Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You had strange dreams ever since you could breathe. They came about so naturally that eventually when you’d grown old enough, you accepted them. You never thought they’d come to mean anything or let alone come true. Yet, there you were, sat in front of the television face to face with the man you’d seen in your nightmares many months before. It turned out that the nightmare had happened the same week that he’d been convicted of his crimes. You searched your mind and anything else that may help the victims. But what could a girl like you do? You were only a college student with a mediocre job and an overactive imagination. 

Now that you’d thought about it, ruminating in the hall about your uncontrolled abilities was definitely going to make you late, again. You wiped away the stray tears from your eyes and gathered your things. You haphazardly put everything back where it went and raced to your next class. It was just one flight of stairs down and a couple of turns. You could make it in five minutes. 

You thought that until your face collided with someone’s chest. Nearly falling down the stairs, you latched onto the person you ran into. Your hands held the nape of their neck tightly before one hand slid into one of their own. Their other hand was on your back to keep you from falling any further. You looked up at your rescuer. You had seen him before but only in passing. Dib Membrane. They called him crazy but you never thought of him that way. His presence was honestly refreshing to you, albeit strange. But, who were you to judge? You had always been weird too. 

His eyes on yours made the situation feel so suddenly real and awkward. He let go of you gently as if he were afraid to break you. His hand lingered in yours though, sending a shiver down your spine. 

“Um..Dib? You okay?” you questioned. 

His face was a bright red mess. He gulped and nodded. Before you could make your escape, the bell rang. You swore underneath your breath and glanced up at the clock. Now you were five minutes late. Oddly enough though, you were more worried about Dib. You took your hand out of his and waved it in front of his face. 

“Earth to Dib? Are you still there?” 

“Your dreams can show people the truth, can’t they?” he asked you without missing a beat. “You’re something like a psychic, aren’t you?”

Stillness carried across the air conditioned breeze. How did he manage to figure that out? Was it because he understood and believed in most odd things? Or was it because when he touched you, he somehow saw what you could do? That was impossible though. No one else could see what you did. This was solely your burden alone. You sighed and gave in to the comfortable feeling he brought to you. 

“Yes.” you hissed through gritted teeth. 

“How important are your next classes?” he blurted out. 

“I guess they aren’t since I’m late, why?” you replied, scoffing a little. 

“I want to get to know you better.” he answered earnestly. 

He began stuttering after he said that. You smirked slightly. 

“No, not like that! I just-I’ve never met someone like you! I know how difficult it is to not be understood by other people and after what I’ve seen, I’d like to understand you.” 

“I’d like to get to know you too.” you said. 

After all, you meant it. So you threw your bag over your shoulder and followed the nervous boy out of the building with a newfound sense of kinship. And as you walked, Dib talked your ear off and you didn’t mind it in the slightest. At least now you had someone to talk to. 

Chapter Text

The ice cream cone in your hand dripped onto the ground slightly. Despite it being fall, some of the summer heat lingered. You took another bite of your fudge pop after noticing. 

“So..how long have you been able to do that?” Dib asked. 

“Eat ice cream? Well my whole life.” you replied sarcastically. 

“You know what I meant!” he said, rolling his eyes. “How long have you had dreams like that?” 

“Since I was twelve. It started with one about this huge monster I couldn’t look at. If you looked at it, it would devour you.” you shuddered a little. “It was like this big black mass. It was only until later when I found out what exactly it represented.” 

He was listening intently. You could envision him in his head checking off boxes on a list. He looked slightly horrified at your description of the creature you managed to conjure up in your own mind. He just kept looking at you until you eventually broke the moment. 

“That sounds absolutely crazy to you doesn’t it?” 

He blinked a few times.

“No no no! It doesn’t! I’ve just never heard about anything like this before! It’s fascinating actually. But obviously it’s horrifying for you and I’m sorry you had to go through it.” 

“You really mean that?” you quietly replied. 

There was ice cream pooling on your upper lip. Before he replied he instinctively wiped it away with his finger. You froze. No one had done something like that for you in a long time. 

