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Shatter	By : Alienlint Category: +G through L > Invader Zim > Slash - Male/Male Views: 1105 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Shatter: Chapter 3
Rating: R
Warning: Language. Blood. Fighting.
Pairing: DADR (Dwicky and Dib)
Summary: Dwicky has been gone for 6 long years and returns to a world broken by war. There is no more technology, no more order, only the vicious struggles of humans in the fight for survival.

The Market was located in the heart of the city. Most of it was out in the open, a sea of makeshift stalls and sweaty people. Horses and goats were led about, their masters trying to sell them. Dogs stalked the area, and were often met with a hard kick when they tried to steal scraps of food. A few stalls lay in a wide ‘alley’ resting in the shade of two buildings that had fallen and caught against each other. They lay in perfect balance, creating an unnatural arch effect. It was a miracle that they remained standing, but there were stranger things in the world.

Dib walked slowly with a cigarette at his lips. He let the ash fall away at the tip as a hand rose to brush the thick strand of hair out of his eyes. As hot as it was, he still wore his jacket. He didn’t trust to hold it, for fear of it being stolen. One arm stayed close to the opening of the jacket, always ready to whip out his blade if the need arose. He knew full well that someone was just as vulnerable in the day as they were at night. People were animals. It sickened the boy. And to think he had wanted to save them…

Dwicky was reminded of some documentary he had seen years back. The filth and destruction couldn’t have been the country he left. Surely he was dropped off in some god forsaken country where the people waited for death, and possible charity from the innumerable organizations. He shuddered as a rather aggressive, angry, dirt stained little boy passed him. The children of this world were the worst. They were so bitter. Most of the adults were miserable, everything they once knew had been destroyed. But the children; the children grew up in this hellhole, this was their world.

“People are staring…” Dib’s voice was low as he eyed the people on the street. A few were indeed staring, and stopped just to stare at the two.

“I wonder why…” Dwicky mumbled to himself and adjusted his tie nervously.

“It is you.” Dib took a sharp turn and suddenly reached out to grab the front of Dwicky’s shirt, yanking him into an alley. They were relatively alone, except for a few sleeping old men in boxes and ancient blankets.

“Me?” Dwicky grunted as he was roughly pulled into the alley. “Why me?”

Dib narrowed his eyes. “You’re too clean.”

“Why thank you… I think?” Dwicky raised a brow, it was an odd statement.

“No! You idiot.” Dib shoved Dwicky back against the damp brick wall. “Have you not been listening to me at all?” He didn’t let the man reply. “You’re like fresh meat in front of a pack of half starved wolves!” An angry cloud of smoke blew into Dwicky’s face.

“Because I’m clean?” Dwicky raised a brow, blinking as Dib bent down to a crouch for a moment. “What are you doing down there?”

“You need to be dirtier.” Dib rose and suddenly smeared a handful of concrete dust on the front of Dwicky’s shirt.

“Ah… My shirt.” Dwicky groaned mournfully as the boy ruined his only shirt.

“Hmm… Maybe a few knicks…” Dib mumbled to himself as he pulled his knife from its hiding place.

“Ah. I really hate that thing… And, hey, Ah! Don’t cut me.” Dwicky squirmed as the teen began to add a few tears and rips to his shirt. “And was that big one really necessary?”

“You look like someone who would get beaten up a lot… I should probably give your face a few bruises. Make it more believable, you know?” Dib smirked as he patted Dwicky’s cheek. The older man just gave a nervous chuckle, which ended in an uncomfortable cough. “Maybe some dried blood…”

“Ah! No! I’m fine! I can earn my blood.” Dwicky pressed back against the wall since the boy blocked him from any escape.

“You can have some of mine then…” Dib rolled his eyes. “Look. The dirtier you look, the less people will want to kill you. Your clothes, as they were before, would have been worth quite a bit.”

“What! You can’t cut yourself!” Dwicky lifted a hand to protest, but it was stopped by the smooth, dull side of the blade.

“Nothing big, just a small cut.” Dib sighed as he pulled his blade back to slice a shallow cut into the upper corner of his left palm.

“I don’t really approve of this.” Dwicky winced as a tiny swell of blood formed on the teen’s hand.

