Rilzit Chapter 06

Rilzit
By Kitteh and Neofox
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence and intense smooching
Disclaimer: Smeets will eat our souls if we dare claim Invader Zim.  So yeah, Jhonen can keep his smeets of DOOM!  We just want to borrow Zim and Dib for a fic, so calm yourselves.
Summary: ZADR.  'Why didn't I listen to Dad? I could have been safe at home studying science or some stupid shit, but noooo....I had to fall in love with a stupid alien and help him take over the Earth. Real smart Dib. Maybe next time you should just stamp moron on your forehead, much more effective’
Beta: Krimzon

Chapter 6

Gir smiled up at Dib, his eyes back to their cheerful turquoise. "Did you bring a bride for ma piggeh?" He produced, the toy showing the boy.

Once inside the cluttered house, Dib had let go of his dad's ankles, watching Zim leave and letting his eyes fall on the robot, backing up a bit at having the toy shoved in his face. He looked a bit lost for a few seconds before he finally let a smile form on his face, nodding only slightly.

"You know what Gir, I brought something both of us can have fun with. You're gonna have to help me, though, because we need to keep him somewhere where he can't escape." He looked around the junk filled living room, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck as he spoke again. "A little help moving him would be nice as well." He looked back down at the robot. "You only get to play with him if you help me with what I need. Remember last time, I kept my promise and gave you those movies right?"

“Wuuuuww-weeeeeeeeee~" Gir nodded wildly with his tongue sticking out. "I liked the part where the Taco Princess and the Milkman rode away on a whiiiiite poneh." The robot narrowed his eyes. "Do YOU know the Milkman? His milk is delicious!" He waved his arms in the air, the piggy still held. Suddenly, Gir's eyes went wide as he seemed to see Membrane for the first time ever. "Is he the Milkman?" He looked back to Dib. "Hi Milkman!"

***

Zim leaned heavily against the wall of the elevator as it sped him down to his lab, rubbing his hands together and breathing on them to rub their warmth along his stripped arms. It was getting worse. Ignoring it didn't help. The elevator dinged and Zim forced his insides to move and slink down through halls of dark pinks, tubes, and reds to the main lab. The journey felt like forever alone, since without anyone to distract and focus on it only left himself to concentrate on. Though being a stubborn ass helped a lot, despite what anyone said.

Zim smoothed his hands over the console, only to lean on it heavily with his head bowed grievingly to the dark, blank screen in front of him. It was a tradition, a maddening one that had befallen him the last year or so since the Tallest had left him there. He'd done it for a good number of years, just standing in front of that screen. But as time went on and static was his only friend, Zim had found himself with more and loose screws.  One could literally hear the rattle inside his head as if some part had come unglued. Zim didn't know how Dib dealt with him then, but somehow he had, and things soon fell back into their usual groove, and so Zim gave up trying this.

But, here he was again, standing in front of the screen, head bowed in anything but meditation.

Shakily he eased his weight onto one arm to free his hand. With practiced motions that made the Irken shudder, Zim dialed in the channel manually rather than ask the computer to pull up the frequency. They had blocked him long ago, but still, he tried. He'd try again and again, speaking into the mike until his voice grew hoarse and it hurt too much to do much else than breath.

"My Tallest...come in, My Tallest. Can you hear me? My Tallest. Come in." They wouldn't answer, they never answered, they never did, and they never would. But still he tried, until his mouth grew dry and the words didn't make sense anymore.

***

Dib tried to make sense of all the rambling, really he did, but in the end he gave up and all that came out of his mouth was a small 'yeah'. He really wanted to get all of this over with before his father woke up again, and by what Zim had told him, he had already woken up once. It didn't seem possible, though, because as Gir was shouting, small noises of discomfort were coming from Membrane's lips. Dib took the back pack off, throwing it away onto the couch to lessen his burden and leaned down to grab his father under the arms.

He turned his gaze onto the robot.  "Ok Gir, you need to show me where Zim keeps the cages or whatever. Anywhere we can keep our...er...toy locked up. Preferably in the lab. After that, you're free to torture all you want, as long as you keep him locked up."

Gir starred at Dib a moment with his tongue lolled out before letting out a piercing "OKAY!" He ran across the room to the kitchen with his hands in the air, squealing with joy and making the piggy he held 'fly'. Like before, he leapt onto the sink and turned the handle, opening the large secret elevator there. Hopping down, he smiled up at Dib. "We can put him in the Personal Entertaining Appointive Cell Environment – PEACE." He stuffed the piggy in his mouth with a giggle, waiting for the boy to join him.

After a few long moments of navigating, Dib finally entered the kitchen with no more than an annoyed face. He gave Gir a small look of surprise at hearing him say something intelligent, but quickly shrugged it off and hauled his heavy burden into the elevator, leaning against the wall once inside while still holding his father just for minor support. "Thank god it's not in the toilet...."

Gir ran up Membrane's front like a ramp, jumping off of Dib's chest like an extreme boarder (minus the board) and body checked the button for down, only to land on the ground with a loud clank. Quickly sitting up, he swayed back and forth before slowly looking to Dib with eerie blankness. "We caaan if you wantuuuu~" The elevator hummed lightly as they went down.

A small groan of pain escaped Dib as Gir launched off of him. He gave the robot a small glare before shaking his head. "No, this is just fine."

The harsh treatment was finally taking its toll on Membrane and he began to wake up once again in a whole lot of pain, trying to take in his surroundings as best he could, his voice a harsh sound, "W-where are we, where have you taken me?"

Dib scowled a bit, wishing he could knock the old man back out, but sadly he didn't have the means as Zim did, and had to answer the questions until he could lock Membrane up. "We explained it to you, you're in Zim's base, where you'll stay."

Gir perked up and skittered over to the new toy that was now awake. Eee! So much fun! He jumped onto Membrane's stomach to his chest and thrust his face in the man's gaze, clutching the man's head as he squealed dementedly. "MILKMAN! I want some COOKIES! COOKIES COOKIES! GIVE THEM TO MEEEEeeeeEEEeee!" He shook the man's head as it were some kind of dispenser of the sort.

