yes, i decided to write ANOTHER pointless fanfic. i got this idea from another story i read here, but decided to tweak it a little and drag it on even longer. so here you go.

disclaimer: i regrettably don't own invader zim or any of its characters... or profits... or anything. in fact, all i own is a dog. and while that is very very nice, it doesn't change the fact that i don't own invader zim. oh well. also, this is fanFICTION, so fear not, nobody is really dead. really. i mean it. quit panicking. seriously, you're starting to freak me out...

well... um...

enjoy.

Regretting Every Minute

Chapter One

Dib's POV

"I... I... "

I killed him. I freaking don't believe it. I killed him.

I never thought it would come to this. Never in all the time I've been working against Zim, I never thought I would actually kill him.

I don't know what I thought would happen. Maybe I thought he'd just give up and go back to wherever it is he came from. I sort of hoped it would end that way. I may have been his enemy, but...

I didn't want him to die.

Maybe I thought I'd merely expose him as an alien, that the FBI would take him away and I'd be a hero for saving the Earth.

No, that was my imagination. Reality has a cold, deadly grip around my throat as I stand, numbed by shock at what I've done, watching Zim's lifeless form as he lies on the floor of his base.

I'll bet he never thought it would end here, either. Not this way. I doubt he thought I'd win in any way, least of all that I'd take his life. It's strange, but I find myself doubting that he would even have killed me if he'd gotten the chance.

And I suddenly realize: I wouldn't have either.

But if that's so, then why is Zim lying dead on the floor, dead by my own hands? I'd merely fired a gun in his general direction, purely in self-defense. To protect myself. I didn't understand what was happening. It was the same old story: he'd caught me trying to break into his lab and discover his plans. All I knew was that this wasn't his usual reaction. Something had changed, and while it felt somehow more threatening than ever before, it was almost...

I can't think of the word. There really isn't a word for that feeling that I picked up on in the mere instant before the gun fired. I can almost hear him now, declaring in his over-confident way, "Foolish human! That mere earth-weapon cannot defeat ZIM!"

Apparantly, Zim, it could defeat you.

It was that feeling that had caused me to fire the gun at all. I wasn't really worried that he'd hurt me--Zim was hardly a worthy adversary. But it was my fear of that feeling--I was afraid to even think of what it was--that had pulled the trigger.

"Zim... I-I... I didn;t want you to die...

"Please. Don't die. Don't die..."

I can hardly believe it's happening, but I take his hand, much like anybody would when pleading for somebody's life.

"Please..."

The slight twitch alerts me.

"Don't worry... I won't..."