Happy Halloween readers! Hope you're spending it better than I am... I broke my phone haha. First thank you to Kazehana23 for continuing support. Second I'd like to address ngrey651's concerns for my choice in the Vortians for the "big bad", per se.
I'm not going to ask you to agree but I will state my reasoning. While in the show we didn't see any violent tendencies, while I was researching the different species within the franchise shortly before starting this story, I read notes from development about the back story to the Vortians. Irk did steal much of their technology and then conquer them and throw them in their own prisons, and they do harbor great resentment towards Irk because of that. I thought they would have good motivation for a counter-conquer so to speak. They want revenge for their fallen empire. I would also like to point out that just because an alien race wants to conquer another planet doesn't necessarily make them 'war-mongering tyrants'. They just want to stop Irk, and an insignificant planet like Earth is not going to stand in their way. I hope this doesn't stop you from reading my story, but if it does I'm sorry it had to be that way and I hope you find something more to your taste in the future.
Now, on with the story!
With all the grain of Babylon
To cultivate, to make us strong
And hidden here behind the walls
Are shoulders wide and timber on
'Til the war came
Dib fainted.
Gaz nudged his ribs with a toe, "He must've over-excited himself again." She exhaled quietly before taking a sip from the grape soda Zim had set before them. She set the can on the table with a faint clack and leaned forward, her amber eyes boring holes into Zim's garnet orbs. He cocked his head, raising his antennae.
"A question on your lips, Gaz?"
"So about this whole 'planetary takeover' business…. You've been a part of things like it before… how does it typically go down?" The human girl's voice had a softer tone than normal; it slinked its way down every fiber of Zim's antennae and echoed with a hidden worry in his head. He slipped from his chair to kneel before Gaz on one knee. He lifted a hand to gently cradle her cheek. To an outsider it might have seemed intimate, but to one who knew the bizarre group of teens, it was more like a doctor or father figure examining a child for signs of illness. Zim ran a finger under Gaz's eye, where a bruise-like crescent shape had formed courtesy of her restless nights.
"Dib-sibling, you haven't been sleeping enough…." It was a blank statement, lacking any real meaning, a phrase to pass the time. Gaz raised an eyebrow at the alien before gripping him around the wrist and pushing his hand away.
"What would you know about human sleeping patterns, Zim?"
"I've lived on this planet for seven years, Gaz-human. I have to know these sorts of things."
Gaz huffed and looked away before murmuring, "So…we're all going to die, aren't we?" Zim stood and pulled her up onto her feet. She blinked up at him. He inhaled slowly.
"We do have some time to prepare…. The Vortians are still massing their new armada in preparations. They will have to travel and coordinate before they can strike."
"How long do we have then?" Gaz didn't mean to let her voice crack. Zim rubbed a finger along his chin.
"Mm… A year." Gaz's head snapped up.
"That long?"
"Yes, Gaz-human, that long. So, enjoy your skool days while they last. Wear your Hallow's Eve costume, eat your disgusting human food for the Giving of Thanks and worship your fat man for Christmas... Come the first of the year, you'll notice as things change." As he talked in his peculiar, Zim way, Gaz's eyes slowly filled with tears. She bit her lip in anger; Gaz Membrane didn't cry! Yet, here she was in Zim's kitchen, listening to the prediction of the end of the world. Yes, even she was allowed to cry at news like that.
So Gaz leaned her head on Zim's grape-smelling chest and let the quiet sobs wrack her body. The alien boy grimaced at first, unsure how to comfort this worm-baby in his arms. As she cried, however, a warm feeling began to spread through his chest. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and held her close.
How far from being an Invader he was.
The weeks passed and Halloween came. Every day in class it became harder not to scream. Gaz had broken several pencils already over the burden of knowing what was to come. She glared at all the oblivious fools who went about their business. The popular girls in their revealing animal and nurse outfits, boys dressed in a penguin suit or a banana peel costume… they didn't know what was going to happen in a year's time. They didn't know that next Halloween, they'd be hiding in shelters and screaming as an alien race swarmed Earth.
Snap!
Another pencil, gone. Gaz chewed her tongue as the day's end bell rang. The students filed out of the room noisily, squealing about their plans for the night. Some would go Trick-or-Treating, some would go to parties and get as wasted as they could and some would go home to do what they did every night. Normally, Gaz might pity the people who couldn't celebrate the beloved holiday, but this year was different. This year, she actually wished them well on their boring, candy-less night.
She stared out the window and observed the black, ominous clouds that had begun rolling in sometime after lunch. It was going to rain this Halloween.
It didn't really matter though.
Gaz pulled her bag over her shoulder and wandered the empty, echoing halls of the skool. She absently wondered where Dib had run off to, but remembered that he had dropped out to begin working at Membrane Labs after learning of the impending invasion. At first the professor had been skeptical, but then Dib brought in the disk of Tak's video feed that Zim had lent him. Their father had changed his tune and preparations had begun. Dib dropped out when they needed another genius to help manufacture weapons.
Gaz blinked her heavy lashes, her thick boots squeaking on the tile floors.
Thunder rolled.