The elevator dinged and the doors pulled open, revealing the P.E.A.C.E. It was a long room with a large holding cell, with lavender glass of sorts for easy viewing. Assorted devices and computers were present for testing and observation, with some nasty looking tools and probes for creation and dissection. And some for just for the fun of sticking into people.

Membrane had flinched at having Gir scream in his face and being handled so roughly, a small sound of pain coming from his mouth. He lifted his hand up, weakly trying to swat the menace away.

Dib was grateful for the short ride, and he lifted his father up by only one arm, which he slung over his shoulder. "You can walk now since you're awake, just be grateful I’m helping even a bit." He dragged his father roughly, scowling when the man walked too slowly for his liking. He lead them both to the chamber, searching the large thing for a way to open it and finally finding it, reaching a free arm out to push a small button and causing the chamber to give way. Dib let go of his father and stood back, not giving anymore support. "Ok, get in, this is your home now."

Membrane stumbled the moment Dib let go of him, falling to his knees and glaring up at his son. After a few moments he finally stood up on his own and crawled slightly to the chamber, moving inside. "Who knew my son would turn into an insane Xenophile..."

A harsh glare formed on Dib's face and he slammed down on the button that would shut the door to the chamber, not saying a word to his father. He turned on his heel, looking over to Gir as he headed back to the elevator. "He's all your's Gir, just remember you have to share him with me." Once back inside the elevator, he pushed the button, intending to find Zim.

The robot sharply turned with shining crimson eyes that threw dark jagged shadows on his metallic face, the light throwing illuminations of red in the dim room. He wiggled his fingers on one hand as he slowly step, step, stepped toward the cell room, baring the piggy menacingly in the other. "Heeeere pidy, pidy, pidy." Gir threw up his arms, giving a shrill giggle before smiling brightly with turquoise eyes. "We're gonnas play house of the PIGGIES!" The robot's twisted laughter echoed into the pipe veined rooms, the sound quite audibly ringing down every corridor as Dib left the holding area.

***

Dib only grinned as the elevator took him further down.  He could hear Gir's laughter and his father's screams of horror, and it made his day. He then realized that all the guilt and nervousness had left his body and knew that it was Zim that had helped that happen. Without the alien by his side he would have never been able to do to his father, or sister, what he had done to them alone. He wanted to talk to him, but his only problem now was the uncomfortable feeling he had in his stomach since their last conversation in his father's lab.

Dib was pulled away from his thoughts as the elevator gave a small jolt indicating that it had landed at the bottom level of the labs and the door was opening. Once opened fully he stepped out and looked around. "Zim, are you down here?" He walked further in, running his hands over all the consoles but not hard enough to push anything.

The Irken's voice suddenly cut short, a definite sign that Zim was down there. A thick, painful clear of throat that soon turned into a wet cough came from the main area, followed by the subtle sound of something turned off, static dieing.

Dib found the Irken bent over, leaning heavily on thin, tired arms as if the weight of something metaphysical solidified on his shoulders. He didn't say anything. His pack slowly rose and fell on his back with each slow labored breath, his ribs protruding through his thin uniform as his chest inflated and deflated slowly. He didn't say anything, though his antennae perked lightly to Dib's presence but slowly sunk as if there wasn't enough energy to keep them up.

Dib stopped short at seeing Zim slumped over, knowing he was awake just from the move of his antenna. He had heard static coming from the screen and had a feeling what was going on, but didn't dare voice his questions and instead walked over until he was standing behind the Irken. He was hesitant at first, but then made up his mind, placing his arms on Zim's shoulders lightly, speaking in a soft voice, "Are you ok?"

A mixture of intense reactions and emotions reeled up within Zim on that one simple touch, an urge to swing around to explode violently with degrading words stabbing more hurtfully than his hands ever could came so intense it sent the Irken’s mind reeling into a vertigo he could have visibly gasped. But it was the soft question, not necessarily the words themselves, but the undertone his antennae picked up that kept his feet cemented to the floor, arms twitching for the first initial reaction only to send his shoulders sagging under the weight of Dib's arms.

Zim shook his head much too simply, having no voice to tell Dib just how 'not ok' he was.

A sad look formed on Dib's face at how defeated Zim looked. He leaned down, his chest laying over Zim's back just so he could lay his head cheek to cheek with the Irken’s, his hands still placed on his shoulders. The Pak that the alien always wore was digging just slightly into his middle, but he could endure it to comfort Zim. "Everything is going to work out in the end. When this is all over, we'll both have our reasons to be happy; we just have to wait a little longer for that to happen."

Zim's jaw moved slightly as he wet his dry mouth to swallow thickly, the action taking far too much energy than was comfortable. He turned his head just enough to press his cheek back to Dib's, the green skin cool and clammy next to the soft warmth of the human's. The Irken didn't do much else, his limbs feeling so numb and useless at the moment.

Dib let out a small sigh, nuzzling Zim's neck slightly as he did. He decided to stay silent as he stood there holding the Irken, knowing that when he was ready to talk, he would. He refused to bring the subject up on his own, though, not wanting to test Zim's violent temper. Closing his own eyes, Dib more than happy to just fall asleep in this position if need be, but keeping his ears open in case the alien spoke.

"I..." The sound came out far more raspy and loud in comparison to the silence. Zim visibly flinched, both at the shatter and the pain in his throat. He deadpanned a moment, trying to find a verb, but instead went with a more obvious noun "...bed." He made no action to move, he didn't want to; he didn't want to do a lot anymore. Eyes slid open, lids peeling back enough so that the colored face of the console he leaned on came into sight. He blinked slowly, as if his eyelids weighed more than was healthy. Fingers tightened, curling slightly on the face of the console but nothing more.

The small words surprised him a bit, but he opened his eyes to glance at Zim, knowing what he meant, but a bit curious about the sentence as well. "Well, I’ll help you to bed if it's alright with you, but you're going to have to tell me how to get there. Lately you've just been sleeping on the couch with me." Dib moved away slightly from the Irken, only to slip his head under his shoulder to help him up out of the chair, a hand on the one that was around his shoulder while his arm was around Zim's waist. "Unless you want to sleep on the couch again." It was meant as a small joke when he said it, but at the same time it sounded a bit serious.

