ZADR Orange Chapter 029

        Not giving up on trying to convince Dib to leave Zim just yet, Gaz merely narrowed her eyes on her brother at his words. "But wasn't HE just about to leave you?" she threw back at him, having heard them arguing earlier.

        The pain from their earlier argument still there, Dib's expression fell a bit at her question. "Yes...But...But he had good intentions at least, unlike dad...He said he was only leaving because he thought I hated him, and because he just wanted me to be happy..." his voice came out quiet, antennae drooping.

        "Pfft. Yeah right. He just doesn't want to be around you. Do you even have ANY idea what he was doing while you were unconscious?! He was ripping your organs out!"

        Eyes growing wide at her words, Dib seemed to freeze in his spot. "H-He was...wh-what?" he asked, wanting to make sure he had heard right as he pulled away from her, taking a few unsteady steps backwards. "W-Well, I'm sure it was n-necessary...I mean, I never asked him what the specifics of this procedure were going to be..." he tried to reason it out to himself, bringing a hand up to hold his head.

        Shaking her head, Gaz only continued to glare over at him. "Please, Dib. If I hadn't been there watching him, he would have pulled you apart, and you would have NEVER woken up." she tried to convince him otherwise.

        Antennae falling back even more, Dib could only shake his head. "Y-You're lying...Zim would never...He loves me, goddammit!" he screamed back at her, not wanting to believe that Zim would do something like that to him.

        Getting annoyed now, Gaz growled out lowly. "Grow up, Dib! NOBODY loves EITHER of us!" she said with finality in her voice.

        Feeling as though his very heart were being painfully ripped out of his chest at Gaz's words, Dib's wide eyes seemed to glaze over as he felt his already unsteady legs shake even more before giving out from underneath him, causing him to fall down to his knees and just stare down at the ground, not wanting to believe what she was saying to him. "No...N-No, you're wrong...Zim...H-He..."he tried to protest but fell silent after a moment, unable to continue. Feeling too emotionally worn out to argue with her any longer, he then bowed his head in defeat.

        "That's what I thought." Gaz finally said when her words seemed to have gotten through to him before turning on her heel. "Come on, Dib. We're leaving." she said before storming out of the house, splashing through the soaked yard. "COME ON, DIB!" she then yelled back into the house again when she had reached the sidewalk.

        Hearing the conversation himself but unable to react due to the amount of pain he was in, Zim could feel tears sliding from his eyes as Gaz stormed out of the house, shouting at Dib to leave. He didn't WANT Dib to leave. "D-Diii..."he tried to sound out the others name, but it came out as a pained gargle.

        Merely remaining kneeling where he was for several long moments, almost lifelessly now, Dib was unable to hear Zim before noticing that same scanning device Zim had used on him earlier laying on the ground near him.

        Reaching out to take it, praying that it would still work despite the power being out at the moment, he then stood up and repeated Zim's earlier actions, first scanning himself then approaching the couch to scan Zim. Placing it in the Irken's hand so his thumb was on the button afterwards, not realizing that the other was awake at the moment, Dib hoped he would understand nonetheless what to do when he woke up.

        "When the power comes back online, press this button and the base should be back under your control..." he whispered quietly to the other, running his fingers over Zim's hand one last time, though this time emotionlessly. "I'm sorry..." he then apologized before finally turning to leave upon hearing his sister calling him one last time, knowing that at least Gir would be home soon to help Zim.

        Still unable to move and therefore stop Dib from leaving him, Zim could only shake a little as he sobbed heavily to himself, unable to do any more than that.

        Having already exited the house, however, Dib approached his sister slowly, little emotion in his dazed expression. "Where do you have in mind to stay?" he asked, knowing they couldn't go home.

        Walking ahead of him, Gaz merely began making her way towards the school. "I'm waiting on a response from a friend. Until then, we'll just stay at school. I know how to break in." she said, having had this planned since before Zim and Dib had even had their argument.

        "Okay..." Dib just began to slowly walk after her, his gaze fixed on the ground in front of him.

        Meanwhile, on the Massive, a random drone approached Red with some charts in hand. "Here are those charts you asked for, my Tallest." he said, handing them over to Red.

        Taking them from the drone, Red smirked after he had gotten a good look at them, his counterpart currently taking a nap in their chambers. "Interesting...I think that human was the best thing to ever happen to Irk...Ever since Zim left with him, he's gotten closer to death more times than I care to count...Hmm...But it's still not quite enough...YOU! Tech!" he then pointed at some random technician on-board.

