She was running as fast as her legs could carry her; trying to focus on where she was going and keeping the tears from flowing onto her white porcelain face.

She heard her brother, Dib, calling her name, trying to fix what had just happened. The sound of his pure hatred slicing into her memory.

Gaz: I didn't do A THING. She pissed me off! She DESERVED it. She said I was NOTHING. A FUCKING OUTCAST.

Dib growled and stepped closer, just a few inches from her face.

Dib: Fuck you! If you EVER hurt Gretchen again, I'll…. I'll…. I'll kill you.

Dib backed a safe distance away from her, with pure disgust written all over his expression. Gaz flipped him off, and ran out into the cold, stormy weather.

Gaz shuddered against the wind that threw frozen needles at her skin. Her violet hair whipped around her face as she sprinted; she hadn't figured out where she was going, but it was anywhere away from her brother. Straining her eyes, she looked to find her feet planted at the doorstep of a familiar glowing green house.

Absentmindedly knocking on the door, she tried fighting against the voice in her head, along with her brother's cruel comeback ringing through her ears.

Come on, you can do better than Zim's house. (kill you…)What's ZIM gonna do for you? (kill you, kill)Leave. Zim won't help.(kill you kill you kill YOU)

But before the girl had the chance to leave, a familiar green teen around 15, about Gaz's height with a lopsided, messy black wig covering his glossy blue eyes opened the door. His apparel consisted of dark blue jeans and a black hoodie.

"Gaz-human?" Zim said in a tired voice.

Gaz shoved him away harmlessly, walked into the room and spotted Gir immediately, watching the Scary Monkey Show without his cute doggy disguise. Gir looked up and saw the girl standing in the house and screamed, holding out a pink cupcake.

"HI GAZZY! Wanna CUPCAKE?"

Gaz shook her head and Gir went back to staring at the TV. Zim poked her shoulder with a rubber glove and she turned around.

" Why are you here Dib-sister? What makes you come to the house of ZII-"

Zim's rant was cut off by one of Gaz's hands covering his mouth.

"SAVE IT."

Zim batted her hand away and looked at her warily.

"I need to talk to you." Gaz spotted Gir playing with his rubber piggy, whistling the Doom Song. "Alone."

Zim nodded his head and lead her down to the base. He led her room to room and grimaced when he heard Gaz's shocked gasp. Zim rubbed his tired face and waited for Gaz to get over her shock at what she'd seen.

The room where Zim contacted the Tallest was completely trashed. The screen for the transmissions was cracked and shattered and the tiles were torn up out of the floor. Blood droplets were spattered on the debree and the lights on the roof were broken and dented.

When Gaz got a hold of herself, she looked back to find Zim taking off his disguise, including his hoodie and gloves, and she had a strange feeling of pity growing inside.

Zim's left antenna was bent at an odd angle and his ruby orbs were overthrown with a look of sadness and determination. He had on his arms and many fresh cuts running along his hands and wrists.

"Computer, put the anti-GIR screens around the base." Zim said in a monotone voice.

Zim signaled Gaz to follow him and he lead her through another assortment of rooms until they found they were in a red bedroom with another door leading to a bathroom. So, this is Zim's headquarters. A fireplace was on the opposite wall of his bed, sending a comforting glow through the room. Zim slugged his way to a black leather couch facing a TV in the corner of the room and whispered something in Irken.

She made her way slowly to the couch and sat down on the opposite side, studying Zim with a concerned expression.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Zim flipped through the channels carelessly and waited for a response.

"Why are you here Gaz?" The alien watched her with wary eyes, with a spark of curiosity in his voice.

Gaz was surprised. He NEVER called her by her name like that.

"Well…" her voice broke.

"Dammit." Gaz took a deep breath, but a tear slid from her cheek, exposing herself. She quickly wiped it away, but more streamed down her face and she told her story.

(10 minutes later)

"All this time, I thought one person would've cared. That SOMEONE could understand." She buried her face in her hands and she sobbed. She didn't care if Zim saw her weakness. It's not like he would care anyway.