Zim stared, half amazed he could stand up, the other half amazed that Dib could lift him when he felt like he weighed a ton. His knees buckled, and he would have fallen, had Dib not been holding on. Zim's free arm wrapped around the boy's neck so he could bury his features into the crook of the human's warm neck; Dib was always warm. His grip tightened as a shudder drew up his spine, feeling so cold in comparison to the flat of the boy's front.

A small smile formed on Dib's lips and his arm tightened around Zim's waist just so he wouldn't fall to his knees. "Ok, couch it is." He led the Irken towards the elevator, slowly, knowing he didn't feel like moving very fast. When the elevator jolted to life, he moved the hand from Irken’s hand away so that he could place it around his waist with his other arm, his head resting on Zim's own. "I'm sorry Zim.  For what it's worth, I’ll be here with you, even when you don't need me anymore." He hated seeing the Irken in such a state and felt he needed to say something, whether it helped or not depended on Zim.

A fist shot out and slammed against a large red button, the elevator coming to a screaming halt. The Irken jostled against the boy on his unsteady legs, as the suddenness did little for anything graceful. Zim slowly set himself back up, one foot planting on the ground than the other as he stood, either hand brushing down to rest on Dib's shoulders. Soundlessly he reached over and pressed another button which caused the doors to open. With lethargic movements his other hand drew down along Dib's arm to take his wrist, minding the abused hand below, and lead him out of the elevator into the new level.

The area was smaller than the lab for the most part, but with tables much the same as well as flat padded, surfaces resembling medical cots. It wasn't as extreme as the P.E.A.C.E. room with its surgical tools, though it had much the same feel but with things to heal instead of pick apart.

Zim lead Dib to a chair and loosely gestured for the boy to sit there.

Dib had been quite shocked at the sudden turn of events, watching Zim with concerned eyes as he let himself be led out of the elevator. He looked around the room in amazement, his habits of trying to take everything around him in getting the better of him. His eyes quickly moved back to Zim when he realized the Irken was trying to get him to sit down, and with a nod of his head he walked closer to the chair and sat, leaning back a bit as he did so, his eyes once again moving all around the room.

A new chair moved from the corner to set in front of Dib so Zim could seat himself in front of him. He reached forward and took either of the other's hands, looking over the mashed and bloody knuckles with a disapproving frown. With a snap of his fingers, a small counter rose between them, and he set either of Dib's hands on them carefully, though Zim kept his hand on one of the boy's wrists, thumb softly petting the skin there assuring him where his voice didn't. An overhead light bar of sorts drew out as well over top. The light switched on, bathing a soft hue over the boy's hands that were both cool and warm. The fragments embedded and littered in the tears of bloody skin soon pulled out, lifting up to stick to the light, essentially cleaning the wounds.

Dib flinched slightly, letting out tiny hisses of pain whenever a rather large shard of the goggles he had broken was pulled out. Zim's touch calmed him down though, as he also knew it had to be done, his hands were shaking only slightly because of the pain. In all truth he had completely forgotten about his wounds, too worried about getting his father back to the lab, and then concerned about Zim. It just wasn't turning out to be the day he expected it to be.

When all the shards were out, foreign objects, excess blood both wet, dry and dirty were removed, the light slipped back away. Zim nodded to himself as he gently picked up one of Dib's hands, letting it rest on his palm as his thumb lightly pet over the fingers. Carefully he looked it over, eyes narrowing as he turned the hand over to make sure all was well. Nothing seemed broken, there was just horribly mashed up skin. Since he didn't want to toy with medicines of Irken variety to that of a human subject, Zim decided it just best to leave it as that, since it was cleaned. Reaching over, he picked up some basic bandages, setting some soft gauze like padding overtop the knuckles and begun wrapping it around Dib's hand carefully, trying to make it as unpainful as he could.

Dib watched with complete interest, still amazed that the Irken could be so gentle when he wanted to. It still hurt a bit while the bandages were being wrapped, but not nearly as much as it could have if he himself would have taken care of it. It's why he never picked many fights that would have ended in serious wounds; he was never a good doctor for himself. He usually just stuck a band-aid on it and hoped it worked, god forbid he actually got a major wound. Thankfully, their fights in the past didn't get that out of hand other than a few punches and bite marks.

After bandaging the one hand Zim clipped the end on the top of the wrist and began to do the same with the other one. Though the Irken seemed run down, he took it on himself to place the bandages meticulously and evenly around the middle of Dib's hand; firm but not too tight and restricting. After Zim was done, he kept the hand pillowed in his hands, half cupped, long spindly fingers draped overtop. He kept his lidded gaze fallen on the one hand, his blinking slow and sparse.

Dib turned worried eyes on the Irken, noticing how worn down he was getting. He moved his free hand up and waved it slightly in front of Zim's face. "You should get some sleep, Zim. It's really nice of you to help me out, and I appreciate it so much, but this will do for now.  Right now I’m worried about you. You're so out of it." He couldn't keep the worry out of his voice, it scared him slightly to see Zim like this.

The flesh on the green throat danced as the Irken swallowed forcefully. With a slow blink Zim raised his gaze to the waving hand and to Dib's face. "I.. have to.." His voice was hoarse and he spoke quietly, as if the language was still foreign to him. "tell you something..." Those large eyes glanced away looking at nothing particular. "important.." His lids lowered as his mouth closed, teeth rested on his bottom lip. "Later."

Dib shook his head slightly as he pulled his hand away from Zim's, getting up from the chair in the process. "Later is fine. I can wait, right now I’m taking you upstairs so you can rest. Geez, I hate seeing you like this, Zim, you sound like you've been screaming for hours and haven't slept for days. You just don't seem like yourself." He stood beside the Irken and held out his bandaged hand for him to take so he could steady himself when he stood up.

A slow, wry expression crept on the Irken’s face as he looked up to Dib with narrowed colored eyes. "Screaming- yes, sleep- 've gotten plenty." Zim closed his eyes a moment, taking in a breath, his smirk only widening tiredly. "Since you've been here, anyway." He gave a nonchalant shrug. The Irken blinked open his glossy gaze again, tilting his head to look up at Dib. "Last floor." Zim's voice didn't sound any better, but at least some life poured into it. "My bed." He starred at Dib then at his bandaged hand. Damn, that meant he had to move didn't it.