        "Yes, sir?!"

        "Connect me to planet Dirt."

        Saluting again, the technician then turned to a screen in front of him. "Yes, my Tallest!" he said before sending out a transmission to planet Dirt, transferring the call to a large screen in the room as they waited for it to pick up.

        Tapping his claws impatiently against his armor, the transmission was soon answered by another Irken with dark, purple eyes.

        "My Tallest!" the Irken seemed surprised by who was calling her as she stood up straight and saluted him.

        "Ah, I'd hoped you would answer. We have a...secret mission for you." Red grinned evilly.

        Back on Earth, Zim remained where he was on the couch, slowly healing bit by bit, allowing him the ability to once again sit up and move around a little. But the power still had yet to come back online, which left him sitting in complete darkness not to mention the cold. "Dib..." the others name slipped past his lips as he shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around himself for more warmth.

        A bag of tacos in hand and a taco hat on his head, it was at about this point that Gir came trotting into the base. "Hi, Mastah! I'm hoooome!" the little android cooed out before closing the open door behind him.

        "G-Gir?" Zim sniffed, wiping at his eyes. "Y-You're home early..." he said, still shivering though this time more with emotion than from the cold.

        "Dat's cause I missed joo, Mastah!" Gir exclaimed before glomping onto Zim, causing the other to let out a pained noise. "And I gots you tacos!" he said, holding out the greasy bag of tacos to Zim, all the while smiling cheerfully, his tongue hanging out.

        Smiling sadly at Gir, Zim merely shook his head. "You know I can't eat tacos, Gir." he reminded the other before taking the bag anyways to set down next to him.

        Seeming to notice Zim's sadness, Gir's little antennae then drooped down a bit. "D'awww...What's wrong, Mastah? Why you so sad?" he asked, wrapping his stubby little arms around Zim's waist the best he could, wanting to comfort the other.

        Unable to help himself, Zim could only start crying a little again as he wrapped his own arms around Gir and held him tightly. "He left me...He just up and left me! I saved his life again, and he left me!" he exclaimed before breaking down even more.

        Little antennae drooping even more when Zim began crying, Gir merely tilted his head to the side somewhat confusedly. "Da Big-Head Boy? But he loved you. He loved you so much." he said before hugging Zim tighter.

        Zim could only shake his head at that though. "No...He left..." his voice came out in a whisper now as his antennae drooped.

        Not knowing how to respond, Gir could only stare up at his master with an equally sad expression on his face.

        Sighing when he got no response from the other save for a sad look, Zim leaned back on the couch and pet Gir gently. "The power's out, Gir...Can you fix it?" he asked though he didn't expect much from the other.

        Merely nodding his head in response, Gir then wriggled out of Zim's lap to rocket down into the lab so he could play around with the circuitry until the power came back online. Returning a few minutes later as the lights flickered back on, Gir was all smiles again as he approached the couch. "I fixed it!" he jumped about excitedly.

        Smiling sadly as the other began doing a little victory dance, Zim went ahead and pressed the button on the scanner so he wouldn't get kicked of the base and settled back into the couch. "Thank you..." he thanked the little android before closing his eyes and sighing.

        Smile still remaining on his face though weaker now, Gir then crawled back up onto the couch. "Mastah want some soup?" he asked, trying to think of something nice he could do for Zim to make him feel better.

        Said Irken merely shrugged. "I don't care..." he said, not really hungry but at the same time not wanting to completely crush Gir's spirit when he was trying to do something nice for him.

        Reaching into his head and pulling out a rubber piggy, Gir placed it next to Zim before leaving to make the soup. "You stay here and keep Mastah company, pig, while I go make him some soup!" he instructed the toy before running off into the kitchen to begin making the Irken some soup, undoubtedly making a mess at the same time.

        Sighing yet again, Zim took the pig and smiled a little before curling up on the couch to rest some more.

        Returning to the living room about 15 minutes later with a large bowl of steaming hot soup just to find that Zim had fallen asleep, Gir then set the bowl down and climbed up onto the couch with Zim, crawling under the covers to snuggle up to him and close his own eyes.

        Meanwhile, with Dib and Gaz, Gaz sighed as she leaned back into one of the cushy chairs they had in the school library. "You might as well get some rest, Dib." she instructed him, closing her eyes as the sun was just setting in the distance.