Zim stared at the goth, her eyeliner smudged across her face. He didn't know what to say. Gaz, this female human, just told him her life. Her whole fucked up life about her mother who died during child birth, about her father who abandoned them for the study of 'science' and Dib, her asshole of a brother, who only ever cared for his girlfriend, Gretchen and the obsession of killing him, the Almighty Zim.

Zim did the unimaginable. He comforted the Gaz-human.

He drew himself closer to Gaz and held her. She sobbed onto his chest, as the tears soaked through his undershirt, stinging his green skin. Zim stayed like that, locked in place, until Gaz cried herself to sleep.

Zim was comforted by her steady breathing, and he had time to think. He looked at Gaz, her head in his lap now, and pitied her. She had so much to say; so much to let out. He petted her hair and felt the softness to it. He looked at her calm expression as she slept and saw one last gleaming tear crawl across her innocent face. He wiped it away with his thumb and bit his lip as the tear soaked through a cut on his finger. Looking back at her peaceful expression, he felt a weird feeling spreading throughout his squeedily-spooch.

She was so beautiful.

NO. No, I am Irken. She's human. Zim cannot fall in love with a human.

He took his hand away from her and gently picked her up, trying not to wake her.

"Zim… can't go..…Z…" Gaz clung onto Zim's torso, unconscious and unaware.

Zim looked away, and blushed. He sat down on his bed, slowly took her hands off of him and laid her down, careful not to wake her up. He watched her for a moment, and left the room, trying to clear his head.

Gaz found herself in a red bedroom, curled up in crimson colored satin sheets on a bed. She sat up; her vision blurred and she rubbed her eyes; the feeling of nausea overwhelming her. She got up from the bed and looked around. A fireplace was crackling and she glanced at the TV over in the corner. Shaking her head, she realized what happened.

She remembered she was at Zim's house. She remembered opening up to him and sobbing into him. Falling asleep in his arms. She blushed at the thought and felt something coming up.

Fuck.

Gaz ran to an open door on her left to find a bathroom. She fell on her knees by the toilet and heaved.

She stood up and flushed the toilet when she was done and went to the mirror. She saw a girl with messy purple hair and smudged eyeliner all over her face. This was someone else. She couldn't even recognize her own reflection. She remembered the previous day and the fight with Dib; what Gretchen had said to her.

"You're nothing but dirt. An outcast."

She felt numb. She couldn't cry anymore. Not now. She cleaned off her face, washed out her mouth and combed her knotted hair with her fingers.

Maybe…

Gaz pulled out her silver switchblade she bought when she was 13. She always felt better when she had it with her.

She stared at the smooth metal reflecting in the dim light of the bathroom. Gaz rolled up her sleeve and brought the blade to her wrist, determined to get the memory off of her mind. A smooth line of dark crimson crawled across her forearm and she put the knife back into her pocket. She rinsed her arm and pulled her black sleeve down.

"Gaz?" She looked through the doorway and found Zim staring at her.

Zim could smell the iron of blood as he made his way toward his room. He saw Gaz put away a switchblade and roll down her sleeve. His eyes widened as he walked into the room trying to calm his nerves at what he had just seen, and stared at the female.

"Gaz?" he said in a low voice. He scratched his antenna with his hand absentmindedly.

Gaz glared at him, challenging him to say something. She knew he saw her.

"Gir made waffles and bacon. I wouldn't trust the waffles though."

He turned around and made his way up to the kitchen, followed by Gaz who was surprisingly calm. Before they went through the doorway, Zim was slammed to the wall and Gaz held him there.

"If you say ANYTHING about what you saw or what happened last night, I will put you through nightmare worlds where there is NO fucking return. GOT IT?"

Zim nodded quickly and pried her off of him. He crossed his arms across his chest and made his way into the kitchen.

After Zim and Gaz ate their fill of bacon and waffles, Zim went to the living room to watch TV and Gaz sat at the kitchen table, reading her comic, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

It was sever hours later into the afternoon until she finished the story. Getting up, she popped her knuckles and headed her way to the living room to find Zim and Gir sitting side by side on the couch.

"Hey, you got any video games around?"

With nothing to do and nowhere to go, she decided it wouldn't matter if she stayed at the alien's house.

"Guitar Hero work for you?" Zim didn't usually play games; he was usually bent on the thought of world domination. The only reason he owned some was because Gir went out and stole them.