Dib smiled slightly at Zim's words, glad that he was feeling at least slightly better to form a small sentence, and what seemed like a nice one at that. He noticed that the Irken wasn't making any move to get up and knew that he had been a bit sluggish on the way down here. He pulled his hand away, forming a small idea in his head and leaning over, wrapped one of Zim's hands around his shoulders, one arm moving up under above his Pak while his other arm moved under the alien's legs, picking him up bridal style. Even if Zim had put up a fight, he wouldn't have set him down, knowing this would have been much easier on both of them in the long run. He was a bit amazed at how light the body in his arms was, even considering the new height it had gained. Dib began walking towards the elevator, not once looking at Zim even as he spoke. "Hope this is ok, I just didn't think you would be up to walking."

Zim's tired eyes blinked wide and he indeed did squirm as Dib picked him up, making a bit of a fuss that the human dare try this stunt. Though he did cuss, rant nonsensical threats and beat on Dib's chest demanding he put him down and die, the Irken was secretly grateful. He scowled, but it didn't last long as he rested his head on the other's shoulder, minding the still possibly deadly wet hair on top of the boy's head.

"No." Zim muttered, more in a stubborn personal "It isn't." he lied, turning his head to press his chest against a warm chest. "Stoopid.. sammich." He dully blinked as he realized something, his arms huddled to his own chest. "Don't you eat?" It was meant to come out as a sarcastic point, though it was obvious it was curious concern.

Dib had just allowed Zim to rant, but simply refused to let the Irken have his way, only holding him closer if possible. The question had surprised him only slightly, mostly because he heard the masked emotion behind it and he gave a small shrug of his shoulders as if it didn't really matter. "Not very often. I didn't eat very much at Skool because the food wasn't edible. We had food at home only when either Gaz or myself felt like going to the store and picking something up, but between me going out at night and spying or picking fights with you, and Gaz just altogether ignoring the world, there was really not much in the house besides sandwiches and TV dinners." He made it into the elevator, not even letting go of Zim as he reached out to push the button that would lead them down, his back leaning against the far wall once the doors closed. "My body is pretty used to only eating maybe one or two meals a day."

"Unacceptable." Antennae perked as Zim scowled, as haphazard as it was. More energy seemed to pour into the Irken as he was then given something to complain and speculate about; Zim was a being for being opinionated. "I will order Gir to stuff your holes." He made a face, coughing to clear his throat of rasp. "Can't have my slave-" He coughed again as his voice went hoarse, "dieing." Zim's voice twisted poorly and he stuck his tongue out, giving up on talking. Or, at least that sentence anyway.

He looked around idly, not that the scenery was anything new for him by far. "Good way to travel." Zim smirked as he let his head heavily lean on Dib's shoulder. "Add rockets, a death ray and a cup holder-- it'd be- Dib-mobile!" His voice cracked, though he didn't seem to care at this point.

"Heh, yeah I guess so..." Dib's mind was still on how Zim so easily considered him a slave. He hadn't expected much, but he had at least expected not to be called such a harsh word anymore, and how easily the Irken had thrown out a statement of death on him unnerved him to no end. His hands clenched slightly under the hold he had on Zim's body out of slight annoyance and hurt, but soon eased up, not really wishing for any form of emotion to end up traveling to his face. He was glad to hear the small noise the elevator gave indicating the ride was over, the doors finally opening to allow them through. Dib moved away from the wall and walked out, looking around only a bit before speaking up in what he hoped didn't sound too harsh of a voice. "So where's your bed?"

"Open your eyes." Zim muttered pointing dead center. The room wasn't large but perfectly around ribbed with pipes to a pinnacle point which was also around dead center of the room which was indeed like a bed, a circular bed. The bed itself was quite large, at least for someone now who was taller with wiry limbs; as much as Zim liked curling up, stretching out was good too. It was heavily cushioned so someone with a Pak on their back could lay with comfort as they rolled around in sleep. The room immediately warmed up to a preferable sleeping temperature, so there was no need for useless things like blankets, though there were a good few kicked about (ones with hilarious designs, all from Gir), along with pillows nested about on the bed.

The walls were smooth, seeming like blocks of metal fitted together creating a 'tetris' design, for lack of a better word. No monitors or buttons, all hidden behind the smooth panels of the wall. Above was some soft, iridescent light source, pooling the heat into the room. Looking at the room it would have been considered the heart of the base, had it not been at the very bottom. Then again, Irken didn't have hearts.

"Well excuse me, considering half of your stuff looks like it could be used for torture devices, how am I supposed to know what's a bed and what's not?" That came out a lot meaner than it should have, causing Dib to sigh as he tried to calm down. He made his way over to the bed with a shake of his head and laid the Irken on top of it, his arms retreating to his own body and moving to clasp behind his back. He gave one last look at Zim before his eyes fell on the wall. "Did you need anything before I go back upstairs?"

Zim's light weight sunk into the cushion as he half sprawled, half sat on his bed, his long legs fanning out with a good stretch. He glanced to what Dib was looking at before returning he gaze back on the human, his antennae perking before they rested back down against his head. "Maybe." The Irken considered, perhaps thinking of a long list of things he could get out of the willing huumun.

Dib glanced back at Zim, his bandaged hand moving out from behind his back, only to raise up to his head and slide across his hair. Once his hand pulled away, the once limp lock of hair that had been in front of his head perked up into the scythe that was always on top of his head, his hand falling back to his side. "What exactly do you have in mind? It better not involve me going up and down that elevator fifty million times to get you stuff." He raised a brow in question, knowing how crafty Zim was.

Zim seemed taken with the sudden rebirth of the scythe lock, amazed how it could be resurrected so easily. Indestructible, it was!

"No. No times." The Irken shook his head, shifting to sit up a little more comfortably, even if it did require a bit more effort. His antennae perked up completely as he spoke. "Come to Zim." He reached out both hands, albeit possessively, making 'gimmie' hands in boy's direction.

Dib hesitated for a few seconds before his face softened and he sighed, all his thoughts of how angry he was at the Irken gone for the moment. His feet lead him closer to the bed and he sat down within Zim's reach, not really knowing what the alien had in mind for him. "What?"