“I’m sorry I just..you had a little something..” 

You couldn’t help but laugh at the strangeness of it all. Here you were telling the stereotypical quiet kid all of your deepest darkest secrets. It all felt so surreal to you. 

“You could’ve just used a napkin, weirdo.” you replied, still laughing a little. 

“Yeah I guess you’re right..” he dejectedly said. 

He kept looking at you. You started to wonder if you had a third eye growing on your forehead. 

“What is it?” you asked, confused. 

“Nothing! Your laugh is very..cute.” he cleared his throat. 

You hid your blushing face for a few seconds. Dib was flustered too, mainly at himself. He was internally beating himself up for being so obliviously obvious. He fiddled nervously with the popsicle stick where his now finished ice cream once resided. 

“Thanks.” you finally said. 

In your state of shock, the rest of your fudge pop had melted. In fact, it had melted and gotten all over your clothes. You muttered an expletive or two. 

“I’m so sorry! I got so caught up in what you were saying and I distracted you from well..that.” he groaned. 

“It’s okay, really!” you replied, attempting to dab it away with a napkin. 

Napkins were always futile in endeavors like this. And of course, all of your clothes were either at the dry cleaners or the laundromat. 

“Do you have something to change into?” he asked you in an almost urgent sense. 

“Why? Are we going out to dinner?” you scoffed playfully. 

Dib blushed profusely, waving his hands in front of himself frantically. 

“No no no! Not that I don’t want to-I just-I’m trying to make sure you’re comfortable!” 

“Relax Dib, I’m just messing with you. Have you never heard of banter?” 

He sighed. He wasn’t used to this. Not just the banter but all of it. Being the largest social outcast in your town doesn’t exactly grant you much at all. But here you were, a pretty girl, talking to him as if he were normal. Not just a pretty girl but a girl with a special gift. 

After he didn’t answer you, you decided to follow up with an answer yourself. 

“I don’t have anything to change into. All of my clothes are currently doing time and the warden of the laundromat and dry cleaners closed early today. Apparently it’s because of food poisoning from Bloaty’s. If you could imagine that.” 

He looked at you pitifully. He thought of making up an excuse to escape the awkwardness but something in him ached to stay and help you. So for once, Dib decided to man up. 

“You could borrow my clothes if you want. My house is only a few blocks away. Only if you’re comfortable with that of course!” he said, rubbing the sweat from the back of his neck away. 

“I think it might be my only option.” you said. 

You looked out on the horizon. The sun was setting soon. Everything felt so quick and new and you weren’t sure how to take it. But it wasn’t an unwelcome feeling. It was more like how a stray cat nestles up against you so softly and suddenly. You decided to embrace it, those warm fuzzy feelings and all that followed. 

“Sweet digs.” you said as you put your bag down on the floor by the doorway. 

“Thanks. I hope it’s not lame that I still live here with my dad and my sister.” he said.

“No, I still live with my mom so no judgment there.” you replied with a shrug. 

“What about your dad?” he asked without thinking. 

“What about him?” you answered, scoffing slightly. 

“Does he live with..” 

“No. He lives with his wife on the other side of town.” you sharply said. 

“Did I..” 

“Don’t worry about it.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I said don’t worry about it.” 

Your face was hot with frustration. You didn’t really like getting into it about the whole ordeal. The divorce was less than pretty and you got your fair share of drama from both your mom and your dad. You just figured what happened, happened and there was nothing you could do about it. You didn’t despise either of them, you loved them dearly, but you didn’t like the choices they’d made. 

Dib broke you from your thoughts. 

“The bathroom is upstairs across from Gaz’s room. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you borrowed some of her clothes. She might attack me for it later though.” 

“I wouldn’t want that to happen to you.” 

“Well I don’t think my clothes would..” 

“Dib,” you sighed. “I would rather not provoke the infamous Gazlene Membrane.” 

“Infamous?” 

“Yeah, didn't she throw her game slave at a kid’s head causing him to have brain damage?” 

“Not exactly.” 