"Sure." Gaz followed Zim to the living room and waited for Zim to set up the game consol.

"NOOOOOOO! Beaten by a filthy human!" Zim was outraged as the heavy metal tournament finished and the words YOU LOSE scrolled across the screen.

Gaz rolled her eyes at Zim's rant, and chuckled darkly. She threw her plastic guitar onto the couch, and sat down on the floor, waiting for Zim to cool down. She looked at the window near Zim's door and watched rain droplets make their way down across the smooth glass.

Gir giggled as he came into the room with a muddy rubber piggy in his grasp.

"HEY GAZZY!" Gir dropped the dirty mess and flung onto the girl, embracing her in a tight hug.

"Masta said your PREEEEEETTY!GOR-GEOUS! It's time for the SCARY MONKEY SHOW!"

Zim blushed a dark emerald color as Gir said this. Thunder boomed outside and a quick flash of lightning lit up the room.

"GIR! Get off her!"

The little bot did as he was told and squealed as he picked up his rubber pig and ran out of the room. Gaz stared after Gir and shook her head in confusion.

Retarded robot.

Another crash of thunder shook the building and the power went out, sending them into total darkness.

"Damnit." Zim felt his way through the room and found a box lying under the couch. Opening it, he pulled out a flashlight and flipped it on. Gaz clutched her arms around her and got up from the floor. Light shined in her face and she could see little white dots clouding her vision.

"Get that out of my face Zim," Gaz growled. She squinted and made her way to the couch. Gaz shivered from the lack of heat, and curled up into the cushions. Zim took out two blankets from the box and shut it, pushing it back under the couch. The alien sat down beside her, handed her a fleece blanket, and set the flashlight on the floor below them.

The sound of rain pattering across the window became a lullaby. Zim was drifting off, but before he fell unconscious, Gaz interrupted him.

"So…. What was that Gir said you said about me?" Gaz smirked and looked at Zim to find him blushing in the dim light, trying not to catch her eye.

"Well uh… he's stupid… er… you know-"

"Forget it." Gaz snickered lightly and before she knew it, they were both cuddled somewhat close together, lost in the fantasy of dreamland.

It was the next morning when Zim woke up. He was curled up next to Gaz, who was still deep in the clutches of sleep. The alien blushed as he groggily pushed himself off of the human. He rubbed his eyes and his mind clicked into place. The power must've come back on because Gir was sitting on the floor, watching the TV intently. The rain had stopped, but the wind was whistling against the windows, sending an eerie sound into the room.

Zim got up and stretched. He never noticed how tall he had grown in the last few years he'd been on Earth. He was about the size of Gaz, but shorter than most human males, which still made him abnormal. The alien dragged himself to the elevator, which brought him to his crimson headquarters. Slowly, Zim made his way to his closet, where he changed from his black hoodie to a grey and red striped T-shirt. Zim pulled off his bandage covering his antenna, wincing from the pain of a bruise. Disposing the cloth, he looked for his disguise, but he decided against it. The Gaz-human didn't care what he looked like anyhow.

"Computer, diagnose me. I think there's something wrong."

The green teenager stood still as he was being scanned; his head hung and his ruby eyes were empty of emotion.

After about 5 minutes, Zim had his answer.

"Depression? Zim feels no emotion."

He shook his head and ignored his computer's definition of 'depression' and walked back to the living room. Gaz was awake with Gir sitting beside her, watching the Scary Monkey Show.

Depression. Peh. Zim feels nothing.

But he couldn't deny himself. He felt out of place. Something felt wrong.

"We never wanted you back…"

Zim shivered at the voice of his Tallests. Zim distracted himself by sitting on the opposite side of Gir and stared at the TV.

"That monkey…." Zim whispered and narrowed his eyes.

"Why you look so sad Matsta?" Gir said, looking up at him with big, blue, cyan eyes. Zim flinched and looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Zim patted Gir on the head and looked at Gaz, whose stomach rumbled loudly with hunger.

"Food?" He looked back at Gir and requested he make biscuits.

"BISCUITS!" Gir started screaming and fled to the kitchen, the sound of pans clanging together and Gir whistling some song Zim hadn't heard of.

