I disappeared here for awhile, but now I've come back! This was originally posted over at deviantart but now I'm posting it here. Yep, this is a zatr. So if you don't like that kind of thing, no one's keeping you here. But if you do, please enjoy! Reviews are appreciated!

Disclaimer thing: Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen Vasquez. I don't own anything here except this story so don't come after me.

Some nights it was unbearable. He would sit out on the rooftop, perched like an owl, sometimes from midnight until dawn, gazing, always in the same direction. His eyes were guided by an invisible trail floating on the air currents. Through all the stenches and putrid smells from the humans that cursed the cool night air, there was one pleasant scent that seemed to mask them from his senses, one that glided above the rest and one only he could detect. The only scent in the air that was meant solely for him. The stars dotted the sky above him, mirrored by the man-made lights that lasted throughout the night which lain out before him in a shining path as if to guide him to the place where she resided.

He wanted to go. Something deep within told him to run and run and never cease running until he found her. His claws dug into the roofing panels, as if to hold him in place. He knew better. He knew the anxiety and the aching in his chest was just a remnant of his specie's past. Things changed. Time had changed. Acting on his pure, animal instincts would no longer reward him. The rooftop was as far as he would go.

He knew it wouldn't last and it would all be over soon. Only a few more weeks perhaps. A few more tormenting, nerve-racking, anxious long weeks of not getting more important things done because he was too busy trying to control himself. He began to wonder if she knew what she was doing to him. She had to, he thought. As far as he knew, she was the only female of his species on this planet and he was the only male. The Armada was lightyears away. There was no competition. He had a straight shot toward her and knowing that made it all the worse because he knew he couldn't have it.

Every night for the past week it was the same. He would go to the roof, stare in the same direction, taking in the beautiful perfume of a female, become angry at her for torturing him, and then heave a sigh and surrender again to the wonderful scent.

-----

He stood still, frozen in place. Zim was outside the female's supposed new base, staring through the metal gate at the giant mansion. She seemed to take an interest in wealthy humans. Should he dare go any closer? He gazed through the iron bars from a dark street lined with trees, his eyes trying to look past the brick walls of the home for...something. He had never set foot outside the parameters of his base during the last week. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. Something was turning in the pit of his squeedlyspooch. He knew he shouldn't have, but he sniffed the air, and suddenly every nerve in his body turned to cold fire. He swallowed, trying to will himself to turn away, to go back to his own base.

The chill in his blood told him something was wrong. His eyes opened wide as he realized the problem. Warily, he sniffed the air again. The scent was strong. Too strong. She was closer than he thought.

Everything in his head seemed to swirl at that point. He shouldn't be here. His antennae pricked up, waiting for the smallest sound. He knew she was close. She wasn't inside her base like he thought she would be. She must have detected his approach and now she was waiting for him in the dark, ready to attack.

You idiot! He cursed himself. He was falling right into her trap.

His antennae flicked as he heard the scraping of metal against bark behind him. So she was in the trees. He slowly turned and fixed his gaze on the dark woods. His eyes pierced the black but he could not see her. The thick branches hid her from the moonlight, but she was there, he knew, in the tree to his left. Her taunting scent gave her away.

"I didn't come here to fight you." The words came out before he could stop them. "Tak."

He thought he heard her spiderlegs scraping against the wood again. "Then why are you here?"

The reply was harsh and bitter. He didn't know if he had an answer or not. He remained silent and tried to spot her.

A black shadow glided across his vision and a swoosh of air flowing with the tantalizing scent blew in front of his face. His eyes involuntarily shut and when he opened them again half a second later, he saw her, standing before him, silhouetted by the lunar light, eyes gleaming. She had grown just as much as he had, and her figure had become all the more graceful. He swallowed again. He felt powerless and he didn't know why.

"I asked you a question." Her voice was kept low and her gaze was hard. He only stared back into her dark eyes. "Well? Are you going to answer me or just stand there all night? You said you didn't come here to fight."

He started to feel sweat roll down behind his eye. "Uh...I-I" He couldn't find words. What's wrong with me!? He couldn't move and he couldn't talk. He should never have come.

