in this whole thing that thought about that," Dib says.
I sigh. "The Irken leaders can't be that dumb, can they?"
"They can and they are."
"Stupid. It's what I would've done if I had taken over the earth."
"You would."
We both give gentle chuckles at each other. Dib helps me to my feet. "We should get going. Who knows how long we've been down here?" he says.
I give Zim one last look. He's dead, I remind myself, and he wouldn't care if the situation were reversed. Nevertheless.
"Wait a minute." I bend down and roll Zim over onto his back. His stiff skeletal(is it a skeleton?) system barely moves in the joints. It takes some doing to straighten out his neck and legs. I fold his hands on his chest and back away.
The sight reminds me of Mom's funeral. Good thing I'm wearing black tonight.
"Okay, now I'm ready," I tell Dib. We walk away, looking for a working chute or a ladder to climb up to the surface.
"That was sweet and all, but he didn't deserve it," Dib mutters as we explore.
"Yeah, but I would've felt terrible if I hadn't done it," I say. Dib shrugs. I know it wouldn't have bothered him one bit to have left Zim as he was: he hates Zim that much. I don't, and even if I did, it would still be required.
Eventually we find an air vent and crawl up it. It's tedious and tiring work. By the time we reach the surface, I'm sweating and shaking with exhaustion. Dib has to lift me up into the hole in the corner of the kitchen.
We make sure to close the door behind us. The east horizon is light blue and the stars are starting to disappear. We've been in the base all night.
The walk home is silent and solemn. I feel filthy and sleepy, and I just want to fall to my knees and cry my guts out and have someone, anyone, hold me close. My house is within sight and Dib stops me beneath the streetlight we met under earlier tonight. Suddenly, that seems like a year ago.
I'm too tired to lift my head and meet his eyes, so he does it for me, holding my face gently in position with his fingers. I see the golden irises that make my heart flutter like a caged butterfly. Tears of exhaustion and stress fill my own eyes despite myself.
"Just one more puzzle," he says softly. "I wonder if they'll take our story on Mysterious Mysteries."
"I doubt it." Even my voice is weak and tired. I want to collapse into Dib and have him carry me the rest of the way home. I don't know what keeps me from doing it.
"You're probably right." Dib's lips twitch into a smile. It lifts my sagging heart just a bit.
I'm struck with another urge to mash my lips against his, and a part of me says it'll give me the energy to get home. But I resist it. I can't kiss him, not after we just found a dead body; the dead body of the one we thought was threatening us for the last three weeks, nonetheless.
We stand here under the yellow light for God knows how long, staring at each other, words we'll never say passing between us in our eyes.
"You need to get some sleep," Dib whispers. "It's almost dawn."
Sleep. That sounds nice. I want him to come with me, sleep in my bed with me, and wake with me this time.
He recoils from me. I stumble forward, not realizing that I had been leaning on him. Dib smiles at me. "Go to bed. I'll call you later," he says.
Bed. Sleep. Somehow, these words trigger my brain, functioning on less sleep than usual and overloaded with new information, to bring my dream rushing back to me.
"Wait, Dib!" I say loudly. I stagger after him and he stops. Our eyes meet again. The words catch in my throat.
What was I doing? Was I going to tell him my dream? Something that I saw in my sleep over a month ago, that I still remember down to the very last detail. A vision of a dead Earth and Dib kissing me. I'm still not sure what his reaction would be.
"Yeah?" he asks, bringing me back to the present.
"Uh... n-nevermind. Just... y-you get to sleep, too," I stammer.
Dib's grin widens at my concern. "I will. Good night, Tia." He turns and walks away. I watch him unntil he disappears from my sight. A colbalt sheen falls over everything as the early dawn starts to lighten the world around me.
"Good night," I whisper in his direction finally.
=== DOOM ===
Blah. Shmaltzy ending. As usual. It seems to be my duty to either give you diabetes with sugary fluffiness or stop your hearts with shocker plot twists.
Eventually, yes, Tia will tell Dib about her dream. Not anytime soon, of course, but it will happen.
Sorry about any spelling errors or typos. The keyboard is really pissing me off right now. And sorry it's so short. Lack of inspiration.
Review and love me!