“See. It’s your clothes or no deal.” 

He sighed and gave in. Yet he was nervous, constantly tugging at his jacket collar as you both headed up to his room. No one aside from Gaz and his dad had ever set foot in there. Let alone a girl who has visions. Let him correct himself, a pretty girl who has visions. Once you had both reached the door, he gulped loudly. 

“What is it?” you asked. “Have you never had a girl in your room before?” 

He probably turned two thousand different shades of red before shaking his head like a shameful puppy. 

“Just hold on one second!” he said before he opened the door suddenly and shut it behind himself. 

You could hear him shuffling around shoving things in drawers and into what you assumed was his closet. After a while he finally allowed you to come in. You were greeted by tens if not hundreds of cryptid and punk band posters. His bed was sloppily made which wasn’t anything that bothered you. Yours was usually the same way given your full time school and work schedule. 

He stood, leaning on one of his bedposts, trying to seem cool. In the midst of his panic cleaning, he’d actually picked out an outfit that may fit you. One that was to your liking too. 

“How did you know that I liked The Cranberries ?” you said, holding up the shirt. 

“Lucky guess. I figured since you’re cool and in tune with things that you’d like their music. It’s kind of emotional in a way..have you heard Linger ?” he replied. 

“Of course, who hasn’t?” you chuckled. 

There was a sense of tenseness that picked up in the air that caused you to look more in depth at his posters. You squinted at one in his, quite frankly, very dark room. 

“Is that an Alias poster?” 

“Do you like them because I..” 

“I should probably change now.” you replied abruptly. 

You grabbed the stack of clothes and practically rushed to the bathroom, locking the door immediately. Music was a major factor in these visions as Dib called them. One of the songs from that specific album had no connection to a vision but to a memory. A particularly traumatic one. If nights ever got bad for you, you’d have nightmares about it again and again. It warped certain aspects of yourself and made you question your trust in people. 

The more you thought of it, the less you wanted to be there. The more you thought of it, the easier it was to picture yourself in that treehouse again. You weren’t ever even there but you saw everything, heard everything. You began to breathe heavily and quickly, clutching at the fabric of your shirt. Panic stricken, you changed and then opened the door to see him standing there with wide eyes. 

“I was about to knock to see if you were okay..” 

You caught him off guard by breaking down into tears. He looked at you bewildered and worried. 

“What happened? Was it Zim? Did he hurt you? Where is he? Is he here?” 

“No it’s not Zim. It’s just me..my mind I mean. A memory.” you admitted. 

“I’m sorry..I tend to think it’s always him given everything that’s happened to me. But this isn’t about me. Unless it is and I did something wrong. Please tell me I didn’t.” 

“No no! You’re wonderful! Thank you for..everything.” you replied, blushing slightly. “It’s just that poster of that album. It reminds me of something that I saw once. Something that scared me.” 

He facepalmed. 

“I’m so sorry and I was going to play some of their music on my stereo. Man, I’m an idiot!” 

“No no no! If anyone’s an idiot, it’s me! I shouldn’t be scared of trivial things like songs. Given everything I’ve dreamt about, I should be scared of way worse things. But no, I’m not.” 

“What do you mean by ‘way worse’? I thought the monster from the first one was it?” 

“You know what I mean. I know you saw it when you caught me and I know you’re avoiding it because it makes you scared of me. It’s fine, I’m used to this. I’ll change back into my clothes and we’ll forget this ever happened.” you answered. 

You’d been through this routine before. They’d look at you like you're crazy, tell you that you are and then distance themselves from you until you have to cut them off yourself. You didn’t ask to see these things. You knew why you had to and you didn’t know how. But the thought of burdening someone other than your mother with your memories felt like too much to bear. 

“No.” he said simply. 

“‘No’?” you replied back to him. 

“I spent my whole life thinking that there’d never be someone else like me in this whole world. I spent so long trying not to seem crazy to other people.” he explained. “But you know what I realized? I realized that caring about what others thought of me was getting me nowhere. So I decided to stop caring.” 