His antennae suddenly jerked up once more as he heard a car coming down the road. He turned and saw its headlights beam through the trees. Somewhere in his daze, he heard Tak growl, "Get over here!" and felt her grab the collar of his uniform. The lights left his view as he was flung into the brush and hurled against a tree with a bit more force than was necessary. The female looked at him strangely before turning and waiting for the vehicle to pass.

The car went by without noticing the two aliens and continued on down the dark road into the night. Tak twisted her head to face the other, a frown forming across her features. "Just be honest. What are you doing here Zim?"

Zim forced his voice to speak. "I wanted to see you." It was the only answer he had.

Tak studied him carefully, piercing deep into his eyes with her own. He wasn't lying at least, as far as she could tell. Something was different about him though. His skin was a darker shade than its normal color, as if he had a bit too much blood underneath. His eyes were brighter, she could tell even in the dim lighting, and his antenna twitched at random intervals. She caught something on the breeze and she suddenly jolted back, her expression becoming one of disgust.

"Get away from me," she growled, baring her pointed teeth. She stood up abruptly from the ground, dusting herself off, and turned away, heading towards the mansion's gate.

Zim watched her the whole time without saying a word. Somehow he found the strength to stand up and somehow found the nerve (and idiocy) to follow after her. When she realized he was behind her, she turned and yelled, "Didn't you hear me!?"

Zim stopped, staring into her scowl. "I only wanted to see you," he said once more.

"Well you're not going to get anything from me," she growled. "So get out of here! Go home!"

She started walking away again. Zim took one step after her, then stopped. She wasn't going to let him get near her anymore tonight. He watched as her pak opened and her spider legs reemerged, taking her over the gate and back to the mansion. His body wanted to follow her but he willed himself to keep in place. When she disappeared from his view, he drew in a deep breath and tried to relax his nerves.

What was going on with him? Zim had never felt so nervous in front of someone. What was worse, it was someone of his own kind. In those few moments with her, he seemed to have lost all his wit. He couldn't think of anything to throw in her face as he did with Dib, who he was very good at berating.

As he started walking away to his own base, he wondered similar things about Tak. What was going on with her? She just got up and walked away. She didn't even try to attack when she had the advantage over him. Everything that had happened left the Invader quite puzzled.

-----

Night after night, when the air was cool and the natural perfume was heaviest, he would go to the same place outside the iron gate. He would sit across the road in the woods, perched in a tree, and watch and listen for any signs of her presence. And every time, there was nothing. Not one glimpse, not one whisper of her movement. There was only the scent that drew him to that place, the only clue that she was even there.

He thought he was going mad. All his plans and all his latest schemes to take over the filthy planet were put on hold. He had tried numerous times to work on some device to take his mind off what it was really thinking. It wasn't as bad during the day when he had school and the Dib-human to keep him distracted. Though once night fell, his concentration and his focus on whatever he had been doing hours before was shattered and all he could think about was her. He had no idea where it came from but deep inside there was a growing need to try to impress her. He remembered reading somewhere once that long ago during the ancient days, a male Irken hunted a small animal and brought it to the female he was seeking as a mate. If she accepted, the pair would share the offering of food with each other. Zim huffed. Maybe he should just go kill a human or something.

It was the middle of the second week of his torture. He was sitting in his usual spot outside Tak's base, so far having seen no signs of her like all the other times he visited. He had been there since early in the evening but now the chronometer in his pak told him dawn would be coming soon. Sighing on another uneventful watch, he lifted his weight and made for the ground. As he did so, he failed to notice the electro grenade attached to the underside of the branch.

His movement sparked the trigger's sensor and he suddenly found himself fighting against the stinging shocks of an electric net. Dammit! He writhed and screamed, trying to find a weak spot in the lines. The net constricted tighter and tighter around him the more he struggled. Cursing himself and his blind stupidity, he felt the electric pulses intensify. The net's bands set one high-voltage charge to course through his body, immobilizing the Irken.

When he came to, Zim was on his knees with his arms held tightly against his frame by energy bonds. His surroundings were that of an Irken base, not unlike his own. The air was cool and still, with only the humming of machines and computer systems to break the dead silence. This part of Tak's base must have been underground just as his was.

"You're too predictable, you know."