"Gimmie." Zim stuck his tongue out as he attempted to wrap lithe arms around the other’s body as best they could, gripping the boy's shirt to pull Dib's skinny frame with him back onto the bed. Though, with as little strength the Irken possessed at the moment, it was a clumsy pull at best. "Mine."

Dib allowed Zim to pull him down to the bed, curling up beside the Irken and closing his eyes. A small sigh escaped at the possessive word that came from the Irken. He suddenly felt like nothing more than a toy to the alien, and although all of what happened between them had been nice, it was as if Zim still didn't know what any of it meant. Second thoughts of everything that was happening were suddenly forming in his head, but he quickly shook them away with a small scowl on his face. He certainly didn't regret anything, he just wished he himself didn't have any emotions to deal with.

Zim curled around Dib, even if he was the one feeling tired and cold he wanted to keep the boy close to him, as if he would suddenly disappear, or run away if his grip eased up. Maybe he would, though he kept assuring himself Dib wouldn't. One arm curled possessively around Dib's middle while the other held his shoulders, tucking the boy's head under his chin (to the Irken’s relief Dib's hair was dry). Zim didn't know how else to show himself save for being greedy, not many things went his way that gave him a chance to be giving; honestly, he didn't see a reason to be so. Why bother. Everyone else was greedy too.

Fingers sifted through clean dark hair lightly, drawing the tips of fingers against the soft warm scalp. Though the Irken didn't find sleep, and instead just laid there quietly.

Dib was more than happy to let Zim hold him, even going so far as to move back against the Irken when the arm was wrapped around him. The fingers in his hair caused him to sigh softly and made all his worries finally leave his head, at least for the moment. His eyes opened just a bit, landing on the elevator they came through to get in the room. He remembered Zim's earlier statement about having to tell him something, and the curious side of him perked up, not leaving him alone until he spoke up. "Zim, what was it you had to tell me earlier. You said it was important."

Zim was lulled by the thrum, the warm beat that Dib gave off inside, soothing the aches and lonely hurt that had laid eggs in his chest, the larva gnawing and eating him from the inside for much too long. The Irken could almost forget, push away those thoughts and forget. How nice it would be to forget and just be. To just lay on the softness of cushions and think about nothing but getting lost in the quiet breathing against his chest.

But Dib spoke up and reminded Zim, forcing him to speak. "Not today.. er-I meant.. after we're done." His arm around the boy's middle tightened some. "Everything." He captured the scythe lock, running a thumb over it curiously.

A small frown of suspicion came over Dib's lips, but he just let out a sigh, deciding to let it go for the moment, his bandaged hand moving up to lay over Zim's. The hand on his hair was putting him into a sort of fogged state of mind, so he could really care less what day it was if even asked that. Soon enough, his eyes closed once again and he began to drift off to sleep, his breathing evening out as obvious by the slow rise and fall of his chest.

"Do you get good receptio-" Zim paused, his antennae perking at the slow easy sound exhaled from Dib's lips. The boy had fallen asleep. The Irken felt disappointment fall in his middle and he released the scythe lock, letting his hand fall back into the dark hair, nuzzling fingers down into the strands. At least one of them would be well rested. The bed was far more comfortable then the couch- no clutter and no Gir.

So Zim removed his hand from Dib's hair to pluck the glasses from Dib's nose. He turned the eye shield this way and that, looking at the thick magnifying glasses. How strange, how sad and imperfect huumun eyes were. Neatly, he folded the glasses and set them on the thick rim that encased the circumference of the bed. He then nuzzled his mouth to the crook of Dib's neck and let his eyes close. He had remembered being sleepy, tired, exhausted, ready to collapse right there on the console. But now he just didn't feel like sleeping. If he let his consciousness slip away, he might never wake up and he wouldn't have this anymore; whatever 'this' was.

So with a long drawn out sigh, Zim just let himself lay there, lulled by the soft beat of Dib's heart.

*****

It would be hours before Dib finally woke up, his first thought being that he was more comfortable than he had been waking up in the last few days. His eyes fluttered open only to have his field of vision blurry because his glasses were gone, everything looking like fluffy clouds instead of actual shapes. He did notice that someone was holding him and his mind refused to let him know who that was until he found his glasses, so he sat up with a groan, trying to move away from whatever it was, his hand fumbling around his body and any object around him for them. "Damn it...can't see..." He sounded like a two year old about to have a temper tantrum.

The person next to Dib let out a disgruntled noise at all the moving and squirming. Green and pink hues drowning in more pinks and darker shades that seeped into crimson all merging together. Though a long black blur moved into Dib's poor vision, tapping his chest with the prized item he'd been searching for.

" 'ere." Came a usually stubborn voice now soft with being groggy.

His hands took his cherished glasses from the blur and quickly put them on, blinking once, then twice, at how sudden his vision adjusted. Once he was finally able to see again, he looked down and an embarrassed smile formed on his face as he realized how weird he had acted around the Irken just because he didn't have his glasses. "Sorry." His smile suddenly turned into a frown as he remembered just where he was and why.  Sitting up a bit more now that he wasn't as tired, his hand reached out to place itself on Zim's forehead only to trail down to his cheek. "Are you feeling a little better?"

The Irken’s skin was lukewarm but clammy, though Zim seemed to lay pretty comfortably on his back. He did manage to doze.  At least his body had a chance to rest, not that it mattered in the end. It only prolonged the inevitable. Zim closed his eyes a moment as Dib's hand rested at his cheek.

He smiled wryly up at the boy "Why? Going to feed me chicken soup now?" At least Zim's voice sounded better, his old 'charm' coming back to him.

Dib smirked, his hand staying on the alien's cheek even when it wasn't necessary anymore. "No, I can't cook anyway. I'd probably poison you worse than we did to the kids at Skool, and I don't have the heart to do that." He moved to lie back down next to Zim, his head propped up on his free hand, his eyes scanning over the Irken’s body, and his hand lightly stroking his cheek. "I'm being serious though, Zim, I wanna know if you're ok. If that means delaying this damn mission for as long as it takes and just focusing on you then fuck it, it has to be done."