You felt remorse for thinking that he had never gotten over all the silly and traumatic teasing he’d gone through. Now you really felt like a burden. 

“I’m sorry they didn’t listen to you. And I’m sorry if some of them still don’t. But no, I’m not sorry that I listened. I’m glad I did because we wouldn’t be here talking about this right now.” he continued. “Your ability isn’t something to feel ashamed of. It should be investigated and celebrated. Your gift could save lives. You could save lives.” 

All of those words he honestly spoke to you and yet, you still felt as if you couldn’t do those things. You still felt like a monster for not being able to stop things that you had nothing to do with. You noticed though, that your tears stopped somewhere along the way of his speech to you. 

“Do you really mean that?” you asked him. 

“I do.” he replied with a small smile. 

He looked so sweet that way. 

“Thank you.” 

He glanced away from you and down at his watch. He gasped when he saw the time. 

“I should be getting you home. Your mom is probably going to kill me.” 

“Yeah. And no, not unless you piss her off. Then she’d take you to the pigs.” you joked. 

“Now you’re really starting to scare me.” he laughed. “But yeah, I wouldn’t want to provoke that.” 

“Then guide me to the carriage sir.” you said formally, doing a fake curtsy. 

 “Right this way Miss.” he joked along. 

All those words and his nature made you rethink some things. Could it really be that this was a gift? 

The car ride home was an almost silent one. It would have been completely so if two cars hadn’t collided into one another right before the both of you at the stoplight. Your hands latched around Dib’s arm as you hid your face in his shoulder. You could have sworn that before it all happened, Dib’s eyes had turned a deep shade of red devoid of pupils. But no, it must’ve been the shock of it all. You had to be seeing things again. That was all it was. 

Yet, something still bothered you. Your mind flashed back to the nightmare you’d had the previous night. A bright eyed creature in the driver’s seat next to you as the both of you looked upon the fiery crash. The cars were the exact same as the ones before you now. It had never happened like this before. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. 

“Hey! Can you hear me? Everything’s going to be okay!” Dib exclaimed, holding your face in his hands. 

Your eyes darted around rapidly until you caught a small glimpse of something on his forearm. Black fur was peeking out from his sleeve. You examined him now. It was on his ear and his neck. It was even coming up from the neckline of his shirt. Dib wasn’t just weird, he was like you. He had a secret to hide. You wanted the truth from him and you wanted it now. But before you could speak, your world went dark. 

Chapter Text

Dib’s voice was delicate like a leaf landing on a still lake as he called out to you. 

“Can you hear me?” 

His gentleness was pushed away as you lurched upward and gasped out in fear. You latched onto his arm again before pushing yourself off of him. You couldn’t shake the feeling the nightmare brought you. This was unfamiliar, this was personal . 

“I can hear you.” you repeated a few times. 

“Oh honey, are you okay? I heard about what happened. You must have been horrified!” your mom said, wrapping you in an uncomfortable hug. 

“Hi mom.” you mumbled out. 

“Thank you for bringing her home and keeping her safe. Dib, wasn’t it?” she said, turning to him. 

“Of course. It was the least I could do, really. And yes it’s Dib, Dib Membrane.” he replied, adjusting his glasses. 

They shook hands formally. 

“If I could help either of you in any way let me know.” he said, gritting his teeth awkwardly. 

The tension in the room was high. You weren’t sure exactly why he was so odd around your mom. But you chalked it up to his reputation. Your mom never really cared about that sort of thing however. You wanted to tell him that she very obviously liked him and appreciated him but all you could manage to do was stare at him. 

“Of course. I think we’re good for now, but just in case you don’t mind walking with her to classes and that sort of thing.” she explained. “Just to keep her company during this time. She’s gone through a lot this past year and she needs people around her. She seems to like you so I..” 

You broke your silence. 

“Mom!” 

“Sorry honey.” she said, growing quiet for a moment. “Thank you again, Dib and come back anytime. A friend of hers is a friend of mine.” 

He nodded before looking at you longingly. Your mom walked him out the door and came back in a few minutes later. 