Zim turned his attention to the voice, throwing daggers at the female with his eyes. "Let me go, Tak," he snarled.

Tak only grinned at his displeasure. "Why should I? So you can go and sit in your tree all night? I know what you want. I know what you're thinking about when you're out there, and what you're probably thinking right now."

You wretched female, Zim thought, clearly showing it on his face if not in words. He realized he wasn't as enthralled by her scent at the moment. The net must have neutralized something, which was fine by him. Now if he could only find a way out of this.

Zim glared up at her. She glared equally hard back at him but he caught something in her eye. For a split second, he thought he saw her features soften. That's when noticed one of her antennae was twitching nervously and he realized what was going on. His trademark evil grin replaced his scowl and a murmuring laugh escaped from deep in his throat.

"You're no better than I am," he smirked.

Tak bared her teeth in annoyance. "What?"

Zim kept his grin on his face. "You can hardly control yourself, just like me. Why else would you have caught me? You had plenty of times to try and catch me before. It seems now you just can't take it anymore."

The other Irken's fists clenched as she realized what he was saying. "You think I want you for myself?"

"Don't deny it!" Zim spat. "I know you're going through the same thing I am! It happens to all Irkens, so don't try and play dumb!"

"But what makes you think I'm interested in you?"

"What makes you think you're not interested in me?" Zim retorted. "I can see it when I look at you. You put on a tough defense but I can still tell you're nervous. Your antenna twitch, your eyes dart from place to place, and you keep shooting pheromones at me. I won't be stubborn like you. I'll go ahead and admit the same thing's happening to me!" He drew in a deep breath. "These past days have been torture. No matter what I do, I can't stand being far away from you. I can hardly control myself any longer. And there is a part of me that does want you!"

He abruptly shut his mouth. He didn't mean to say that last thought out loud. His mind was always faster than his logic.

Tak frowned. "I'm not going to let you ruin my life a second time."

Zim recoiled with a look of offense. He didn't like those moments when his past caught up with him. "I don't want to ruin it," he murmured. "I just...need to be near you."

Tak drew in a sigh and relaxed her fists. There was truth in his words. Since the first night she caught him trespassing and sent him away, she felt a terrible need deep in her blood to seek him out. She could always detect him by scent whenever he came close to the base. She did all she could to keep from going outside. Even when he wasn't there, his presence would linger on the air until the wind blew it out. It was the smell that drove her crazy.

Zim broke the silence that had fallen on them. "I'll make a truce with you..."

She darted her eyes back to him at the sound of his voice, having not been aware that she had looked away.

"It is apparent that both of us are going insane," Zim grinned slightly at the comment. "But this won't last much longer. So I'll stay with you here at your base for the next few weeks. Once this Season has passed, we go back to hating each other again and everything returns to normal. Maybe we can at least feed off of our own separate ideas and try to take over this planet together while we're in each other's company."

Tak looked at him suspiciously and Zim detected her uneasiness. "Don't worry," he said. "It won't go far. I'll only be in your presence, nothing more." He gazed up at her, but her face was unreadable this time. His eyes stared deeply into hers, but her expression remained blank. Doubts began to creep into his head that she wouldn't accept and she would only end up killing him to be done with the problem. After all, he had been trespassing on her territory. He knew female Irkens were far more aggressive than the males, though they rarely showed it. He was hoping this didn't turn out to be one of those rare moments. He was the one bound and unable to move. She had the advantage and he was at her mercy.

"Please, Tak. Cut these bonds and I swear by my word as an Invader that I will not attack you." He lowered his head, staring at the floor, and curled his antennae back towards his skull in submission.

Silence was the best thing he could offer after that. He waited for a response, any response, though Tak remained quiet, standing her ground. He could barely hear her breathing. Right then, he imagined he looked pretty pitiful. The Great Invader Zim was on his knees, trapped in energy bonds, submitting to a female who was still considered a janitorial drone by their society's standards-all because he had given in to his natural, savage instincts as a needy little male. Way to go, Zim. Looks like you screwed up again. One more reason for people to laugh at you. He quieted the thoughts running through his mind. This was going to be the end of him.

So that's it for the first chapter! Second part will be up soon.