Table-headed Service Drone Bob had been more than content with his life for the past few years. The Tallest may not have given him the money he won when Zim survived training on Hobo 13, but they had given him a very large ship; A ship with enough snacks on board to feed a crew of five hundred for a little over a year. With him being the only one on board it had stretched considerably. Also the captain's quarters were much more comfortable than his crummy hammock back on the massive.
When Zim had launched himself off to who-knows-where in an escape pod leaving Bob to fly through a very hot star, Bob was surprised to make it out of the whole situation alive. So he did the obvious thing and found a nice calm part of space, with a nice view and relaxed. And relaxed. And relaxed. Bob had never really had a problem with being alone, in fact he preferred it. But he had been in his calm corner of space for a long time. Almost five years in fact. And his snacks were running very dangerously low. He didn't really want to go back to the Tallest and be treated like dirt again.
There was only one thing he could think to do. So he went to the computer controls and looked up the coordinates that the escape pod had been sent to.
Zim woke up at around two o'clock in the morning with Gaz still in his arms. He smiled as he remembered another night with his human. Since he was more than happy to stay and watch her sleep in his embrace for a while, he stayed like he was for a few more hours. When he finally got up, it was still very early and she hardly stirred as he got up and dressed for the pulled his gloves on as he walked to the elevator. It was about five so he figured the humans would wake up soon enough. He walked into the kitchen and began to make breakfast.
Not long afterward, Dib walked in with severe bed-head and obviously slept in clothes. Zim smiled politely, "Sleep well Dib-human?" Dib thought to himself, it would have been better if you two had kept the noise down. He kept this to himself however and instead said, "Fine, and you?" He cringed at his reflexive reciprocation of Zim's question. Zim knew Gaz would kill him if he said anything about their "activities" last night so he kept his mouth shut and simply nodded.
The room fell into an awkward silence as Zim plated the eggs and bacon and put them on the kitchen counter. Just as Dib poured himself a glass of orange juice, they heard the elevator come up with Gaz. She walked in with her clothes from earlier somewhat neater than Dibs and her hair unkempt. She walked over and sat down as Zim poured her a glass of juice and brought her a plate of food. He then sat down next to her with a steamy mug of a strange, sweet smelling drink.
They all ate in somewhat strained silence as Zim and Gaz kept glancing at each other and smiling. Dib just ignored it all and refused to acknowledge what was happening in front of him. When they all finished eating Gaz headed off to the shower and Dib went to his room to get his things, meaning his laptop and nothing else now, together. When she finally came out of the shower she looked at Zim and said, "Why does the bottle of gel with my name on it smell just like me?" Zim grinned, "I had Computer make it based off of my description of the way your hair smells. Dib has a normal bar of Earth soap though." Gaz smiled slightly and headed off to her room before skool.
When she came back into the living room she found Dib wearing his same pants and t-shirt from last night. She was wearing her usual combat boots, black skirt and black tank top over a long-sleeved silver thermal shirt. She was also, of course wearing her signature skull necklace. Dib grabbed his trench coat from the hall closet and they all walked out to the Voot.
The Voot Cruiser was parked on the curb as usual, disguised as an expensive Italian sports car to make the other humans jealous. Zim almost always drove to skool with Gaz, but Dib usually walked. However Zim's house was further than where the Membrane house had been, so he decided to come with them. Since the ship was so simple to operate Gaz and Zim sat in the front seat together, holding hands, while Dib sat in the back looking out the window.
When they pulled up to the Hi Skool, Zim and Dib both released a long sigh and climbed out after Gaz. Zim and Gaz walked in, holding hands, and went to Gaz's locker. As they walked down the hallway they heard Brian yell, "Look, she's gotta hold little Zimmy's hand!" Gaz knew it was best to ignore them and just kept walking, but as people kept laughing Zim pulled away from her and said, "I'll see you at lunch." Then he rushed off to his own locker with his head bowed. Gaz was about to call out to him but instead turned to Brian.
