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This emptiness I've made my home
Embracing memories of dreams long gone
One last caress from the corpse of love
Is all I want
Underneath the cyanide sun
Professor Membrane was many things. When he wasn't thinking up world-changing creations, he thought of himself as very cultured and sophisticated. He spoke several languages, had spent his youthful years exploring foreign lands and gaining allies, and had even prevented a war by proving that the offending country's missiles would not even be effective. Then, through his time of massing glory, he met a beautiful woman. She seemed to be even more high class than he was and her lush, royal purple hair betrayed how valuable she truly was. So the young professor with so much potential settled down. In time, his lovely wife gave birth to two amazing children: a boy named Dib who was very excitable and a girl named Gaz, who was the spitting image of her mother. The family was happy… or so it seemed.
The professor's first love had always been his work: lady science. While he loved his family and they were vastly important to him, Mrs. Membrane knew that were something to force him to choose, science would always come first. After ten years married to him, the knowledge that he didn't love their six year old son and five year old daughter as much as his prestigious lab began to wane her strength. Then, one day, the gorgeous, high class wife of the world's most renowned scientist went out and… didn't come home. According to Dib, she had left to visit a friend, but when the siblings were waiting for dinner, she didn't return. When they woke up the next day to go to elementary skool, she still wasn't there. Professor Membrane was deeply involved with work, so it wasn't until a week passed did a teacher call him to inquire why the children hadn't been coming to skool. Then the awful truth was revealed; the Membrane children no longer had a mother.
Gaz had been a much different person back then. That wasn't to say she was outgoing or loved pink, but she was very content with a warm (if small) personality. However, when she learned that Mommy wasn't every coming back, her fragile, five year old spirit broke and she became the introvert she was today. Dib, who didn't change, tried desperately to console his baby sister for a while but when he looked to the Professor for comfort himself, the father only shrugged and said some things in life were just that way. After all: he had work to do. So time passed.
Professor Membrane was many things, but he was not prepared for the information his big-headed son shared with him on that foggy day in October. He was not prepared to stand before President Man and explain that aliens did—in fact—exist and were going to arrive in a year to destroy Earth. He was not prepared to say that these particular aliens were one of the most advanced races in the universe, adept at technology and chemical warfare. He was not prepared to say that they possessed a gaseous weapon with effects akin to cancer.
He just wasn't prepared.
Professor Membrane slammed a rubber-gloved fist on his desk, rattling his dusty coffee cup and sending research folders flying. How often had he told Dib to give up on the supernatural and study "real science"? How often had he crushed his only son's dreams because he thought Dib's beliefs were a farce? How awful a father he had been… but it was too late now. The children were grown and his beloved wife had been gone for just over a decade. The Vortians were coming to conquer the planet and there was nothing he could do to do to protect his children, or the earth he cared for so deeply.
It was time. Gaz couldn't take it anymore; she needed answers! Well, maybe not answers, but she needed to talk to Zim. He hadn't updated her on the situation in so long and he hadn't even broken into the Membrane house once to check on her.
Maybe that was a one-time thing, she muttered inwardly. She closed her eyelids with heavy deliberation as a flush came to her cheeks in partnership with the memory of her frantic kiss with the alien. How his surprisingly soft lips hadn't resisted at all but followed her inexperienced lead. The way Zim's chronic scent of green grapes and warm sand had completely enveloped her, fogging her head and making her want to kiss him even more. Best of all was the feeling of his slim, elegant yet strong arms cradling her gently, banishing the nightmare that plagued her.
The black-clad girl's cheeks were thoroughly reddened, now.
She had never delved into her thoughts on the Irken; she had always been too afraid to learn what her feelings were towards a friend of her brother's. Apparently, she felt more… intense than she had expected.
Her car went over a bump and Gaz began to slow down until she parked in Zim's driveway. She opened the door—which creaked in protest—and walked up to the front door. Zim's lawn gnomes whirred with their mechanical gears with a wary air. Gaz smirked dryly and raised a gloved hand to knock on the bright purple door. Just as she heard the robo-parents rumble to life inside, a small, not entirely relevant realization came to her mind.