Zim's eyes slowly drifted shut again, the touch on his cheek lulling him into ease. "Heh, remember the time I used chicken soap as a--" Colored eyes snapped wide as Zim deadpanned only to give a start, looking at Dib in almost panic. "We can't! We can't delay this mission- we have to see it through!" A hand shot out to grab the front of the boy's shirt, yanking him forward, Zim's fear now masked by anger as he scowled at Dib's face. "We will concur, and there's no stopping it, Dib-worm." The Irken faltered, his grip easing up. "I'm fine."

A loud noise of surprise came from Dib as he was grabbed roughly, his hand leaving Zim's cheek so both of them could try and free his shirt. "Okay! Zim, I was just worried about you. We wouldn't be delaying anything, people have no clue what's going on in the fucking city anyway, much less the world. People were dying at the Skool and all it was to them was just another sideshow, I don't think time really matters." The insult added onto his name had hurt, so his voice had sounded a bit harsh as he spoke. His hands were finally able to release the Irken’s from his shirt, pushing them away then moving his own away.

Zim looked away sharply. "Good." He rolled over, moving to sit up and draping his legs over the bed, forcing himself to stand with a annoyed grunt. He turned narrowed eyes at Dib before looking away. Crossing his arms, he grimaced, keeping his look of disgust, guilt...hidden from the human.  He had to keep this business like, for the sake of the mission.

Turning, Zim marched toward the elevator with a cool expression on his face. "Come. We must disguise ourselves to go to where you house your pathetic and dieing." Once in the elevator, he looked impatiently to the human.

Hands clenched at his sides, Dib got up from the bed and walked towards the elevator, his eyes on the floor the entire time. Once inside the small space, he leaned against the wall furthest from the Irken and crossed his arms. "This isn't gonna be as easy as the skool Zim, there's way more people and it all depends on how well people take our disguises." He rolled his eyes at this. "Who am I kidding?  Everyone around here is blind."

That had Zim snickering almost to a full fledged laugh as he pressed the button. The door shut and the familiar hum started as it took them up.

"We'll use the same machine I used when I first came here." It wasn't a moment longer before the elevator stopped, bringing them to another lab area. The Irken lead them in and switched on the light to a rather dark part of the lab, revealing many dusty machines and items, especially one large one in particular.  Seemed this area hadn't been used in a while and was used more as a storage than anything else. Spiders skittered away from the light, which caused Zim to screech and latch onto Dib. "FILTHY vile creatures! They've penetrated my devices!?"

Dib raised a brow as he looked down at Zim for a few seconds before his eyes moved to the small spiders that were moving away from them. He couldn't help but snicker slightly at the Irken’s obvious fear. He then noticed one of the small bugs crawling towards them and quickly stomped on it with his boot, causing a gross squishing noise as he squirmed his foot around to make sure it was dead. "I wish everything was that easy." He looked back to Zim, his hands moving up to rub the alien's arms. "They can't hurt you Zim, and I highly doubt they want anything to do with your devices."

Zim grimaced at the squish and stuck a tongue out in disgust. "I hate your world's little creepy crawlies, dirt, germs- HATE YOU ALL!" He thrust a hand out, pointing at a spider who was just sitting there on its web, minding its own business. "GAH! It looked at me!" He clutched Dib tighter, seeming like he'd crawl up the boy if anything crawled their way. "Those beady eyes." Zim narrowed his buggy eyes hatefully. "Creepy legs-- with little feelers and and- strange pincher mouths!" He wiggled his pointed fingers as he clung to Dib with his wiry limbs with a shudder, clacking his seriated teeth.

Dib let out a small sound of protest as he was clung to even tighter, his hands falling back to his sides. He walked over to where most of the spiders were residing, dragging Zim along with him, and stuck a finger out which caused one of them to crawl up on it. "Well Zim, when your base is underground, most insects are gonna break into it." He smiled slightly as the spider crawled around on his hand and fingers. "Besides, I think you look like an insect yourself. Just, a better looking one. I suppose that's why I grew to like them. I used to be afraid of them as well." The spider had crawled up to his wrist and was just sitting there for the moment.

Zim let out an ear piercing scream as he let go of Dib as if the boy were suddenly on fire with two drooling heads. He leapt back and back pedaled until his Pak clunked loudly against the far wall. "THAT'S DISGUSTING!" He made several over dramatic gagging noises as he clutched as his throat only to grab his antennae and tug on them, giving a completely unimpressed scowl. "I do NOT look like THAT!" He felt a tickle on his shoulder and immediately pushed from the wall, swatting at his shoulder pad then his shirt and head, only to huff and attempting to contain himself. "I am NOT a filthy bug!" He tapped a button so the head force field activated; no telling what could happen with creepy crawlies of mass destruction about. "I'm a SOLDIER! How DARE you compare me to something like that, monkey!"

Dib sighed sadly, the spider having quickly run from his hand at either Zim's scream or how roughly he pulled away from Dib. He turned around to look at Zim, his face full of disappointment because he knew the Irken wouldn't understand him. "That's not what I meant Zim. I mean you have the characteristics of an insect, so you just kind of reminded me of one, that's all. You call me monkey and worm, but yet I don't get all bent out of shape about it. I'm still trying to figure out the worm insult." He scowled darkly and looked away to his right, "You being a soldier has nothing to do with anything I said."

"Worm, like a maggot... Your species looks like little wrinkly worms when you're babies." Zim wiggled a finger in example speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He shrugged it off; none of it was really important to argue over. He gingerly walked over to the large machine in the room. Closing one eye and shielding his face Zim reached out as if it were the worst of all punishments to touch the button to turn it on. With a straining sound he clacked the button and then quickly ran to hide behind Dib, as if all the spiders and creepy crawlies on the machine were going to attack him at once. He peered, blinking, only to look up at Dib. "You're going to cut off that hand you touched that thing with, right? Cut off and BURN it?"

A small teasing smirk grew in place of the disappointment and he answered the Irken in a joking manner, "I touch you but still keep my limbs don't I?" He threw a glance over his shoulder for a small second before looking back at the machine, having second thoughts at allowing the alien to use any of his contraptions on him, especially considering it looked as if it hadn't been used in years. He watched the spiders skitter away in different directions at being rudely disturbed, a few of them coming their way once again, which he just stepped on so they wouldn't scare Zim like last time. "Will this hurt?"

