Arm: This is a little something that Leg and I decided to do. You see, our bestfriend (or, one of them. He shall remain nameless) is and has been abused.

Leg: We want to dedicate this to him. Some of the things in here are actual events that happened to our friend; others are of our own imagination. It's our way of telling him that we care and that there will always be someone that does.

Arm: Alright, with that little spiel out of the way, let's just say that we don't own the characters and you blood-sucking lawyers will not sue us, okay? We're just trying to get our little ideas out in the open. And for those of you who must know, this is the first time Leg and I have tried to write something on the subject of child abuse. You have been warned. It's all in one story, since Leg and I didn't feel like uploading chapter upon chapter.

Leg: Oh, and Dib's about 13 in the prologue, about a good two years after Zim arrived on Earth, just to let you know.

Abuse

Prologue

Dib looked at the car parked in front of his house with wide eyes. No, she just couldn't be here, not now. His mother couldn't be here; it wasn't her usual day to visit. But he couldn't fight the truth, her car was sitting on the side of the road, plain as day, like a warning, to tell him to run as far away as he could from his house until he knew his mother was gone. But he had no where to run to, and his mother would be even more pissed at him if she didn't see him at all. She would know if he were avoiding her.

He numbly walked past the car, being careful not to touch it. He remembered that time when his mother almost hit him when he was crossing the street, a few years ago, claiming that she didn't see him. Dib shuddered as he shouldered his book bag and took a deep breath. He was going to try and sneak into his room without being noticed. He'd come down stairs and talk to his mother when Gaz got home. He opened the door slowly. So far so good. He headed for the stairs, hoping that she wouldn't notice him.

"Dib, is that you?" she asked from the kitchen. Let's just call her Sora for now, since her real name is unknown, and that's her nickname around the area.

Damn! Dib cursed to himself. "Yes," he replied as she changed directions and headed for the kitchen. He glared at the floor as he walked towards it. He tried to smile and look happy to see his mother. But how could he do that when she has done more damage to him than anyone in existence?

He looked up at his mother. She looked genuinely happy to see him, which was truly the understatement of the century to him. His mother was never happy to see him, ever. Sora was a master at hiding her true emotions, the only thing Dib was happy that he inherited from her. How else could he hide the fact that he was so unhappy with his family life so well?

"Hey mom," he said in his most polite voice. This was how it usually started. He would be as polite as can be, agree with whatever the hell she said, and generally be on his best behavior. Was that ever enough for Sora? Well, if he did it correctly, yes, and he could go a day without a new bruise or injury, but he usually fell into her traps.

"Hello Dib," Sora said back. "What time did skool end for you today?"

Typical first question. "Fifteen minutes ago," Dib answered cautiously. He knew he had said the wrong thing when her expression changed slightly. I should have said ten, Dib realized, I should have said ten.

"You're late. Didn't your father tell you that I was coming here today?" Sora asked, leaning against the counter and folding her arms across her chest.

No, if I had known, I wouldn't have chased Zim all over the damn neighborhood, Dib thought to himself. "No," he replied quietly. "Don't get mad at dad though, I was in a hurry to get out of the house this morning," Dib added quickly.

That caught Sora's interest, and she raised a light purple eyebrow at it. "Why were you in a rush to get out of the house this morning? You weren't chasing that green kid around because you think he's an alien, were you?" Sora asked.

Dib inwardly flinched at that. She must have seen him that morning when he passed by her work the last few times. "No," he lied through his teeth. He would kill himself later for what he was going to say next. "He and I are good friends, and he wanted to tell me something important this morning."

"That's not what Gaz told me last night over the phone," Sora stated.

Oh shit. Shit shit shit shit! This is NOT good, NOT good at all. Dib told himself over and over again. "Oh," Dib muttered as he gulped. He had just walked into Trap One. Trap One usually just got him yelled at, but if he stumbled into Trap Two, he was going to be in deep.

"Gaz said that you and that green kid—Zim, was it?—chase each other around all the time," Sora said as she narrowed her eyes at him, nearly frying holes into his head by how intensely she was staring at him.

"Fine, maybe I was chasing him around instead of meeting him somewhere," Dib admitted cautiously. He started to back up subconsciously. He could tell that his mother was about to grab him, and he wanted to get out of there before she got the chance to.

"Why would you be chasing such a cute guy around, Dib, unless you liked him?" Sora asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Dib stopped inching backwards and stared at his mother. His mother had no right to make fun of his sexuality like that! No right at all! And to suggest that the object of his affections was the one thing he could possibly hate more than anything else really pissed him off. "How the fuck did you ever come up with that idea?" Dib nearly shouted at her. He shut his mouth in shock at what he had just said to his mother.