Was that Zim's first kiss?
"Hello, Zim's friend!" The robo-parents greeted her in unison.
Gaz rolled her eyes, "Is Zim here?"
Robo-Mom turned and called sweetly into the depths of the house, "Zim! One of your little friends came over to play!" One of Gir's well-known shrieks echoed up from the lab and after an alarming amount of banging and the sound of breaking glass, Zim's sarcastic voice drifted from the kitchen.
"Mom, I've told you a hundred times since I fixed… Zim is over seventeen Earth years old… he does not 'play'." Zim stopped short as he noticed Gaz standing in the entryway. Dark emerald colored his cheeks and his red eyes shifted around uncomfortably.
"Oh…. Gaz-human…." He removed his hand from the bundled of rags and mechanical part he was carrying to rub the back of his neck. Gaz crossed her arms.
"It's 'Gaz', now are you going to invite me in or should I throttle you from here?" He eyes narrowed to a dangerous squint. Zim sputtered and dropped is parcel.
"What are you throttling Zim for?"
"For abandoning me!" The uncomfortable pause after Gaz's outburst was broken by her tiny sniffle. She continued quietly, "I haven't seen you for over a month and it's too hard to find time to speak to Dib." She moved closer to Zim, closing the front door behind her. "I've been completely alone and my best friend just told me she is going to die…. I just needed someone else who knows… I need to talk to you." Her amber eyes flickered and met with Zim's. He chewed his lower lip before sighing.
"Zim is sorry…. I was travelling for a lot of that time… but if you wish to speak with the Dib-smell, he is downstairs."
"What?!" Gaz seemed to erupt with a fiery wrath and if Zim had possessed a bladder, he might have wet himself. As it stood, he didn't and couldn't and was very grateful. He gestured with trembling hands towards the kitchen, gulping.
"Feel free to speak to him…"
Gaz barreled past the alien and into the kitchen, stomping the lever for the garbage can and jumping in, descending to the lab as fast as she could muster. As she was lowered through the pink-tinged glass tube, Dib's voice echoed through the vast workroom. The elevator coasted to a stop and Gaz's heavy boots cuffed against the metal-tiled floor with a heavy, wet sound. The violet-haired girl navigated the server farm with the smallest taste of caution, knowing that Zim's insane little robot was lurking somewhere in the shadows.
Why doesn't Zim light this place better? It was true: Zim's choice of red lighting made the already creepy room appear straight out of a horror movie. Just as Gaz thought she was going to hyperventilate, Dib's voice spoke up just around the corner.
"I know this really isn't the time…" he murmured.
"Dib," a familiar female voice seemed to say warningly, "we already talked about this A full-scale invasion is going to take place against your planet in eight Earth months and you're sitting there asking a female of different species to accept your under-developed, fetal, misguided feelings of love. Find a human mate, for Irk's sake!" Gaz heard a weighty thud akin to a fist along with Dib's more insistent voice.
"There was only ever you, Tak!"
So. It was the female Invader from their childhood.
"I only every felt close to you…. You were the only person who took the time to know me. After you left, I just….never saw anyone else like that." Gaz peered around the corner to see the female alien roll her amethyst eyes, her mouth drawn taut in disgust. Tak had her arms crossed over her chest, drumming slim fingers on her bicep. The background looked like a shady bar with dusty orange lighting. A bottle of something was on the table Tak sat at.
"Dib, don't you remember how that whole thing was a façade? How I used you in order to appear human? How I possessed absolutely no feelings for you?" Gaz watched as the backlit silhouette of Dib shook with emotion and Tak placed an exasperated hand on her forehead. Suddenly, a smaller, fatter Irken appeared behind Tak. He huffed in frustration when he took note of the camera.
"Are you using all my spare changed to dial Zim's lab again?" Tak's eyes went wide and her cheeks darkened to forest green. She glanced sidelong at the camera before grunting and reaching towards the screen. Dib jumped to his feet.
"Wait!"
