Note: I'm trying my hand at a ZAGF/ZAGRish fic. Though I ship Pepito/Gaz like crazy, I happen to like this ship too.

Gaz is 16 years old in this fic, whilst Dib and Zim are 17 years old. Everyone's older. Blah blah.

~Sammi

Gaz Membrane sat in the crook of the comfy sofa in her living room, pouring every ounce of focus and determination into her latest version of her Gameslave, and the latest and greatest video game to go with it; Vampire Piggy Hunter. The goth's focus intensified as she tried her best to ignore the ongoing ruckus in the room...Dib and Zim arguing about something stupid, of course. It was just a typical argument. Unless it was a real, legitimate threat Zim was bringing upon Earth, she could care less. All she heard between dying blood pigs was Dib and Zim ranting and raving about something that was "stolen" or lost at school. No big deal...

She tried her best to tune them both out so she could beat the final level of her new game. Sweet victory was only moments away from her...

"ZIM, I DIDN'T TAKE IT!" Dib loudly insisted, growing agitated by Zim's accusation.

"IF YOU DIDN'T STEAL IT THEN SURELY THE SCARY DEMON SISTER HAS IT!" Zim blurted out, pointing to said scary sister in her own little world.

"WHY ON EARTH WOULD GAZ WANT THAT?!" Dib asked rhetorically.

"BECAUSE DIB-STINK, SHE WISHES SOMETHING THAT BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZINGLY CRAFTED WAS IN HER POSSESSION!" Zim yelled back, in a strained attempt in finding his lost item.

"THAT'S JUST STUPID, EVEN FOR YOU! Unless it's a video game or a Bloaty's gift card, she doesn't have it!" Dib shouted back, stepping protectively in front of Gaz in case Zim was dumb enough to make a move.

"THEN THAT LEADS ME BACK TO YOOOOUUUUU! I'VE ALREADY RIPPED APART THE REST OF THE TOWN AND HAVE YET TO FIND IT! YOU HAVE IT!" The Irken shrieked, pointing his finger directly in Dib's face, even flicking his glasses.

"OF ALL THE THINGS I COULD HAVE STOLEN FROM YOU, WHY WOULD I TAKE SUCH A DUMB PIECE OF JUNK?! I would obviously go for something that could give me irrefutable proof and expose you for the alien menace you really are! Like a weapon, for example! Not something that the rest of my people would pass off as just another dumb fashion statement!" Dib shouted at the Irken, who was finally head towards the door after at least an hour of arguing.

Zim spun around, almost glaring daggers at the fact his arch nemesis insulted the object that he considered valuable. His hands curled into fists, and he looked as furious as anyone's ever seen him. "IT'S NOT JUST SOME USELESS TRINKET!" He quickly spat out like venom. "IT'S MUCH MORE VALUABLE THAN YOUR SIMPLE HUMAN MIND CAN EVEN FATHOM!" He lashed out in a sudden rage, and over a rather unusual situation of seemingly minimal importance. Zim shook his head. No one would get it. How could anyone from here possibly understand? Why would they even care? Nobody did...He felt a mixture of turbulent emotions rush him, over which he had no control; Anger, primarily. Dissatisfaction. Sadness. Regret. They were all boiling to the surface. Not wanting to talk to Dib or anyone any longer, he slammed the door to the Membrane household shut, taking off into the night.

Dib stood there, feeling rather dumbfounded. Sure, Zim was notorious for strange outbursts over the years, but he never once saw him...like that. He looked so frustrated, even stressed. It was indeed different from anything he's ever witnessed. Zim was always so arrogant...but now he just seemed...desperate...desperate to find the lost item. This was weird, even for Zim. The paranormal investigator knew in the pit of his stomach that there was something more...to whatever this is.

"Geez. Have you ever seen him like that before, Gaz? He sure was acting strange..." Dib felt the need to point out.

At this point, she was only paying attention somewhat. "I don't know. He's Zim. He's always acting weird." She assured her brother as if the Irken's erratic behavior was normal.

"You didn't happen to see it anywhere, did you?" Dib asked out of curiosity.

Gaz's video game sounded a victorious note, indicating to her brother her game just ended. "Huh?" She asked in confusion, finally looking up from the game.

"If you find it, just give it to me so I can give it back to Zim. I don't need him breaking into the house looking for it again." Dib told her.

"Fine. Whatever." She responded. She wasn't even remotely interested in what it was, and she missed most of the conversation. She had no intentions of learning about whatever it was. Hell, if Dib wasn't even interested in it, why should she be? Chances are it was probably something dumb or irrelevant anyways.

"He just keeps insisting that I stole it! What a lizard. Why would he think that I even have it? Sure, I keep tabs on him at all times, but that doesn't seem too important." Dib mentioned to her. "It's like he's getting crazier everyday, Gaz."

"Eh...He's Zim. When isn't he being crazy?" She reasoned, passing the ordeal off as normal she closed her Gameslave.

"True...Well, I'm gonna brush my teeth and then head to bed." Dib said with a yawn. "You should get some rest too. You're always up late since you got your new games."