Another spasm of "Oh shit" ran through his mind. He blindly walked into Trap Two, and he instantly knew he wasn't going to get out of the kitchen without some new injury. His mother grabbed him by the wrist to keep him from running out of the room in his new bout of fear. He tried to struggle to get free from his mother's vice-like grip, but it was no use.

"Tell me whether or not you like Zim, or…" Sora turned on one of the burners of the stove, and left the sentence unfinished.

Dib looked up at his mother. He wouldn't put anything past her, and he knew that she would do what he was thinking. "I don't like Zim. I hate his guts. I want to see him on the cover of one of my UFO zines, his body cut open and his organs spewed across the autopsy table," Dib said. It would have sounded more hateful if it weren't for his consuming fear of what his mother was going to do to him.

Sora just held onto her son's wrist. "That, Dib, is the object of your sister's affections you are talking about. You will do no such thing to him, you hear?" Sora ordered, dragging him closer to the stove with her strength. "If you so much as touch another hair on that boy's head…" she trailed off and looked at her son's face. His fear of her was very evident now, but she could see the revulsion he was experiencing because of what she had just told him.

"What would you do to me?" Dib asked her quietly, his voice getting slightly higher than usual.

"Oh, nothing much…. This is just a preview," Sora stated as she moved his hand about three inches about the flame on the burner.

Dib refused to call out and tell her that it hurt; that was exactly what she wanted him to do. But then he felt her move his hand closer and closer to the flame, and he nearly panicked. He finally found the strength to pull away from her grip, and he rubbed the side of his hand where his mother had burned it. He had tears in his eyes. "I am so SICK of the way you treat ME!" he shouted at her through his tears.

Sora just smirked. She had done her job. "Let that be a lesson to you," she just said as she looked at Dib.

"Is this how you show love, Sora?!" Dib asked. He never called his mother "mom" since the day she threw broken pieces of china at his back and sliced up his entire back and part of his leg. "Because I don't feel loved!" he continued.

Sora frowned at that. How dare her son say that she didn't love him? She slapped him for that. "You're too young to know how you feel, and you won't know until you're an adult," she stated.

Dib glared at her. He knew damn well how he felt. His mother was just simply full of bull shit about nearly everything there could be. She was the least motherly woman on the planet, and she favored one child. He sure wasn't going to speak his mind though, or else she'd force his hand completely into that flame.

"Tell Gaz that I said hi. I'm going to be late," Sora stated suddenly. She walked past Dib and smacked the back of his head for glaring at her. "And remember, if I find out that you've bothered Zim in anyway, that hand of yours will be worse than it is now, got it?" Then she was out of the door.

Dib examined his hand and then turned to glare at the front door. It wasn't that bad of a burn, luckily. He went upstairs to his room. As he was passing his father's bedroom (which really didn't make sense because Membrane usually didn't sleep in the house), he noticed something different about it. There were more of his mother's things all over the floor of it.

"No…. No. She can't be moving back in, can she?" Dib asked himself out loud. It would explain why Sora had been visiting so often these days. But they didn't ask him if he wanted her to move back in, which he most definitely didn't want to happen. He hoped that she wouldn't move back in. He seriously hoped she wouldn't.

One Year Later, Zim's POV

Ugh. Skool. I don't feel like going today, my days haven't been nearly as…amusing since Dib suddenly decided to stop chasing me all over the damn town. At first I thought it was some sign, that everything would be over and done with, as far as invading the Earth went. It wasn't. No matter how many times I asked the Tallests to send me the Armada, they would say it was in the shop or something. I'm beginning to believe that they do not want to send me it. Though I had to go to skool, if I didn't want to give my true identity away.

Many things have changed for me in the past year, the biggest one being Dib's change of plans. He doesn't even look up at me anymore when I walk into the classroom to glare at me. Dib also seems more withdrawn, and Gaz hasn't stopped talking to me since about the same time as well. I think she has a crush on me, so I blatantly ignore her as best as I can. Gir has calmed down somewhat as well, and can focus even more. But the weirdest change is definitely the way Dib is acting.

It was the weirdest thing when he came up to me, asked for a truce, then walked away. Then he began to ignore me completely. I said and did things that would make him jump out of his seat and scream "He's an alien!" purposely, and I'd get no response from it. None. And now he's constantly hiding his arms from people. Before he didn't care if the arms of his trench coat slid down, but now he does.