The boy received a deserving swat to the back at the comment. Though, as Zim stood straight to walk indignant-like, the spiders came and he was back to leaping behind Dib with a squeak. He cleared his throat, glancing at Dib at the question.

"Uhhh.." The Irken tapped his lip thoughtfully. "Yes. Last I remembered it stung like- a 'bitch'." He grinned widely. Tip toeing lightly Zim moved to the machine and flicked a switch, bringing up a hologram of a dog. Okay, it'd been a long time since he'd touched the machine at all. Flicking it back to human life forms, up came the picture of Zim's disguise, and so he flicked through the different types of people, trying to find a doctor. "Which is why you're going first, Dib-huumun!" The Irken grinned as the picture went from clown to cowboy to astronaut on the holo-view.

Dib began to walk backwards as if trying to escape, suddenly feeling very nervous about stepping near the machine. "You know, maybe the whole disguise thing isn't a good idea. I'm sure they won't know who we are. Yeah, um, maybe we could just get Gir to do it or something." His voice was shaky as he spoke, and he didn't sound too sure of himself. He knew for a fact if they were to go without disguises, people would know who he was and start questioning him, but he really would rather not go near that machine. His feet were leading him back farther and farther, a few more steps and he would be near the elevator.

Zim pinned Dib down with a hard glare. "Stay!" He snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Get back here!" He pointed to the spot in front of him. The Irken scowled. "You can kill your sister, capture your father, beat his face into a bloody mashed potato paste, plan for the demise of your species-- but you can't step into a disguise machine?" Zim scoffed. "Now get back here and take it like an Irke--EEK!" He leapt back as a spider draped down from the machine beside him, tripping over his own two feet he fell over gracelessly.

Dib stopped in his tracks, realizing there was some truth in Zim's words, but it was just sort of ruined when the Irken fell. He couldn't help but laugh a bit while walking back to Zim. Looking up at the spider, he raised his hand, cupping it and then placing it on the ground so it could be stomped by his boot, a sad look forming on his face as he did so. He glanced back at Zim and held out his hand so the Irken could take it and pull himself up. "Let's get this over with."

Despite wearing protective gloves, Zim still gave a unpleasant expression as he was pulled up by the same hands that touched the spider. He grimaced and wiped his hands on his pants, shooting a glare at Dib for the laugh and the hurt of pride.

Turning back to the machine, Zim flicked through a few more before finally coming across a doctor's image, a nurse next to him. He pointed, giving a victorious grin. "There! I knew it! See?" He pointed to the doctor. "I call doctor. You can be my lovely assistant~" He smirked widely, pointing to the woman in her leggy white uniform.

Dib flinched slightly and looked away from the screen, his hands going into his pockets, a small blush on his face at Zim's use of the word lovely, "Why do I have to be the woman? I think you radiate more female vibes than I do." A mumbled 'at least I hope so' could barely be heard.

"Oh come on!" Zim scoffed before standing back and crossing his arms. "That hair. That-- thing." He pointed at his own head gesturing about Dib's scythe lock. "That- is like- totally female." He made circles with his fingers, putting them in front of his eyes "And those eye shields- female. Those meat satellites" He made ear motions on either side of his head "-female. Those are the most female ears I have EVER seen!" The Irken pointed animatedly to Dib's legs "Those! Female! Look at them!" Zim gestured widely. "If I didn't know you for so long- I would have SWORN you were female!"

A small pout formed on Dib's lips as he looked himself over, all of a sudden self conscious, his hands traveling to his ears so he could cover them as if they were wounded. "I've been called emo, but never female." He glared at the Irken, one of his hands moving away from his ears to point at him, "You know, you're choice of clothing doesn't help you at all. Some kids at skool used to think you were a girl." His eyes moved to the floor because of his wounded pride.

Zim's gaze jerked down to his clothing. He gripped the front part of his shirt that hung down from his hips, a slit on each side making it hang the same way in the back. He tugged on it, scowling at the uniform, then Dib. "What? This is standard Irken uniform! What's wrong with it? Even the females wear this as well as the males. How is it female-y?" The Irken glanced behind at himself, lifting one foot to look at the bottom, as if that made him female-ish, only to lower and lift up the other, looking down its many buckle side. "No, it's just you. You're female-whims have made you project your girl-ness onto others." Zim nodded and crossed his arms as if that was the utter truth.

Dib moved two fingers together, pushing them back and forth against each other. "Yeah, well, it's not very good if both the male and females wear the same uniforms." It made a tiny bit of sense at least to him, but probably not to the Irken. It was sadly the only defense he had at the moment. His head hung in shame as he thought of this and his hair seemed to follow his mood, drooping slightly with his head. "I'm not girly..." One tends to repeat themselves in certain ways when upset enough.

The Irken blinked at the first statement. Uniform uniforms made sense to him, being they were exactly that- uniforms. But he supposed the human wouldn't understand Irken ways, and left it at that. Zim rubbed his one hand over the back of his glove thoughtfully before giving a light shrug. "You don't have to be to dress like one." He pointed. "Do you?" He walked, over giving a tug to the limp scythe lock "Unless this is common to the female part of your species. But I've noticed there's more to it than that." It hadn't meant to come out perverse, but Zim deflated at realizing it had. "Mmmph. If it makes any difference- you look nothing like the female Irken." He leaned down to peer up at Dib's face. Pointless argument, but he was trying.

The statement had helped a bit, knowing what Zim meant by it his head perked back up, his hair moving along with it. "I don't guess so it's just more natural, but I suppose if it's for the mission I could let it slide this once." He gave Zim a stern look, "No jokes though once I’m in whatever that thing has cooked up for me. It's bad enough I have to actually look like a girl. Having you mock me would just make it worse." His stern look turned into a pleading one.

Zim frowned somewhat. "I'd suggest using your father's clothing but...it's bloody." He stood up some since Dib was perking. The Irken blinked slightly, tilting his head as his antennae raised. "Ya'know~" He took hold of the scythe lock, making it go erect with a cackle. "You kind of look like him. Eye shields, lab coat-- scientisty~" He clamped either of his hands over Dib's mouth. "If you had no mouth or snorkel-flap you'd BE him." Zim stuck out his tongue. "Creepy."