“He’s kind of cute.” she smirked jokingly. 

“Mom, I just witnessed a car crash.” you commented. “Like, right in front of my face. And so did he.” 

“He’s still cute. I’m glad you’re stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new.. things .” she replied. 

“I could have died.” you said coldly. 

“But he protected you and I’m very glad he did. There's not a lot of guys like that out there anymore.” she replied, her voice softer now. “I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m only trying to make you feel better.” 

“I know.” you grumbled. 

Your voice broke a little thinking about it all. 

“It was so scary.” 

Your mom surrounded you with a hug and held onto you tightly. She pressed a kiss to your temple before releasing you from her embrace. 

“I’ll make something for dinner tonight but you should get some rest.” 

“Thanks mom.” you smiled. 

You slowly got up and made a less than swift return to your room. When you reached its welcome coziness you noticed something strange. A folded up piece of paper was poking out from underneath your pillow. You tilted your head in confusion as you pulled it out and unfolded it. 

It was a note but it wasn’t from Dib. So how did it end up in your room? Now that you examined it closely, you saw a laser-like hole burned into where your name had once been. 

All it said; 

I KnOw yOuR SeCrEt

A scratching sound came from your window, causing you to drop the note quickly. Along the glass drew a claw as a black mass with red eyes hoisted itself up into the tree where your tree house used to be. You stepped backwards not wanting to alert it. It still didn’t see you. It perched itself on a broken wooden plank and quickly locked eyes with you.

You swore underneath your breath before scrambling for your phone. But once you had it in your grasp, the creature was gone. Not only was there a hole in the paper but a hole in your understanding of the world around you. 

Explaining why you hadn’t come into your teacher’s class was going to be a tough one. You couldn’t tell him that you’d ditched or that you’d witnessed a horrific crash on the way home from ditching. So you lied even though you hated it. 

“I got sick.” you claimed. 

“How so?” Mr. Romero curtly replied. 

“You do know how disgusting the cafeteria food is right?” you argued. “I don’t think that stuff is FDA approved.” 

“What did you eat?” 

He was growing more frustrated with you. This may or may not have been the third time you hadn’t come in on time or at all within the month. 

“Bloaty’s.” you said.

“Makes sense. Sit down, we’re doing a partner project today.” 

You nodded before turning to escape to your seat. Much to your pleasant surprise, Dib was in the seat next to yours. 

“Hi.” you softly smiled. 

“Hey. I hope it’s okay that Romero paired us up.” he spoke softly over the other voices. 

He looked exhausted. He had bandages all over his fingernails and a small crack had formed on one of his lenses. But still, he smiled back at you. 

“Dib, are you okay?” you asked. 

You reached out to touch his arm but he flinched away. 

“Sorry. I guess I’m just used to..” 

You both looked behind yourselves in tandem to see people snickering and making snide remarks. You promptly rolled your eyes as you both turned back around. 

“Don’t worry about them. Just focus on me, what they think doesn’t matter. Just worry about me-our- the project I mean.” you said. 

“Okay.” he said, laying his head down. 

“She’s wearing his clothes.” someone whispered. 

“Looks like Dib finally got lucky, gross.” another said. 

“Who would even like him?” said someone else. “I mean he’s well.. Dib. ” 

“Alright class, can I please have your attention?” 

“Do you remember in middle school when he totally ate shit in that water balloon fight with Zim?” 

“Class, attention please.” 

“Oh yeah! I don’t even know why he thought he could take on Zim! He’s like the weakest link..” 

“Shut up!” you said, unable to stop the words from spilling out. “At least he’s more human than the rest of you! How could you say such terrible things about someone you’ve known for so long? Let alone someone who I think is a wonderful person no matter what he did before today! His past mistakes shouldn’t matter now!” 

Mr. Romero barked out angrily. 

“You and that boy are to go to the Dean’s office immediately!” 

“But they were picking on him! Quite viciously might I add? Isn’t there a policy against that in your handbook?” you replied.

“Dean’s office. Now.” 