“What are you? My father?” Dib spat angrily as he grabbed Dwicky’s shirt, yanking him roughly. “You’re nothing to me, you know that?” He pressed and smeared blood around the cuts he had made into the shirt earlier. A few times his skin pressed against Dwicky’s through the holes, bloodying the flesh under his clothes.

“Then what am I?” Dwicky raised a brow, trying to hide the hurt of the statement. He shuddered at the sticky feeling of the boy’s hot blood on his skin. “Why do you let me tag along?”

“I pity you…” Dib quickly pulled away and started to walk out of the alley, placing his knife back into his jacket as he did so. He flicked his dead cigarette onto the ground.

Dwicky frowned, staying slack against the wall for half a moment before he sighed and followed the boy out.

“Okay. You look better.” Dib had his back to Dwicky as he spoke, scanning the crowd suspiciously. “I have some people I need to talk to… and I can’t have you there.”

“Why not?” Dwicky blinked and nervously eyed a dog that paused to sniff at his leg. He tried to shoo it away, and it growled before stalking away.

“People know me here… And I can’t have you ruining my reputation.” Dib’s body language gave the illusion that he wasn’t even talking to Dwicky. Anyone watching wouldn’t have thought the two knew each other.

“Am I really that bad?” Dwicky raised a brow and poked at the drying blood on his skin, it was still sticky, and stuck to his fingertips.

Dib didn’t answer right away. “Think of me as a loner… Just stay here and don’t get into any trouble.” He grunted to himself, feeling that he had too much faith in Dwicky to leave him by himself. It made him feel like a babysitter, or parent. Dwicky was an adult, he shouldn’t need to be looked after.

Dib disappeared into the crowd and Dwicky sighed. He put a hand to his head before he lowered it to nervously bite at the knuckle of his index finger. He glanced to the left, then the right. Things seemed pretty peaceful at the moment. People no longer stared at him and they went about their day. After a few moments of calm, Dwicky relaxed. He still felt as if he was in some sort of horrible nightmare. What exactly had happened? Dib obviously didn’t want to go into much detail, and he felt too awkward asking anyone else. Surely they would question where the hell he had been to miss the very NOTICEABLE destruction.

“You lost, buddy?” A voice purred behind Dwicky. He quickly turned to stare at a grinning teenage boy. He was just as dirty as everyone else, but had wild, almost blindingly bright orange hair in a stringy Mohawk that hung limp to one side of his head. He was dressed mostly in faded leather. ‘Greaser’ was the only word that could describe the boy. He appeared to be around Dib’s age.

“Ah. No. Just waiting on someone.” Dwicky scanned the crowd, wishing Dib was back already.

“Oh… A friend? A girlfriend? A laaaaaady of the night? Eh eh? Haha.” The boy’s eye twitched every now and then, which made Dwicky a little uncomfortable.

“Ah. No. Just a friend…” Dwicky gnawed on his finger before he lowered his hand. Damn, this kid was spooky. His wide grin and twitching eyes, not to mention the grating pitch of his voice.

“That must be a pretty new shirt, there.” The boy reached a hand out to feel the fabric. “Barely beaten in at all…”

“Ah. Well…” Dwicky backed up a little as a grubby hand reached out for him. He wanted to say he had to be going, but he had no where to go. And not to mention that Dib told him not to go anywhere.

“I’d love to have a shirt like this…” The boy mumbled and gave it another tug before he lifted his hand up to grip the tie. “And a tie. Very fancy!”

“Could you please… stop?” Dwicky squeaked.

“What?” The boy raised a brow and stared at the man. His eye twitched lightly.

“Could you stop… touching me?” Dwicky smiled weakly.

“No!” The boy suddenly produced an old switchblade, which he lightly poked Dwicky’s belly with. “I want that shirt!”

Dwicky sucked his stomach in a little, trying to pull away from the blade. “Ah… Hey… Hey… Let’s not get violent now.”

“Ooo. Nice earring too. Is that real gold?” The boy yanked the man down to inspect his ear.

“Ah! Hey!” Dwicky grunted as his head was bowed forward.

“Come with me… We’ll see what all you have on you.” The grungy teen pulled Dwicky into an alley and waved the blade at him. “Come on now, off with that shirt.”

Dwicky stumbled before righting himself. He stared at the boy for a moment. What was with all the teenage boys trying to get him to take his clothes off? The knife was a good enforcer, however, and he began to reluctantly unbutton his shirt.