I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking about him. So what if Dib just hasn't been himself for about a year? He's my enemy, I'm supposed to feel absolutely nothing but hate towards him. Then why am I worrying so much about his weird behavior? Okay, fine, I'm more than worried. I just want to run up to him and ask him what's wrong with him. He just isn't the same Dib I met three years ago.

As I walked into my classroom, I noticed that a different teacher was there. She wasn't an old hag like most teachers were. I sat down in my seat and waited for class to begin, just as Dib walked in before the bell.

"You're late, Dib," the new teacher said. I wondered briefly how the two knew each other.

"I know," he mumbled to himself, throwing the woman a glare I've only seen him use on me before. "And I'm glad to be," he continued, thinking he wasn't heard.

I saw the woman's eye twitch. I wondered who the hell she was. Dib hasn't used that tone of voice since he stopped stalking me, basically. I eyed my skool work and tried to complete what little of it I had left. I really didn't like this new teacher.

"My name is Mrs. C, and I will be your teacher for the rest of the year. For those of you who are wondering why Dib and I know each other, it is because I'm his mother. I will treat him just like any student here, and he will get no special treatment. Now, grab your notebooks and turn to page…."

So that's how they know each other. It makes sense. But why would Dib be angry that his mother was teaching him? That's when I noticed some of the looks that were going on between the two of them. Dib seemed to be on his best behavior in front of his mother, but it wasn't because he was trying to impress her, it was almost like he was afraid to get in trouble, which Dib almost never was. His mother constantly glanced at his direction, and then at me.

I sighed and tried to focus on the work that was being placed in front of me. Stupid human math, they were far behind in it. I was bored, so I turned to Dib, who had decided to look over at me. He tried to smile, it seemed like, so I did him a favor for once and smiled back. He seemed kind of shocked at the action, then turned away. I turned back around in my seat and noticed that Mrs. C was studying Dib and I through the corner of her eye. I suddenly didn't like her.

There was an air of coldness coming from her; one similar to the one Ms. Bitters had, but worse. It was like she seriously didn't want to be there, in front of us, teaching. I wondered if anyone felt it too. I glanced back over at Dib. He started to look bored at the lesson, but he still remained awake. Like he was afraid that if he didn't, he would get hurt. Which was impossible. And he kept rubbing the same hand he had mysteriously burned last year. I saw that he was about to look at me again and I instantly turned away and tried to focus on the lesson. I suddenly couldn't wait for lunch.

When the bell did finally ring for lunch, I jumped out of my seat and rushed out of the door, glad to be out of that stuffy classroom for the lunch hour. I heard Mrs. C order Dib to stay in the classroom as I walked out though, and I suddenly wanted to stay there. So I did the next best thing, I stood next to the classroom door and waited for Dib to come out of the room. I heard a slight yelp coming from Dib and Mrs. C whispering something to him, and she whispered it harshly.

Dib walked out of the room, rubbing one of his arms. He walked past me and whispered something to himself, not even noticing that I was there. "What did she do to you, Dib?" I asked as I walked up next to him.

Dib jumped upon hearing my voice. "Zim… It was nothing, really," Dib said as he looked down at the ground. "Now leave me alone before my mom sees us," Dib ordered.

"Look, why don't you just tell me why you suddenly decided to stop chasing me all over the damn neighborhood?" I asked.

"You still want to know that?" Dib asked me quietly.

"Yeah, it was sort of an over night change for you," I admitted. "And why would your mom care if she saw us talking to one another?" I asked.

"Nevermind… Just go somewhere else. I'll come over your place after skool when mom goes to her night job," Dib told me, then walked off, just as Gaz walked up to me.

"Hey Zim," she said quietly. This was how it usually started.

I continued towards the lunchroom and tried to ignore her. "Hello, Gaz," I said back automatically.

"I think Dib is trying to become friends with you after all these years," Gaz stated as she glanced up from her GameSlave.

That caught my interest for once, and I decided to talk to Gaz today. "Really? What makes you say that?" I asked her.

"For one, he said he was going to go to your place. He'd never do that. He's been pretty lonely for a while, so be nice to him," Gaz ordered.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked her.

Gaz just glared at me. "Look, Zim, no matter how I act like I hate my brother, I still know when he's hurt, and I never like it when he is," Gaz told me.

I just nodded my head in understanding and walked away from her. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned around to see that it was Mrs. C's hand.