But the screen was already blank; a morose, flat grey. Dib sank back into the cushioned office chair and let his head hang. Gaz noticed she was holding her breath—with hope for Dib or impatience, she didn't know. She frowned and straightened up, pausing to adjust her jacket, then stomped forward as loudly as she could. Dib flinched and spun around.
"G-Gaz!"
"You freakin' idiot!" Gaz charged forward, landing a muted blow on her brother's shoulder. "How could you leave me in the dark for so long? Looks like you've had plenty of time to talk to other people!"
"It's not like that, Gaz!" Dib stood, towering over his baby sister. Gaz worked not to lose her nerve; when had Dib gotten so much taller? She bared her teeth in irritation. Dib glowered.
"I love her, Gaz…." That foolish, naïve confession... Gaz couldn't stand to hear it. Here he was, her older brother. Her whole life he had been the only person she could count on. When their mother left them, he had stayed by her at night until she was old enough to tell him to leave. He had cooked her food, made sure she had clothes and on her latest birthday, he had even talked their father into buying her a car; a luxury he had passed over on his own sixteenth birthday. So why now…was he leaving her? Without realizing it, Gaz had begun to cry. She wiped her eyes with a sleeve sloppily.
"You don't know a thing about love, Dib."
Dib sneered, "Why is it so hard for you to let other people be happy? I'm going to be eighteen soon and then I'm going to move out. You gonna try to stop me then, too?"
"No," Gaz inhaled deeply, calming her nerves. "I'm going to stop you right now. Don't bother coming home again; I'm selling the house."
Dib's face went blank, "Selling… the house? You can't do that. The house belongs to Dad."
"Watch me" Gaz turned on her heel, her shoes squeaking on the floor. She stalked away into the darkness of the lab. Watching her go, Dib felt his anger boil up inside his chest. He shouted after her.
"Who would want to come home to you anyway?" Gaz stopped, not turning but standing very still, gripping her arm pensively. Dib continued, knowing she was listening.
"Aliens are invading in eight months and all you care about is yourself! You've talked tough your whole life but you're the weakest one out of us, falling apart as soon as a nightmare hits you. I tried to be there for you ever since Mom left, but I was only met with your overreactions and violence. You want everyone to bow to your needs but you have no room for anyone else's. So screw you, Gaz. See if I care if you sell the house; the only one who will be hurting is you." His voice cracked at the end, sizzling with emotion. Dib half-expected Gaz to turn around and hit him, but she slinked away, her black coat melting into the dim light. Dib stood for a moment, trembling in solitude. The hair on his arms stood and he felt the leather from his trench coat brush back and forth over it with every panting breath.
A metallic tinkling made its way towards the teen and Zim lowered himself from his spidery PAK legs, his face bearing a slightly hurt, wary expression. He took a small step towards his human companion.
"You couldn't possibly mean that, human…."
"Mean what?" Dib snapped.
"Those things you said to your human sibling! How could you say that to Gaz?" Zim's tone of voice grew frenetic. Dib moaned and moved away from the alien.
"Everyone fights, Zim… and sometimes we mean what we say. Gaz had it coming for a long time."
Zim recoiled in revulsion at the bitterness in his friend's voice. He hissed quietly.
"You have no business treating her that way at this time! Who knows if either of you will survive come October? Don't you humans have some sort of bond with your sibling thingies?"
"Yeah, well why do you care so much, space boy?"
Zim only pout as his cheeks slowly turned dark green. Dib scoffed.
"Unbelievable." He started to walk away. Zim called after him in a dark sense of déjà vu.
"If you don't get your priorities straight, Dib-stink, then don't expect any help you might have received otherwise when the time comes." Dib turned around in a flash, his brown eyes stormy.
"Is that a threat, alien?"
"No, it's a promise. Stop being a fool and apologize to the only person who gives a Meekrob's backside about you."
"Forget it."
"Then please inform your father of my resignation from Membrane Labs."
"You… can't…" Dib sputtered at the realization that he would no longer have access to Zim's galactic contact system, and by consequence, his green goddess. Zim smirked ruefully.
"It's funny. You accuse Gaz of so much selfish behavior, yet forget that you are the only person she could have learned it from." His face turned to an ominous glare, "Now get out."
And Dib left.