“Hurry up!” The boy twitched and glanced out beyond the alley. It was almost like the look of a predator nervously watching for others wanting to steal his kill.

“These buttons are really tight! And… and… you don’t want me to pop the buttons off, do you?” Dwicky whined in protest. Eventually, he slipped his shirt off and held it out to the teen, his eyes watched mournfully as it was yanked away from his hands.

“Now, that earring.” The boy growled.

“But…” Dwicky put a hand to his ear to feel his piercing.

“HEY! Do you want me to fucking cut your ear off!?” The boy gritted his teeth and waved the knife once more, his eye twitching violently. “’Cause I will, man. I fucking WILL!”

Dwicky stared, wide eyed and horrified. Damn, the kid really knew how to persuade people. He glanced out the alley, wishing Dib would show up. “Okay… Okay… It is just--”

“I don’t want to hear a fucking life story!” The boy’s hair flung to the other side as he gave a hard twitch. “Just give me the fucking earring!”

With a nervous swallow, Dwicky slowly started to undo his earring. He pulled it out and held it in his hand for a moment, frowning like a lost puppy as he handed it to him.

The boy grabbed it and smirked, biting at the earring. “Well, sir…” The boy’s eye twitched as he looked back up at him with a huge, creepy grin. “Nice doing business with you.”

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” A familiar, very annoyed voice approached the entrance of the alleyway.

“Don’t bother with this one, Dib. He has already been cleaned.” The orange haired boy gripped the shirt and earring he had stolen from Dwicky.

“Give it back…” Dib narrowed his eyes at the twitchy teen.

“What? I stole it fair and square! You can’t take my mugging!” The orange haired boy twitched a moment before he narrowed his eyes. “They are mine now!” He tensed and moved his knife forward a bit.

“Hand the shit over… I’d hate to take it from you…” Dib growled, one hand inside his jacket. Both Dwicky and the strange boy knew that Dib was ready to wield his own weapon.

“Dib… Dib… Buddy. We’re pals, right? Yeah.” The boy’s eyes widened a little, still trying to plead with him. “This is just some random…”

“Don’t fucking argue with me…” Dib slowly walked forward, pulling his blade out of his jacket and holding it at his side. “Just give it…”

“No!” The boy was stubborn, and returned to his tense stance. “Never!”

Dwicky just watched the two with wide eyes. His arms wrapped around his naked belly, worried a flying knife might try to disembowel him. Dib moved forward, mere feet away from the other boy. The orange haired kid gave a twitch as he swiped at Dib, leaving a thin slice of flesh and baggy shirt. Dib grunted and grabbed the offending arm, twisting it back and trying to get him to drop his switchblade. The boy grunted and dropped his precious stolen loot in a pile at his feet before he kicked out at the brunette, refusing to let his blade slip from his grip.

Dib grunted and shoved the boy back, letting his blade bite deep into his chest. Dib was a very vengeful boy, cut for a cut. The other recoiled back a bit at the sting that burned across his chest before stumbling forward to land a mean punch to Dib’s face. The brunette staggered back, head down slightly as he put a hand to his bleeding lip and ran his tongue out to taste his own blood. His eyes narrowed and he returned with a punch of his own, powered by his building rage. The orange haired boy squealed at the impact on his nose. His blade dropped and he clamped both his hands onto his wounded nose, blood spewing down his chin.

“Don’t fucking mess with my shit, Keef.” Dib growled and wiped the blood on his fist off onto his already blood stained shirt.

“Your…?” Keef gargled as his nasal cavity surged blood.

“Yes. That’s my idiot. Don’t fucking mess with him.” Dib gestured to Dwicky, who blinked in surprise.

“Since when did you care about anyone, Dib?” Keef’s voice lowered and his eyes narrowed, twitching.

“DON’T FUCKING QUESTION ME!” Dib screamed as he pointed his blade mere centimeters from Keef’s bloody hands. “DON’T YOU EVER FUCKING QUESTION ME.” Dwicky jumped at the sudden outburst.

“Fine.” Keef spat a gob of blood to the side. “But watch your back, Dib.” He bitterly growled.

