AN: yes another ZaDr. Yes I'm aware I do not own the IZ crew. It got stuck in my head and wouldn't leave. Oh and as a warning fluff and character death.

because I'm broken

Zim shot at Dib but the boy rolled away too quickly. "Come back and fight me Dib-worm!" A tap on Zim's shoulder. He turned and a fist collided with the middle of his green face, knocking him unconscious. "So sorry Zimmy boy but this fight is over." She opened up his pak and began smashing everything. She even went so far as to rip out his spider legs and tossed them aside.

Dib sat and watched in abject horror as no other than Tak ripped Zim's pak apart. He leaped up, took aim, and fired. The shot struck true and she wasn't fast enough. The bullet took her right between the eyes and her actions ceased as did her breathing. All she did was bleed. Dib stood over her and watched the pool of green spread further around her slowly cooling body. "Nothing personal but this was my fight Tak and nobody likes interference."

With that Dib picked up the pieces of Zim's pak and put them in his backpack. He then gathered up the barely breathing alien and made his way home. He took the back door and slipped inside quietly. He strapped Zim to his bed, checked his breathing and headed for Zim's base. When he finally got to the base he went through the front door and found Gir on the floor disassembled.

Tak had obviously been here looking for Zim. He found an elevator and eventually got over the disgusting idea of going down a trashcan. He hadn't even touched the elevator he'd found in the toilet. Once he was down in the main computer room the computer greeted him causing him to jump. He told the computer what had happened and that he needed tools and blueprints in order to fix the pak. It eventually handed them over after a battle of the wits and he had it cornered with logic and evidence.

He ran as fast as he could back to his house with the tools. He burst through the front door not caring who saw him and rushed up to his room. Zim was still out cold and breathing even shallower than before. He had to work fast. He began fixing the internal parts of the pak and the most vital areas. The pak had already done as much self repair as possible but it needed all the help it could get. The vitals were restored in a the matter of a minute.

After painstaking hours Dib had fixed all he could without screwing something up but at least the pak was restored enough to fix itself the rest of the way. Dib untied Zim and curled up on the bed next to his enemy completely confident that he would wake up and Zim would be gone. He fell into a deep slumber and when he awoke again it was dark and the moonlight was shining through the window.

He jumped when he realized the warm body next to him when he fell asleep was still there. "About time you woke up Worm baby." Zim regarded Dib curiously with luminous red orbs. "Zim? Why are you still here? I fixed you and untied you so you could leave." Zim thought for a moment. "It just seemed wrong to leave without saying something." Zim closed his eyes and shook his head. "What happened to the person that attacked me anyway?" Dib sighed glad to be out of a potentially awkward moment.

"I shot her and she died." Zim nodded and twiddled his thumbs nervously. He looked like he was about to say something but then he closed his mouth and looked back at his fidgeting hands. "Just say what's on your mind Zim." Zim's antennae wilted at the thought of telling dib that he could feel him tinkering with the pak, that he knew Dib had even put his spider legs back in, or that every touch felt very intimate and that he knew how gentle and careful the boy had been. "Who was it?" Dib wondered briefly what it was that had Zim fidgeting.

"It was Tak." Dib put a hand on Zim's to still them. Zim's hands froze under the gentle touch. Zim felt so confused right now. He didn't know what to do to thank Dib and just saying thank you seemed kind of empty if they were going to go back to fighting. //Maybe we don't have to fight.// Zim thought about it for a while and they sat in relative silence. He finally decided that he wouldn't go back to fighting after this. "Dib?" The name was said so meekly Dib almost missed it. "Yeah Zim?" His response was almost as quiet but the alien heard it clearly. "How does the damsel thank the hero in the stories again?" Dib smiled and answered. "Usually with a kiss or some trinket, why?" His question was answered as Zim grabbed Dib and their lips met. It was meek and tentative. Zim pulled away first and looked like he expected to be slapped.

Dib didn't know what to do so he touched his tingling lips lightly. Zim had just kissed him. Dib digested this fact for a while. Zim got up suddenly and stammered an apology and went to leave. //Don't leave now, please Zim. Don't leave me like this or we may never bridge the gap between us.// Dib grabbed his hand gently and looked up pleadingly at the alien. //Please don't leave me alone Zim.//

Zim looked into those amber eyes and felt something inside him break. He couldn't leave him like this. It was even more wrong than leaving without saying thank you. Zim turned around and hugged Dib tight. He couldn't leave now, he'd just done something irrevocable. Zim did the only thing that seemed right at that moment. He put a finger under Dib's chin tilting the his upwards and captured the boy's lips with his own. This kiss lasted longer than the other and Dib wrapped his arms around Zim's waist, pulling the alien closer.

Zim didn't resist when Dib led him over to the bed and dragged him down onto it. He went rather willingly in fact. Dib slowly parted the irken's lips with his tongue and Zim complied easily as each movement the boy made against him had new sensations arising inside the alien. After exploring each others mouths for a good ten minutes (air included) they lay in Dib's bed cuddling. Zim listening to that fascinating thing called a heartbeat and Dib absently stroking a velvety antennae, listening to the irken purr. Dawn found them still together, Dib asleep and Zim watching the boy take deep even breaths. This was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Fin