"What are you doing here?" Gaz dropped her skool bag next to the coat rack upon entering the dirty two-story house. Seeing many small children dressed as witches and pumpkins on every doorstep, she expected. Having Zim sitting across from her brother and father, she did not. The alien boy leaned back in his seat, a serious set to his face. He did not immediately respond and the rather responsible look on his face made Gaz trip over her words.
"W-why is Zim here, Dad?" The professor turned in his chair, waving cheerily at his daughter.
"The little green boy is filling out paperwork for his employment, dear daughter!"
Gaz wished she was still holding her bag so she could drop it again, "What?"
"Gaz, he's going to work for Membrane Labs. We need all the help we can get," Dib stepped in. He stood up and poured steaming hot chocolate into a new mug from a nearby kettle. He offered it to Gaz, who downed it in one gulp and threw the mug across the room. She stomped forward into the kitchen, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
"How come you guys get to make all the decisions without me?" The group of males looked at each other awkwardly. Dib rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, we thought you might want to…not be so involved." Gaz whirled on him.
"Not be involved with trying to protect my planet?"
"Well, you aren't really interested in science you know…"
Gaz hissed through clenched teeth, "So what you're saying is, I'm useless, then?"
"Daughter…."
Gaz waved a hand dismissively and wandered away. She would spend this Halloween like she did every other: playing her Game Slave and eating a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups. She kicked off her boots as she shut her bedroom door behind her and climbed onto her bed. The warm comforter seemed to reach up around her, enveloping her in soft protection. She whipped out the hand-held console and began tapping at the little purple buttons. As a loading screen appeared, she reached under her bed and pulled out a candy bag, absently unwrapping a peanut butter cup and stuffing it into her mouth. The quiet music from her game blurred with the murmuring voices of her family and Zim below. The rain outside pattered against her curtained window. Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating her messy room. Despite the pressure of existence, Gaz eventually fell into a peaceful sleep, her game slipping from her hands and onto the bed.
A couple hours later and her door creaked open. A hand slid around to grab it before it crashed against the wall and a shadow appeared in the dim light. Zim crept into her room a silent as a cat, careful not to wake the wrathful girl. He shut the door behind him; it emitted a dull thump. He sat at the side of her bed and examined her. Zim had been hoping to explain that she wasn't involved with the preparations because he had specifically asked for it.
Somewhere deep inside, Zim had protective instincts and they had reared when Dib had suggested of speaking to Gaz about him applying first. Zim wanted her to be able to experience more of her human development before ripping her from normalcy. Dib had experienced tenth grade, so it was only fair that the younger Membrane did too.
Or maybe he just wanted her to stay the same as she always was.
Her chest rose and fell in perfect rhythm as she slept, a quiet snore escaping her every few seconds. A small smile spread across Zim's face and he reached out to brush her hair from her face.
"Sleep well, Little Gaz." Zim stood and pulled a throw blanket from the end of Gaz's bed. He flicked it into the air and let it settle across her small form before taking her Game Slave and folding it shut. He placed it on the shelf above her bed. A floorboard creaked.
"Who's there?" Gaz's soft voice filled the room, deafening in the silence. Zim held his breath. Slender fingers groped in the darkness and, finding his stomach, gripped his tunic fabric roughly.
"Dib?"
"No…it's not Dib-smell…"
"Zim? Why are you in my room?" There was an edge to her voice. Zim worked fast to appease her anger.
"I came to explain…."
"Then explain!"
"I want to keep you at ease… that's why we didn't bring you into the plans."
"What?"
"I just want you to try and finish the skool year… just be yourself and try to go about your normal business." Gaz's fingers relaxed and let Zim's shirt go.
"Do you think I can do that, knowing the world is going to end?" Her voice trembled in the darkness. Zim knelt on her bed, his ocular implants providing him stronger vision. He caressed her hair gingerly. She flinched.
"No, Gaz-human, I don't expect you to be able to do that. However, I would like it if you tried."
"Then come back to skool."
"I can't do that; I have to work with your father. But… I will allow you to visit me at my house whenever you wish."
She was silent for a moment, before nodding and making a quiet noise of assent. She drifted back onto her pillow and Zim waited. After a minute or two he detected her even breathing once more. He sighed in relief and turned to go away, but not before doubling back to brush his lips gently over her forehead and retreating out of the room.
November came and went. December brought snow and people who were inappropriately cheery. The holiday season was sickening as always, yet Gaz approached this month with deeper vigor, knowing that she could speak to Zim whenever it got to her.
She actually hadn't taken him up on his offer yet. She kept meaning to, but every time she left skool and sat in her car, deliberating whether or not to take the drive and visit him, she stopped and went home instead. Occasionally she would drive out to Helena and check the horizon for signs of the coming assault. She never saw another glimpse of the Vortian scouter, however. She felt happy on one hand, but would be disappointed on the other when she remembered what was coming.
Christmas happened and the town was filled with festivities. Gaz locked herself in her room all winter break, home alone. Other people got to spend the time with their families, gorging themselves on unhealthy food and opening presents. Gaz got to stuff herself with an extra-large pizza and open packages she had ordered herself from eBay. Dib and their father came home late every day, or sometimes not at all. Sometimes Dib would tell her of a new bomb they had created, but if she hinted at being allowed to go with him to the labs, he would change the subject and wish her well at skool.
Then Christmas Eve arrived, and Dib and the Professor came home.