ZADR Orange Chapter 018

       Zim was horrified by Dib's words. "Wha- NO! I was only playing with you!" he pulled away from Dib. "After all this, you still think I'm going to try and destroy this planet?! You already know it's a reserve!" he was desperately trying to make Dib believe him.

        "Yeah, but only because you're on it right now, and your leader is so madly in love with you! But if you were to ever leave, how do I know it would still remain as a reserve?! Your leaders could blow it up at any time if they really wanted to!"

        "Eh, but you- he- GAH!" Zim tugged at his wig where his antennae were hiding. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BELIEVE ME?! I CAN'T LEAVE THIS PLANET! EVER!" he yelled, starting to attract a little attention. "I JUST THOUGHT YOU'D LET ME SPEND MY POINTLESS EXISTENCE WITH YOU!" he kept ranting, walking around in circles and tearing at his antennae under the wig.

        His eyes watering up in frustration and sorrow, Zim was getting dangerously close to a pond in the park which they had been passing by. "I GUESS IT DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU THOUGH, HUH?! I KEEP TRYING, DON'T YOU GET IT?! I KNOW IT'S HARD TO TRUST ME! BUT IF YOU DIDN'T...YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME AT ANY TIME AND VICE VERSA! DOESN'T THAT MEAN SOME-" he instantly got cut short from his rant by an old man behind him.

        "Ehh? WATCH IT, WHIPPER SNAPPER!"

        "Wha- Ahh!" Zim felt his leg getting caught on the old man's walker as he turned, causing him to trip and plunge over the edge into the pond.

        Standing back, Dib could only watch with wide eyes as Zim was swallowed up by the pond water. "Zim!" he yelled in a panic before running over to the edge and diving in after him. As a large crowd was beginning to surround the area, Dib finally re-emerged with an unconscious Zim in his arms, desperately trying to swim for the shore with said Irken in one arm, his skin sizzling and steaming from not having bathed in paste that day.

        Feeling a random bystander suddenly take hold of his arm, Dib looked up as he and Zim were both pulled safely in to shore, the bystander helping Dib get Zim onto his back. "Zim!" Dib screamed again, shaking the other and praying to God he wasn't dead. Realizing soon after that Zim was bleeding when he looked down to his hands, covered in the others blood, Dib panicked even more. "Oh God, no..." he wasted no time at all in scooping Zim up into his arms and making a mad dash for the alien's base before anyone could even call for help, knowing that if he let them take Zim to a hospital, he would more than likely be discovered.

        "Oh, please hang on, Zim! Just whatever you do, please hang on!" he begged, pressing his cheek to Zim's head, the tears coming now as he had no idea whether Zim would pull through this or not.

        His body wracked with pain, Zim could feel his skin melting off as he was only conscious enough to know he was being carried somewhere. But the pain was too overwhelming for him to stay focused for long. Inside, he was raging at himself. If he hadn't gotten so mad at Dib, he would have been paying attention and not tripped like he had.

        Bursting through the front door to Zim's base, making a run for the elevator in the kitchen, Dib knew that he needed to get Zim down to his medical bay. "Computer! I need you to bring me down to the level of Zim's base with all the medical equipment! And fast!" he spat out in a rush, holding the Irken close, this situation feeling all too familiar.

        "Again? Didn't we just go through this a few days ago?" the computer seemed highly annoyed with all the work it had been forced to do over the past few days.

        Not having time for this, Dib merely glared up at the ceiling where the voice of Zim's computer was coming from. "Just do it already! He needs medical attention right now!" he demanded, in no mood to deal with the computer's sarcastic nature.

        "Ehhh...I don't really feel like it right now. Could you come back later? Or perhaps not at all?"

        "NO! I swear to God, if you don't take me down right now, I will completely dismantle you later on at night!"

        "Pfft...As if. You don't even know HOW. Now go away. I'm busy."

        "Ehh..." Zim groaned in Dib's arms, eyes squeezed shut in pain.

        "Zim!" Dib looked down at the other worriedly when he heard the Irken moan before glaring back up at the ceiling, where the computer's voice was coming from. "That may be so, but I'm certain Zim would know how to. Or I could just tell Gir when he gets back that I've hidden tacos somewhere in all your circuitry and let him tear you apart trying to find them." he said, not having the time or patience to continue playing games with Zim's computer.