"Zim, I would like to talk to you for a moment," she stated coldly.

I decided to do as I was told for once. Her grip on my shoulder was getting tighter as well, and she basically guided me back to her classroom. Something told me that I should have run when I had the chance, but I ignored it as usual. I took a seat down in my desk and waited for her to begin.

"Stay away from my son, he doesn't need to be around you," was all she said.

"I know he doesn't need to be around me, but what if he wants to?" I asked her. My arrogant nature was returning. I just didn't like her tone of voice. And who did she think she was to order me around like that? I was an Irken Invader! I only took orders from the Almighty Tallests when it came to personal matters as to who I was allowed to be around. I surely wasn't going to tell her that though.

"You're just as bad as my son. Your parents should have disciplined you better," she stated. "I already told Dib that I didn't want him to be near you, or any other guy for that matter. He needs to learn that he's supposed to like girls, not guys," she continued.

I just didn't hear what I thought I heard. Dib…was gay? I had nothing against homosexuality; it's just that I never expected to hear that my once biggest rival was like that. It didn't bother me too much; it was the fact that Dib's mother was trying to teach Dib to be something he's not that bothered me. I thought human parents were supposed to be accepting of how their children were. I took that moment to walk out of the classroom, but Mrs. C stopped me from doing so.

"Did I say you could leave yet?" she asked me.

Of course, I stopped moving. I had enough sense to know that a human could be stronger than they looked, Dib had proven that to me many a time when we were still trying to kill one another. I only turned around to face her again as my answer. I didn't feel like talking to her. She was glaring at me, but soon she opened her mouth. "How are you treating my daughter?" she asked. Her tone of voice changed. When she was talking about Dib, her voice was harsh and cold, but when it came to Gaz…she sounded how I imagined a human mother would sound.

The question threw me off though. Why would she want to know that? I treat her daughter like a treat almost every other stupid human stinkbeast on this sad excuse for a planet. I couldn't tell her that though, something told me that Mrs. C wanted me to say that I was treating her like a queen, which would mean I would have to lie. Irkens never lie unless it's apart of some plan they have to do. So I just shrugged my shoulders at her.

"You can go now," Mrs. C said finally after what seemed to be a very, very long time. I happily obliged to leave the classroom. I walked calmly to the cafeteria. I would have to do research on the subject on how Mrs. C treated her children. Something told me there just wasn't anything right with it. Maybe Dib could help me understand her behavior towards him and Gaz, when he came over today. I grabbed a lunch tray and got in line for lunch. Gaz saved me a seat, as always, and I decided that just for this once I would sit with her. Dib was sitting with her this once as well, like back in fifth grade when I first arrived here on Earth.

"What are you doing here? You know my mom could be watching your every move, right Zim?" Dib asked me in a harsh whisper as I sat down across from Gaz and next to him.

"That's exactly why I'm sitting here, Dib," I stated. He looked at me strangely, but then I think he caught on.

"Oh yeah, that's right…" he whispered to himself.

"So, Zim, you've finally decided to sit with me, how nice," Gaz said. She looked back down at her GameSlave. I still wonder why she's so into that stupid game. It was just a child's thing. I'd never ask her why though, the last time a kid asked her that, he was on the floor in seconds.

I felt Dib tap me on the shoulder. I turned to him and he pointed over to his mom. "What?" I asked him.

"Look, trust me on this, move next to Gaz," Dib stated.

"I like it fine just where I am, thank you."

"Zim…" Dib began, his voice reaching a pitch I hadn't heard come from him in a while. He gave me the most pathetic look I'd ever seen him use. I did as I was told and sat next to her. Dib relaxed visibly once I did so. There was something very odd about his behavior, and I was worried about him. What could have been happening between him and his mother that causes him to have so much fear of her?

The rest of the day passed by quickly enough for my comfort. I tried as best as I could not to look over at Dib at all during the rest of the skool day. I could feel Mrs. C's eyes on me the whole time as well. I hate that. I hate the feeling of being studied as some kind of animal. Once skool was over, I nearly jumped out of my seat and practically ran out of the classroom. I'd do anything by this point to stay away from Mrs. C. There was no way I wanted to deal with her for the rest of the year.

Arm: Okay. We lied. It will be multi-chaptered. Leg and I have too many ideas to put it all into one fic…

Leg: For those of you who might be wondering… We have no idea what couple this fic might be. We like ZAGR and Zib…so…yeah. I will do lurid thanky dance at those of you who review!

Arm: We gotta hold of JTHM…::grins evilly:: Bye!