He was bruised and battered – but still standing. He limped to the door of his home, the sweet swirl of the evening air whispering behind his ears with a symphony of crickets in the background. He opened the door to reveal the brilliant light within to the bare darkness of the twilight outside and then closed the door behind him.

He took off his heavy boots and laid them neatly by the door, before proceeding to trudge his weary feet along the rough carpet. His right foot trailed behind his left as he dragged it across the hallway into the living room. He collapsed on the couch and laid there.

He could feel his pulse racing through his swollen bruises that still ached with a dull pain from his last engagement with his foe. There was a sharp biting sensation coming from the cuts on his arms and chest and the few that had been etched like razors on his back. His hair was disheveled and some blood was dripping from the edge of his mouth down the side of his face. In short: he was a wreck.

Turning on his side, he could see his sister staring at him from the corner of the room where she sat poignantly in the recliner.

"Did you lose?" she asked, purposely ignoring his sorry condition.

"Not... exactly." he muttered out, wiping the bitter tasting blood away with his coat sleeve. "He... he... snuck up on me and... yeah..."

She sighed reluctantly. "Geez Dib, you're 16 now. Aren't you ever going to stop fighting?"

"Not until he yields first." he said between groans of pain.

She sighed again. "Here, let me have a look." She motioned to him lay down on the floor while she disappeared into the kitchen. He did so, shedding his jacket and shirt to reveal is pale, but slightly toned chest, that was riddled with various assortments of wounds. When she returned, she came bearing the first aid kit. Dib let his sister go to work on him. He couldn't speak, only hang his head in a defeated bow. "Here, this is gonna sting." she warned.

She applied the wet cotton ball his cut. He cringed a bit at the cold water, writhing at the sudden harsh sensation radiating from his open cut. She laughed a little under her breath at his reaction. "It's not funny." he said.

"I know." she replied as she gently continued to rub the area, letting the water wash away the sweat mixed with dry blood and dirt. She continued on, cleaning one cut after another while Dib sat there quietly, letting his sister bind his wounds.

This was an odd scene, Dib had to admit to himself. A few years ago he would have probably laughed if someone had told him that Gaz would be looking after him. It was a strange thing to see her transform into this motherly figure seemingly overnight with the onset of adolescence. It was just one of those girl things, he concluded. Weird how all of that worked. The Gaz he had once known was angry, bitter, and mean; well... she was still all of those things, but she didn't take everything so seriously now. She allowed herself to smile and laugh every now and again, and put down the video game for more than 2 minutes. And now...she was actually helping him. All every odd indeed.

"So, how was your day?" Gaz asked, bringing Dib back from his proverbial musings.

"Hmm? Oh...good. I got a 'B' on the history test..."

"At least it's the weekend right?"

"Yeah. I guess that's true." He had to confess, he kind of like the new Gaz. She was definitely sociable.

When she was done with his back, she motioned for him to turn over. He complied without a second thought. He lifted himself off his stomach and then laid on his back as she returned to her tedious work. When she was done she disregarded the now bloody and stained cotton balls and packed what she didn't use back into the first aid kit. She went back into the kitchen and set in back in the counter where it belonged and closed the cabinet door.

She returned into the living room with the still shirtless Dib sitting on the floor. She nudged him, "Here" she said, she held two glasses in her hands filled with a dark substance, with one out-reached toward her brother.

"Dad's wine?"

"Of course."

He nodded and took the glass in his hand, allowing himself to sip down the sweet liquid. She sat beside him. "So, you gonna stop fighting for a little while?"

"I don't know..." The silence was deafening.

"Don't you think you're taking this all just a bit too seriously?"

"No! He's an alien Gaz! An alien! He wants to destroy us!"

"Yeah, but his plans never work..."

"That's only because I'm there to stop them!" She rolled her eyes and sipped on the rim of the cup. Dib glanced at his sister. She is wearing her normal attire and her normal hair but there was something different about her, but he couldn't tell. "Besides...the world counts on me."

"I don't know." she said musing, "Sometimes the world deserves to burn."

"How could you say that?" he asked in a more intrigued tone.

"Think about it Dib, how many of our classmates actually like you?"

"Gerda..."

"I thought you said you said she dumped you."

"Oh yeah... that's right." he allowed the realization of his sister's words to set in. He didn't want to respond any further, only tip the lid on his cup a little farther, but the words were finally produced in a hoarse groan.. "I guess nobody cares for me." he said bearing defeatism.

"What makes you say that?"

He glares at her in frustration. "Either choose one side or the other, but don't keep jumping the fence. Either insult me or compliment me, but not both."

"I never insulted you." she said walking over to him. "And I said no one at school cares for you." she bends down and looks him in the eyes, "But you know Dib, I do."

The last words were like a massive bell vibrating inside his head. He didn't know what to say, only stare as the realm between what was real and what wasn't slowly started to merge and form fantastical ideas that he himself could never have imagined. She got up off her knees and went toward the door, "I'm going for a walk, you wanna come?"

He had to mentally shake himself to get his mind to form the words to come out of his mouth. "Sure".