He stopped laughing when his eyes met hers. He was frozen in fear as she walked up to him. All the laughter in the hallway stopped as her fist pulled back and she punched him squarely in the face with a sickening crack. He hit the ground as he started bleeding profusely. As she was walking away she heard Zita whisper, "You know you can't fuck with the kid when his mom is around." Brian held his face gingerly as he moaned, "Crazy bitch broke my nose." Gaz just ignored them and continued on to her locker.
Dib was on his way to his own locker when The Letter M put his foot directly in Dib's path. Dib was so used to this trick that he jumped right over M's foot. As he was still in mid-air though, Torque Smacky pushed him into the lockers next to him, hard. The force of the impact caused him to bite the inside of his cheek and he tasted a pretty good amount of blood. He looked up as M and Torque high-fived and walked away.
Ignoring the light laughter around him, Dib got up and put in his locker combination. As soon as he opened the door an air horn went off and a large blow up alien fell out, causing Dib to stumble backwards and fall on his backside in surprise. The entire hallway exploded into fits of raucous laughter. He sighed and kicked the stupid toy out of his way, only to find the word "crazy" written all over the inside of his locker. He sighed again and pulled out his books.
Dib walked into the classroom and found Zim already at his desk with his head resting on his arms. Dib sat next to him and said, "They already start with you too?" Zim looked up and nodded, "Yeah, you too then?" Dib nodded and put his head down as he waited for the lunch bell. After what seemed like an eternity of the teachers incoherent babbling, the bell finally rang.
Zim and Dib went off to lunch and sat at their usual table and waited for Gaz. Melvin and Sara came up first though, and sat across from them. Melvin took Zim's lunch and was about to throw it away when Sara stopped him and said, "Hey, come on you shouldn't pick on little kids. Besides he needs his lunch so he can get big and strong like the rest of us." Melvin smiled and said, "I guess I'll have to pick on someone my own size." So he threw Zim's lunch in Dib's face, then he grabbed Dib by the collar and pulled his fist back.
Just then someone grabbed him by the wrist and the collar and pulled him off the bench. Sara looked over to see Gaz staring at her with her foot on Melvin's throat. Once Sara had fully run out of the room Gaz released Melvin, who followed Sara quickly. Gaz then went around the table and sat between Zim and Dib. Dib quietly thanked her and handed Zim his lunch back. As always they all finished lunch quickly and Gaz played her Game Slave while Zim and Dib ranted about nothing.
Bob was starting to regret being alone and doing nothing for the last few years. He really should have studied piloting, or engineering. They best he could do was lock a set of coordinates and send the ship away on auto-pilot. He couldn't do any kind of maintenance or repairs on the ship. In the constantly updating world of Irken technology, Bob's ship was old and obsolete. It had also gone several years without any form of maintenance or upkeep. So as he approached the planet he wished he knew how to land it. Or even aim his crash. It would be just his luck if he crushed Zim's house with Zim in it. Bob was hardly surprised as alarms and warnings started blaring in his antennae when he entered the atmosphere.
Zim, Gaz, and Dib walked into the house after skool just as Computer chimed, "Proximity warning, incoming Irken vessel." Zim's antennae shot up, "Vessel? There are no visits scheduled from The Tallest. Computer, scan the ship and see who it is."
The view screen turned orange and red with flames as Bob neared the planet's surface.
Outside the back window they could see a bright ball of fire headed straight for the back yard. Computer finally responded, "Vessel owner unknown, unregistered Irken military ship." Zim perked an eyebrow and said, "Computer, scan the ship for any life forms." Computer almost immediately responded, "One Irken life form detected aboard."
Bob strapped in as the surface drew closer. He really wished he could land a ship right now. He noticed buildings below him, and after what seemed like forever he felt the ship lurch forward sharply as it collided with the surface.
The obviously Irken ship slammed into the ground with a spray of flames and dirt. The three rushed outside to examine the crash. The ship seemed very badly damaged but the cockpit area was apparently intact as the glass shield opened. A dark figure slightly taller than Zim crawled out and stood shakily before them.
Gaz, Zim, and Dib all realized who it was and breathed the name, "Tak."