By the time the biscuits were done, they made their way into the kitchen to find flour and sugar covering 90% of the room. Gir opened the oven and found his biscuits exploded and coating the inside of the oven. Gir, still happy, screamed with delight and Zim rolled his eyes, putting his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose.

"I guess we have to eat out." He said in a low tone.

Gaz nodded in agreement and had a sour expression on her face. Zim grabbed his disguise and they made their way outside, the chilly wind biting against their skin. They went around to the back of the house and made their way to the Voot Cruiser. The shinny purple colored ship stood out against the wooden fence surrounding the yard. Zim unlocked the ship with his key and jumped in.

"I thought you had to be 16 to drive." Gaz said nonchalantly.

"You don't have to be 16 to fly an Irken Voot Cruiser," Zim replied, holding out a gloved hand to help Gaz into the ship. Zim pressed an assortment of neon colored buttons, hovered for a few moments, then they shot through the cloudy sky.

"Where to? Mac Meaties? Bloaties? IHO-"

"Bloaties."

Zim nodded in agreement. Zim had only grown immune to a few of the Earth filth's food. Bloaties pizza was one of them.

After they parked, they went inside, the smell of grease and cheese overwhelming the two. Gaz made her way to the counter as Zim found a booth. Once Gaz made her order, she sat down across from the disguised alien, the booth groaning under her weight, and sighed, looking out the window and staring at the dark storm clouds. Zim just sat there, fingering his rubber gloves and contemplating whether or not to break the tension and talk. But sometimes, silence is all you need for a conversation.

Just as Zim opened his mouth to speak, a waiter came up to them, and set a pan of fresh cheese pizza onto the table. Gaz's eyes widened at the sight of Bloaty's pizza and she dove right for her first piece of pizza. Zim slowly picked up a piece, not having much of an appetite.

By the time Zim finished his first slice of pizza, Gaz had already gone through four pieces. Zim chuckled when Gaz hiccupped, and they took the rest back to the base. Gaz was trying to hide a smile on her face as they made their way to the ship. Maybe there was more to Zim than she thought…

Just as they got into the Voot Cruiser to head home, Gaz's Slipknot ringtone on her cellphone rang, and she looked to see who was calling her.

Dib.

Gaz's smile fell from her face and her knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on the phone. She steadied herself and flipped the phone to answer.

"Dib?" Gaz was in no mood to put up with this.

"Oh thank God Gaz. I thought you died! Jesus, where the hell have you been?"

"Dib," Gaz sighed and wiped her face. "Dib, I've had enough of your bull shit. I'm dealing with too much right now, and I can't deal with your paranormal ass in my business. Why aren't you with your girlfriend huh? Gretchen? Nevermind, don't let me fuck up your day by bringing THAT bitch up. Fuck off Dib. You call me again, and you'll wish you were never born."

Gaz shut her phone and struggled with herself. Looking out through the window, she saw Zim's house growing closer. Zim was strangely quiet and said nothing as they parked in the backyard. A rumble of thunder rang out above them and the wind picked up. Rain began to fall upon them and Zim ran to the front of the house. Gaz just walked to the front lawn and stepped on the walkway.

"Where are you going? Aren't you coming inside?" Zim asked with concern.

"I…," Gaz didn't really know where to go. Dib would be pissed at her. Skool was closed. She didn't have any friends to talk to, her dad was gone, her mother dead, and she had already beaten Iggins score on the Gameslave 7. There was nothing.

"I don't know."

She walked farther away from the house.

"GAZ!"

She continued, ignoring Zim's pleading to go back. She ran through the rain that pelted her face and made her way to nowhere.

Zim sighed as he watched her leave. He opened the door to find Gir on the couch. He told Gir to follow Gaz and not to be seen.

Zim programmed a tracking device on Gir a few years ago, so he could know where Gir had run off to when he needed him. It was times like this when he loved his ingenious mind to come up with inventions such as that.

As Gir left, Zim went down to his base and dunked himself in a pool of paste. Zim quickly visited the transmission room. He was putting his gloves on his scarred hands as he stepped inside the broken room; the feeling of resentment washing over him. His mind played like a tape, reeling back everything the Tallest had said to him.