Dib twitched a little before bringing a bloodstained fist to punch Keef in the face once more, the other boy crying out as he crippled over from the pain. “Don’t you fucking dare try to pull that shit on me. I could kill your sorry ass right now if I fucking wanted to…”

Keef wheezed raggedly as he stumbled to his feet. He said nothing more as he staggered out and disappeared into the crowd.

“Dib…?” Dwicky slowly started. His voice was cautious, the boy was still fuming, and was a bit scary.

“I got stuff… Let’s go.” Dib sighed and rubbed at the small gash on his chest.

“Alright…” Dwicky could tell by the tone of the teen’s voice that he didn’t want to talk. So he leaned over to gather up his shirt and earring. He careful returned the earring to its rightful place, smiling to himself as order was restored.

It was evening when they returned to the river from the market. Dib was in an odd mood, and sat atop the old, broken aircraft at the shore of the wide river. He stared at the evening sky, cig burning wisps into the cooling air. Dwicky watched him from the ground. His shirt was back on, but left unbuttoned, his tie hanging out his back pocket. He frowned to himself as he watched the brooding figure above him. Dib leaned back on his hands as the fiery colors of the setting sun slowly melted into dark blues and purples.

“Dib?” Dwicky coughed as he slowly climbed onto a slanted, crumpled wing.

“You need to make yourself useful.” Dib mumbled as he watched a dark cloud lazily stretch across the heavens. “I can’t exactly take care of you…” He had shared a meal of bread and dried meat with Dwicky on the way back. “Kind of ironic, really…” Dib smirked to himself. “An adult depending on me… Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” He turned to look down at Dwicky.

“Yeah. It should… But.” He chewed his lip as he struggled to lift himself up on the roof of the aircraft. “The world doesn’t seem like it is the way it should be.”

“Yeah…” Dib’s voice softened.

“Can I ask why you’re alone? I noticed a lot of people were with others…” Dwicky asked cautiously as he eyed the boy.

“I’ve… always been alone.” Dib winced. “Even before all this.”

“What about your family?” Dwicky was touching sensitive subjects.

Dib simply shrugged his shoulders. “They never paid any attention to me unless I got in their way.” He lowered his head a little and let a smooth snake of smoke slither from his lips. “You were the only one…” Dib suddenly turned his back to the man. “The only one who ever really paid attention to me.” He paused, his voice suddenly going bitter. “And you saw how that turned out…”

“Dib…” He reached out for the boy, but paused, pulling his hand back a bit. He wanted to hold him, comfort him… what? That wasn’t his job. Counselors don’t touch their clients. “I made a terrible mistake…”

“Haven’t we all?” Dib’s voice was low and defeated once again.

“Can I make it up to you?” Dwicky smiled weakly and nervously pawed for his tie, having forgotten he had taken it off.

“Yeah… You know, a part of me is really angry with you… It hates you. It hates you for leaving me… for not being there when I needed you the most.” The boy brushed back the thick lock of hair and sighed a cloud.

Dwicky winced a little.

“But another part of me wants to be with you… It wants things to be like they were before you lied to me.” He smirked to himself, though it was a bit on the grim side. “Even if you did lie, you still paid more attention to me than anyone ever cared to.” The smirk melted into a sort of wishful smile. “I was so happy then… So happy to have a partner, a friend. It was the best feeling in the world. And…” He turned his head to glance back at Dwicky, glasses glinting in the dim light. “I want that feeling back… and I don’t want it to go away.”

Dwicky nervously groped at his shirt, fingering one of the holes Dib had planted there earlier. That was just, wow. Dib was really beginning to open up to him. He gave a gentle smile to the other. “Me too…” Though something nagged at the back of his mind, but he suppressed it.

“It’s nice not to be alone anymore…” Dib turned his head back to look up at the stars that slowly twinkled into existence on the expanse of sky before them. The stars burned brighter ever since the destruction, they were no longer masked by the glow of electricity.

“Yeah.” Dwicky put a hand to his head. So many odd emotions. He wanted to wrap his arms around the boy so badly. He wanted to touch him, to comfort him. He shook his head as the boy suddenly broke the silence.

“I’m going to sleep.” Dib announced as he scooted over to the edge of the roof to slip down and into the cockpit of the aircraft.

“Alright. Goodnight, Dib.” Dwicky frowned gently, still plagued with himself.

“Goodnight, Dwicky.”
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Shatter