"Okay, Dad. And I just beat my last one." She said with a yawn as well, feeling a little exhausted. "I still need to find one more version of Vampire Piggy Hunter D. I couldn't find it anywhere. I NEED IT..."

"Obsessed much?" He joked.

Gaz just scoffed. "You ought to talk. What time does Zim get his newspaper on a Thursday again?" She asked.

Dib sighed. "3:12 in the afternoon." He answered, almost shamefully.

Gaz just laughed. "Point proven." She retorted.

"I only know that because Thursday is the only day when he conducts his weird laser experiments! It's like he's sending signals out into space for all of his alien buddies to come find us and take over or something! I want to know what he's up to!" Dib said defensively.

"Well, get me if it's actually something important." She told him as she stretched, getting up off of the couch. "Otherwise, I don't care."

"I think he's sending pictures or symbols...maybe a message in his own language..." He theorized aloud, pacing back and forth as he pondered the mystery of it all.

Gaz just groaned in annoyance. Again, unless Zim was about to unleash an actual threat upon them, she didn't need to hear about the alien 24/7. The alien was too arrogant and self absorbed to make most plans work. Not to mention Zim just didn't give a damn about anybody but himself. Why should she care if he was talking to his so called space buddies? He seemed incapable of actually being friends with anyone...she should know...She wasn't one to have any friends either...

"Anyways, Gaz, I'm going to bed soon." Dib finally said, finishing up some rant which she naturally tuned the rest out.

"Yeah. Okay. Goodnight, dweeb." She answered, taking her game out of the console and inspecting it.

"Don't forget to turn the security system on...And goodnight, Gaz." He answered, disappearing just around the corner.

"Yeah..." She faintly answered, looking in the direction of their father's home made security system mounted on the wall. As the dark girl started to walk over toward it, she dropped her precious video game...

"Crap!" She complained as she saw it roll under the couch. She immediately got down on her knees to retrieve it, praying to the video game gods that it wasn't broken. She blindly reached her hand under the couch, feeling for the disc...nothing so far...just a couple dust bunnies...and then...something else?

She felt the small cold metal object in her hand. She quickly pulled it out from underneath the couch, staring at it briefly as she held it up to her face. It looked like a small, purple piece of metal in the shape of a bean? She turned it around, revealing the other side to be a metal of crimson in color. She noted it had hinges on its side, plus foreign symbols etched onto the front of it...like a locket?

Zim's...That must be the thing which he was driving everyone crazy about. How did it end up here, under the couch? She thought to herself. She placed it to the side while she reached under the couch again, and finally pulled out her video game. However, she found herself drawn back to the mysterious object. A simple, but alien piece of jewelry. She looked around to see if Dib was anywhere in sight...Finding her curiosity surprisingly getting the better of her, she found the tiny latch to open the little bean shaped object. She debated for a second to decide if she truly wanted to see what Zim was hiding in a piece of jewelry. On one hand, she thought it was none of her business; she would hate it if someone went through a personal item of hers...on the other hand...she really wanted to see for herself what Zim of all people could consider of the utmost importance.

She carefully opened the boxy metal piece...only to find a picture of a rather proud looking Zim on one side...which seemed typical...that and another photo of a girl?

"Wow." She muttered to herself in contemplation as she stared at the girl...A weird, uneasy feeling came across Gaz as she inspected the image of the unknown alien girl. It almost sent a chill up her spine as she looked the picture of the Irken female over.

She had unusual curled antennae, which stayed almost flat to her head. They were shaped into two upside down scythe like points that seemed to frame her face perfectly. She had reddish purple orbs for eyes, which seemed intense even though they were half open at best, contrasting her light green skin. Her wicked looking eyes were defined by thick, black sharp pointed eyelashes. She wore a very dark colored purple shirt, with charcoal colored black striped sleeves. The unknown female's demeanor seemed threatening, as she wore a deadly serious look on her face... And yet Zim seemed to cherish this particularly horrifying photo of this girl.

An eerie feeling sprang into the pit of Gaz's stomach, as she kept analyzing the photo. She couldn't take her squinted eyes off of the Irken female. Was she... Zim's...girlfriend? The thought of Zim having a relationship with anyone was kinda weird, and for some reason she couldn't quite explain, it kind of bothered her. She knew she stumbled across something deeply personal of Zim's; something he never shared with anyone; something he was apparently ripping apart the town to search for.

"Damn it." A reluctant Gaz muttered to herself in some form of annoyance, as she knew what needed to be done...

She was going to ignore Dib's order. The locket wasn't a threat; it wasn't a weapon or anything to doom anyone. It was something that was deeply valuable to Zim in another way.

Gaz sighed as she closed it up and slipped the "bean" that she found into her black dress pocket; she was going to return it to its rightful owner. She grabbed a black jacket, along with a baseball bat in case ANYONE would be stupid enough to give her any trouble. She set the security system, and quickly headed out the door into the pitch black night with a destination and plan in mind; she was going to quickly drop it off at Zim's house and leave...

~Gaz should have paid a little more attention during Zim and Dib's rants.

Zim has a secret...and it lies in the bean shaped locket.