        "Hmm?" the computer fell silent for a few moments. "Well, when you put it that way...NO!" the computer shouted angrily at him before reaching down two metallic arms to pick them up and toss them out on the sidewalk. "Go bug some other lab!" it said before automatically slamming the front door shut on them.

        Eyes shooting wide open as they were thrown out the door, Dib held close to Zim as he landed flat on his back and skidded across the cement a few feet. "Ow..." he groaned, sitting up slowly before blinking wide eyes up at the green and purple house, unable to believe Zim's computer would just throw them out like that when Zim was in such bad shape.

        "Damn...I don't have time to spend the rest of the night standing here arguing with Zim's computer. He needs help right now!" he exclaimed frustratedly before trying to think of where he could take the injured alien that would be safe. "I've got it! Dad's lab at home! I-It will just have to do for now!" he said out loud to himself, wasting no time at all in picking himself up off the sidewalk with Zim and dashing off towards his own house, praying that he hadn't already wasted too much time.

        Meanwhile, back at the Membrane residence, Professor Membrane had decided to stay home today so he could wait for Dib to show up to scold him about his bad grades. "Hmm...Where IS your brother, Gaz?" he had been waiting impatiently in the kitchen practically all day.

        "Uhhh...For the LAST TIME. He's at his boyfriend's house." Gaz growled, tired of having to repeat herself.

        "Now, now, Gaz. No need to say such things about your brother. He's just as straight as you are."

        Lifting her gaze up from the game she was playing on her Game Slave III, she couldn't help but glare daggers in his direction. "You have no idea." she said, mostly under her breath.

        Not catching his daughter's words, Professor Membrane lifted his head when he heard the front door opening and closing from his spot in the kitchen. "Ah, there he is now." he said before standing from his spot to go meet him before he could head on up to his room.

        Running right past Membrane with Zim in his arms to head on down to the lab in a panic, Dib seemed to stop dead in his tracks at hearing his father's voice.

        "And just where do you think you're going, son?"

        Slowly turning to face his father, Dib swallowed thickly as he prayed he had just been hearing things. But there stood Membrane, ready to scold him for his bad grades. "D-Dad?! Wh-What are you doing here?!" he asked, surprised, to say the very least.

        "I've been waiting for you to get home, son. We need to talk about those grades." he said, having yet to notice Dib was part Irken but noticing Zim nonetheless. "Who is this?" he asked, pointing at the disguised Irken.

        Taking a few nervous steps backwards with Zim, Dib could only shake his head. "N-Nobody...J-Just a friend...A friend who needs medical attention ASAP! Sorry, Dad, but we'll have to discuss my grades later!" he instantly turned to run out of the room and down into the lab with Zim, setting him carefully on one of the tables in there before running back upstairs to retrieve some towels and any other medical supplies he thought he'd be needing from the bathroom.

        Watching Dib shocked, Membrane couldn't believe his eyes. Dib...HIS SON...was in the lab...doing things...REAL SCIENCE! He grinned and followed Dib down into the lab. Dib, however, didn't notice him.

        Meanwhile, back upstairs, Gaz merely sighed. "Well, Dad had to figure it out SOME TIME."

        Back down in the lab, Membrane walked in on Dib, working hard, making him proud, until he saw and heard the affections his son was lavishing upon the unconscious boy on the table who was moaning, obviously in pain.

        Kneeling down near the edge of the table, gently patting Zim's skin dry with one of the towels, and trying to clean as much of the blood off from his wounds as possible, Dib all the while spoke soft reassurances into the other's antennae that everything would be alright, tears streaming down his own face as he was having a far harder time convincing himself that everything would be alright.

        "Come on, Zim...Just hang in there a little longer...E-Everything will be alright...I'm not going to let you suffer through this alone..." he pressed his forehead to Zim's, closing his eyes and whispering quietly to the other. "...I love you..." those three words slipped past his lips before he could stop himself.

        Having had enough of this, Membrane didn't wait around to listen in on this any longer as he turned to storm back upstairs, fists clenched. Entering the kitchen and seeing Gaz still at the kitchen table, he turned to address her. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Gaz. Your brother IS...gay." he said the word with what sounded like disgust in his voice, looking rather uncomfortable now. "...I should have never lumped you two together." he apologized, figuring he could at least save his relationship with ONE of his kids.