Dib moved his hands up to remove Zim's from his mouth, keeping a hold of them as he spoke. "I didn't choose to look like him.  Sadly, Gaz got our mom's looks. The only thing I got was her eye color." He tried to straighten up with a shrug of his shoulders, acting as if the thoughts he just had didn't bother him the least bit. "Anyway, I packed some clothes in my bag upstairs that I can use. Once the disguise was in place I can just change into them.  They aren't very female, though, but I didn't know that problem would arise."

Zim stared at Dib, at his eyes, as if concentrating on the squishy balls would somehow let him peer in and see what the boy's mother was like. But, alas, the Irken had no such power. So instead the scrutinizing expression softened and he just looked at Dib's face with a mild blink of sorts. The large, soulful eyes went half lidded as Zim's head lowered subtly. "'Parents' are a strange thing to have...useless, I think."

Dib just stared at Zim for a moment before looking away somewhere behind the Irken, his face a bit sad as he spoke, "Some of them can be useless, but some are sweet and caring and don't deserve what happens to them." His hands fell away from Zim's, only to clench at his sides. He shook his head, trying to clear these thoughts away before walking from Zim and closer to the machine so he was standing in front of it. "Let's get this over with, huh? I really want to hurry and get the pain over and done with as soon as possible."

Giving a light shrug, Zim followed. "I wouldn't know." Standing by the machine more boldly than he had before, considering the spiders, he rested his hands on the console, looking to Dib. The front part parted with a groaning whoosh, as if it hadn't been used in far too long with little maintenance. The Irken gestured to the hollow front. "Step inside, and huzzah!" He flared his hand.

Dib had stepped up boldly, but now his nervousness was creeping up once again. Before it could take complete control of him, though, he stepped into the machine, letting out a loud squeal when it shut with a bang around him. Screams of complete pain coming from inside of the contraption sounded until it finally opened once again, smoke billowing out and causing the person inside to cough violently.

Once the smoke cleared, what was once Dib was now what seemed to be an okay looking, disguised female.  The scythe lock had been split into pigtails and the glasses were much smaller so they could fit on what was now her small round face. The clothes she was wearing were a bit baggy, considering they were fit for her male frame, and hung off her shoulders, causing a bit of cleavage to be shown with how low it was moving down. She noticed this and moved her hands up in embarrassment to quickly pull the shirt back up. "This is not happening." Her voice still sounded male, which made the situation even weirder and caused her to raise a brow.

Zim grit his teeth together, though the interlock of jaw didn't help keep the snickers away, and clapping hands over mouth only made them much more audible and snort. "PERFECT!" The Irken thrust his hand up into the air, pointing his finger to the heavens. "No one will recognize you!" As for the whole odd look Dib was giving, Zim just shrugged. "It's a disguise machine, not a D.N.A. reconstructor." He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he approached the boy, looking him over with one narrowed eye. "Hmmm." He peered at the dress tugging on the short hem curiously. "Hmmm!" He looked down at the high heeled shoes with a snicker. "Nice shoes, Diblet." He then poked the smaller glasses. "Niiice lekku." The Irken squiggled his brows as he gestured to what was now the severed scythe lock turned into long dark pigtails, which to him, seemed like antennae. He gave his own a suggestive wiggle.

Zim clasped his hands together, seeming satisfied and nodded verbally patting himself on the back. "Yes, yes, I do excellent work." He stuck out a tongue as curiously he tap taped the skin at the low cut V of the shirt that Dib tried to keep up.

Dib pulled away in embarrassment and tugged the shirt back up to his shoulders, a small sigh of annoyance coming out of his lips. "This is so weird." He tried to take a step forward and stumbled slightly because of the heels, a small whimper coming out of his mouth as he tried to regain his balance. Once he was sure he could walk and stand well enough on his own he looked himself over, his hands moving up to touch his hair, one more whine coming out of his mouth before he spoke, "I look so ridiculous. I can't even walk right or talk like a girl, and I miss my normal hairdo." He was starting to pout, and it ended up looking more cute than it would have had he been his normal male self.

Zim couldn't help but snicker more at Dib's dismay, it really was too funny. He wanted to squish the other's cheeks and give him fishy lips- BUT! There was work to be done. The Irken then walked to the machine himself. He took in a breath, rolling one shoulder then the other as he pumped himself up to step into the machine for the second time in his life span; third- if they counted that other time with that wedding, and the poor pumpkin. Cracking his knuckles, Zim marched in and the sides slammed around him.

He screamed bloody murder as the machine twisted him into guise. The doors popped open with a toaster like ding- sending Zim stumbling out with a hacking fit as he waved the smoke around.

What was once an IRKEN was now a DOCTOR! Zim with new contacts, thick round glasses almost like Dib's were, a new slicked down black wig and basic doctor’s clothes (atop his old), his old gloves and boots both included in the ensemble. Clearing his throat, Zim stepped into the open as the smoke cleared in tendrils and he pointed a finger, posing mightily. "I am- DOCTOR ZIM!"

Dib's attitude seemed to perk up at watching Zim's transformation, his hands moving back down to his sides, only to twist the fabric of the skirt, not used to having anything that showed off his legs. "Well, you certainly look convincing, if you don't count the green skin that is. I wouldn't worry about that, if people at Skool were blind to it, then you can just use the same excuse you always used for it if anyone at the hospital questions you." He sighed in frustration and looked down as his hands pulled at the skirt a bit more. "I'll definitely be glad when this stage is all over with and we can move on to destroying other people."

Pushing up his glasses on his non existent nose, Zim marched regally to the elevator. Turning on the balls of his feet, he clunked both heels together and faced Dib, motioning with one lithe finger towards the boy to come hither, peering with a wide dark grin at him. "Come, assistant Diblet~" His grin only spread more deviously as his voice took on a suggestive sort of malicious tone. "Let us go cook up some more joos for our patiently waiting patients at the sick house."

Dib's shoulders slumped in defeat and his hands moved away from the skirt as he turned to face the disguised Irken. "Yes Doctor." He replied, then began to stumble once again as he walked over to Zim, almost loosing his balance and falling on the floor at times, but was able to right himself and make it over to Zim in one piece.  Once by the alien’s side, the disguised Dib leaned against him with one hand on his shoulder with every intention of keeping it there, his voice pitching into a whine as he spoke.

"I hate you.”