Tallest Red: Zim, stop contacting us. The whole thing was a fraud. You were supposed to die.

Tallest Purple: We never wanted you back. The 'Mission' wasn't real. You're a defect to the Irken Armada.

Zim: But…

Tallest Red: If you call us again, we'll send the Armada to destroy you. Stay on Earth, your name and existence disgraces us.

(Transmission is cut)

Zim stared at the screen; he was nothing but a defect to them. Nothing but shit to his leaders. The alien was outraged and flung himself to the floor, screaming.

The memory faded from his mind and sparks shot from Zim's PAK out of anger. He turned and fled toward the entrance of the house.

"COMPUTER! WHERE IS GAZ NOW?"

A screen popped out from the ceiling and Gaz flickered on the screen. She was a mile from the cliff.

"NOOOO!"

About a year after he had visited Earth, he had grown to like the Gaz-human. If she took her life now, Zim would be alone.

He ran out into the rain with his mechanical spider legs protruding from his PAK; lightning silhouetting his figure in the cold, rainy darkness.

Gaz gazed at the glorious view from the cliff. The ocean was endless. The storm was growing and the waves were crashing against the rocks below. The rain had completely soaked her now, making every step heavier and more burdened.

She turned, hearing a muffled, squeaking sound and found to see a green dog hiding behind a tree.

"Go away Gir," Gaz said darkly.

"Gazzy! Masta said I had to follow you!"

"Well, don't. Tell Zim to fuck off. I don't need his help," Gaz whispered, turning around.

She closed her eyes and stepped on the very edge of the massive cliff.

"GAZ! NO!" Zim was about 12 feet away from her with a terrified expression upon his Irken face.

Taking another step, Gaz fell, her arms outstretched; the grey foamy waves welcoming her from beneath.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Zim dove for Gaz and caught her hand; his spider legs clinging onto the edge. Gaz looked up with sadness, seeing the alien struggling to support her weight. Zim pulled her up and back onto the safety of the ground.

"Why did you do that," he asked angrily. He glanced at her with a deathly expression and realized how emotionally hurt Gaz was; he could feel waves of depression coming off of the young woman sprawled out infront of him.

"You know perfectly well the answer to that question Zim. I have nobody." Gaz noticed her sleeves were ruffled up a little and he confirmed the cut he had seen a few days before when Gaz inflicted harm upon herself.

Zim stared at her, her dark purple hair, black from the rain, plastered to her face. As Gaz started to get up, he pinned her down to the ground and asked her again.

"Why did you do that?" Zim's face softened and he leaned in closer.

Zim couldn't tell if she was crying. She was shaking, and shivering from the cold.

"You're wrong Gaz. You have me. You can't leave me now."

Zim wiped her wet hair off her face and looked at her straight on, sadness overwhelming him.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't have anyone either." The word 'defect' rolled through his mind, and the image of Gaz sleeping on his lap came to him.

Gaz rolled over and was on Zim now. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to find the right words.

"What are you saying Zim?"

"I'm saying that my leaders abandoned me. I'm saying that I have nobody and I need someone. I'm alone, and it hurts knowing that your nothing but shit. I'm saying that if you leave me now, if you go out of my life, then there will be nothing for me anymore. I'm saying that…"

Gaz got off of Zim. She turned to look back at the waves and another strike of lightning flashed across the black sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She heard Zim get up and felt his stare burning into her.

"You're saying that you love me." Gaz whispered, looking down at the pointed rocks beneath her. She turned around and saw that Gir was gone. Zim was inches from her face and she looked into his eyes.

The Irken leaned down and his lips met with hers. Gaz's arms circled around his neck, kissing him back as Zim held her waist.

Her tears fell from her eyes as she realized she loved him back. Zim took the pain away when she came to him. He held her that night, comforting her as any friend and boyfriend would. He was a guy a weird one at that, who was perfect for her.

The rain eased up and left a light sprinkle falling upon the couple.

Zim pulled away in a daze and Gaz stared at her feet, thoroughly embarrassed. She peeked up at him through squinted eyes and smiled.

"Maybe we really were meant for each other," Gaz whispered. Zim pulled tugged her into a comforting embrace, and they stood there; a memory that they both would never forget.