You took hold of your bag with one hand and of Dib’s arm in the other and walked carefully down the steps that led up to your seats. You didn’t care about what people thought of you but you cared about Dib enough to try to help him. After all, he knew your secret now. You had to be kind to him. It was the right thing to do. Your mom had always said to do the next right thing. This was it. 

The other students still continued to leer and make hurtful comments about the both of you as you walked out of the room. You let go of Dib’s arm for a split second and slammed the door behind you accidentally, wincing as the sound echoed out. Thankfully, Romero didn’t care enough to bicker with you again. 

Dib gazed at you, mesmerized. You turned to look back at him in confusion. 

“What is it?” you asked him. 

“Nobody’s ever stood up for me.” he answered quietly. 

You thought about that for a few seconds, the sadness hitting you like a slow wave. He really was all on his own here without you. 

“Consider it an agreement.” you said, pushing any other feelings down. 

“Agreement? What do you mean by that?” 

“We won’t let each other down, no matter what. Because we’re friends and that’s what you’re supposed to do.” you replied. “You deserve someone in your life that’s good to you. I may not be the best option..” 

“You’re the option I’d pick over everyone.” 

The words sent flutters through your stomach instantly. You didn’t know he liked you that much. Especially enough to say that. 

“You too. I mean I’d do that too but with..you.” you muttered. “I think you’re really cool Dib, I mean it.” 

“You too.” 

You smiled, letting out a small laugh. It made you feel immensely better that he was so relatable without being a jerk about it. Not a lot of people were like that anymore. You had spent the longest time trying to wrap your head around the idea of being “not normal”. Normal had been considered what everyone else you had ever known identified as. But not you, you were strange and embraced it. Hence, why you were standing in the hallway waiting for the Dean with none other than Dib Membrane the paranormal investigator. 

“You know I’m not used to..anybody being so real with me without putting up a front.” you sadly spoke. “I’m sorry, I should be rehearsing an excuse for..” 

One of the counselors poked her head out from the door. 

“The Dean will see you now.” she said before returning to her sub-office. 

It was always unsettling being in the office. It was as if a dark cloud of negativity hung firmly over its brightly lit walls. You and Dib took your seats in front of the Dean’s desk. 

“So why is it that you two were transferred to my office? What was the disruption you caused?” she asked without hesitation. 

“Ma’am, with all due respect, we weren’t being disruptive. The other students were picking on..” 

“I’m not finished.” she spoke again. “Why is it that you, Professor Membrane’s son of all boys, is in this room every other week? I expect so much more from you. You’re wasting your potential, doing what? Chasing aliens and ghosts around with fake talismans?” 

“Miss..” 

“Do I have to tell you when I’m done?” 

He shut down instantly at this. 

“Ma’am, I think we’re done here. If you called us in here to hear us out and you’re actively choosing to not listen, we will leave and no problem will be solved. Except you will have a new one when the both of us move to different universities.” you replied. “You probably think I’m cold for that but you don’t know the half of it about Dib. Sure, he’s had his moments but he’s just another one of us. We’re all people just trying our best in this mess of a world.” 

“Both of you are dismissed for the day until I decide what to do about your future here.” she responded. “Now leave.” 

The two of you left her office, walked down the hall and exited into the courtyard. Dib was unusually quiet now. He wasn’t as excitable as you imagined him to be after you stood up to her. 

His shoes scuffed against the ground as he stopped. His breath hitched in his throat as he began panting. 

“Dib? Dib, what’s wrong? Dib!” you questioned fervently. “Dib?” 

“My dad..he’s going to kill me for this. He got me into this school and now I’m totally getting expelled. Gaz won’t stand up for me either. This is so much worse than I thought. I should’ve never..” 

“Dib, don’t say that. He won’t mind. It’ll all be okay. Everything’s going to be fine..” you spoke softly. 

He interrupted you with fire flaming behind his words.

“No! It’s not fine! You don’t understand because your dad isn’t around like mine is!” he shouted. “He..he..” 

The weight of his words dawned on him as you stared at him blankly. You noticed that strange fuzz sticking out from his sleeve again. But you didn’t care now. You had known before that this was too good to be true. You had to cut this off before you could get hurt again. 

“Stay away from me, Dib.” 

“What?” he sounded defeated. “I’m sorry, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“Don’t worry, I know you did. Just stay away from me. I can’t..I can’t do this again.” you sighed out. 

You held down the lump in your throat, biting back your tears. It was always too good to be true. Dib reached out towards you as the sun went down. The streetlight shined down brightly on the two of you. Dib looked up, his eyes glued in fixation. You waited for him to move, to say something, do anything. But he didn’t. But why were you staying? All of his care had been a fad anyways. Why were you staying? Why? 

Suddenly, black fur sprouted all across his face and arms, leaving his glazed over eyes untouched. You slapped your hand over your mouth in shock, stammering over misplaced words. 

“Dib, what’s happening to you?” 

“I..I..” he cried. “I shouldn’t have done it. I just wanted..” 

“Did what? What did you do?” you said.

You reached your hand toward his face but he swatted it away. A tender redness formed over the back of your hand before blood began dripping from the scars. The fur on his body disappeared once he saw what he did. And so did any sense of you staying there. 

Your voice was no more than a whisper.

“Stay away from me.” 

“Wait..” 

He approached you slowly. 

“Stay away..” 

Before he could manage to say anything else, you turned on your heels and ran as far as you could.  

Your shoes scratched against the pavement as you ran home. You didn’t care how many blocks there were, you just had to get there and lock the door and everything would settle. 

But before your feet could touch the ground again you felt yourself being lifted upwards. You attempted to grab at a street sign, your blood smearing across it. You landed on your back first in a strange ship. Yet, it wasn’t long until gravity brought you back down on your face. 

The horror was far from over however. You felt metallic restraints slink around you quickly. Your eyes adjusted to the interior of the ship. Right beside you was Zim, who was piloting back to his house. 

“What..?” you mumbled. “I don’t understand. Zim..?” 

“Ah! Dib’s love-pig, you have awakened! You must tell me how you have brainwashed him!” Zim answered. 

He nearly veered off course before turning his sights back on the road. He was thrilled to have stolen you from under Dib’s nose. You despised him for hurting Dib, but he couldn’t care less. He would do everything in his power to ruin Dib’s life. For whatever reason, you were never able to figure it out. You had always thought that Dib was a good person. You could sense it on him. He was always easy to be around and funny. Yeah sure, it was only a humor you understood, but at least someone did. 

“He’s going to kick your ass when he finds us.” you hissed.  

“Hehehe! Silly human ! I dismantled the Dib’s tracker he placed on this ship ages ago!” 

You could have sworn that was a rumor at some point. Maybe Dib was slightly crazy, but who were you kidding? You would’ve done the same thing had you dreamed about the truth of Zim’s identity. And no human was naturally green either. You thought to yourself about what Dib would do now. Your feet and knees were free. Amateur. You rolled your lower half into a curling position and mustered up all of the strength you had. You launched your feet into Zim’s face, knocking him out of the seat. 

Within seconds, the ship began thrashing around violently. The cloaking device disabled itself as the ship screeched against the ground. The metal caught sparks along the asphalt, starting small fires around the outer part of the ship. It finally came to a screeching halt. You breathed out a sigh of relief until you felt yourself sliding downwards. You turned to see the head of the ship peeking over the edge of a cliff. You turned to find Zim completely knocked out, about to slip out of the broken front window. You didn’t have time, you had to act fast. 

You slipped your arms out of the restraints with a little less than ease. Blood dripped from your forehead. But you had no time to worry about that. If you didn’t grab him, Zim would die and it would be your fault. You launched yourself toward him again, reaching out with both of your hands. You used one hand to hang onto a large rock that jutted through the back of the ship. You used the other to latch his hand in yours. As soon as you held him, his ship fell away into pieces below. Zim was small, thankfully. 

Now you had a choice. Yourself or Zim.