About 2 hours later, Dib started to awaken. He saw he was still next to the unconscious Irken and started to contemplate ways to get him to wake up. He didnt know how long he had been knocked out, so there was another obstacle to overcome.
He got up and started looking for a light switch, and after a little searching, he found one and switched it on. The first thing he saw was all of the Irken technology beaten, burned, or just plain blown up.
Dib decided to worry about all that after he had awoken Zim. He approached the unconscious Irken and wondered if something in his PAK could help him. He turned him over so he could better reach the PAK on his back and started pushing random things.
He hit one of the pink discs and various weaponry came out. After quickly moving aside, he pushed another one. This time, a whole fridge's worth of snacks came squirting out. He then hit the last disc and crossed his fingers on the opposite hand.
What popped out this time was a PAK repair kit. Unfortunately, all the writing was in Irken. Dib groaned irritatedly as he called for the computer once again.
"Computer, I need you to translate these words into English for me if you want me to save your master. Are you going to help me out or not?"
After a moment, a nearby port in the wall opened up to reveal a scanner. It scanned the writing that was there. It retreated back into the wall and the translated script was ready to read.
After about an hour of figuring out how to fix Zim's PAK, Dib was done repairing it. He stepped away from the Irken and waited to see if it worked. A moment later, Dib heard a slight beeping noise. Zim's eyes blinked slightly open as he awoke. Dib saw this slight change in movement in the other and stepped closer to the Irken.
"Wh... Where am I?" Zim sat up slightly on his elbows and took another look around his surroundings. One of the first things he saw was Dib looking at him curiously. "Dib? In my base?! What are you doing here? What's going on?"
Dib was a bit surprised at Zim's sudden outburst and the fact that he hasn't remembered anything from that call.
"Zim! You're awake! I'm here because you weren't at skool, and so i got worried and came over here. I don't really know what happened other than what I saw on that video call. And when I found you you were knocked out and naked..."
Zim was really confused as to what happened until he heard the part about the video call. He sighed and turned his head away from the Dib-human. Dib gave the Irken a confused look at his sudden behavior.
"Zim? Are you ok?" he asked. The only answer he got was a very quiet 'no'. The human felt a slight pang in his chest as he stepped a little closer to his enemy. He raised a hand to put gently on Zim's bare shoulder and turned him so he could see his face better.
"Zim, what happened?" Dib gave the alien a stern look as he said that. Zim's eyes then started to tear up as he brought his gaze up to meet the humans. He then suddenly grabbed Dib in a close hug as he cried on his shoulder, staining his trench coat a light pink color.
Dib was startled at first, but after a while he had in and hugged the Irken back. He gently rubbed his back with comforting touches as Zim sobbed.
After a while Zim calmed down and let go of Dib. He gave a few final sniffs as he opened his eyes and looked at the other. "T-the tallest... They banished m-me... I was j-just a joke to them... I'm a f-failure... Can't even take over t-this stupid planet... They s-sent some other Irkens t-to destroy all m-means of communication with the m-massive and all other Irken equipment... They would've k-killed me but they saw me as a w-waste of time... And they t-took my invader uniform." He finished his last sentence with a choked sob as he broke down all over again.
Dib stepped away as soon as the Irken let him go. He couldn't help feeling bad for Zim as he told his story. Once again he approached the Irken, only going by impulse. He lifted the other's chin up so he would have to look him in the eye.
"You are not a failure. You're the one who built this base! The one who helped me that one time with the bologna incident! You are the one who actually notices me and doesn't just ignore me and call me insane! You, Zim, are my reason... for... living."
Every word the human said made Zim's squeedley-spooch feel weird and tingly. He had no idea what that meant, or why the Dib had come to his base in the first place, but what he did know was that he was right.
The Irken sniffed a little and mulled the words over before he said, "Dib... why're you... helping me...?" He spoke very quietly; he doubted the other could hear him at all.
Dib thought about why he really was here and why he was spending his time at his sworn enemy's base instead of doing something productive like chasing a vampire. He opened his mouth as if he were to say something, but before he could get a word out, GIR came crashing through the ceiling.
"Master! You're fixed yay! I made you some bacon waffles!" GIR threw some waffles at Zim while Dib stood back and watched the show. He lightly chuckled as he saw Zim yelling things like 'how did you find me?' and 'why is there soap in the waffles?' The human then spoke up saying, "Well Zim, it looks like you're busy so I'm gonna take off now. Have fun with your... bacon waffles, or whatever." He turned to leave when he was pulled back by none other than Zim.
"Not so fast, Dib-human," he said in a slightly husky tone. "You still have to tell me why you're here and why you helped me." He finished his statement with a slight smirk that made Dib blush for unknown reasons. He swallowed thickly and averted his gaze to the robot who was eating waffles on the floor nearby.
"W-well... I told you, I was worried about you, with you not being at school for a few days... And I helped you because... cause... I... L-like you more than I should..." He thought that was a good enough excuse as to why he helped the person who tried to kill him almost every day.
Zim smirked even more at Dib's last sentence. "Well, Dib... I don't think that's a good enough reason. Tell me, how much do you 'like' me?"
'Damn, he's gonna make me say it isn't he?' Thought Dib. His cheeks turned more red then they were before, and took a step back before raising his gaze to meet the alien's and finally saying, "Why should I tell you?"
Zim took a step forward as he replied, "Because I want to know. Who knows, something good can come out of it."
The human hesitated for a while, not knowing if this was a trick or not. After some time had passed, he lowered his gaze and stuttered, "...I lo... I th-think I l-love... You..."
He started to back away and blush, thinking in the back of his mind Zim was going to kill him for saying that. He looked back up to the Irken, looking for a reaction. All he got was a slight confused look from the other.
"W-what? You wanted t-to know... So I t-told you!" Dib didn't mean to sound so harsh, but at the moment he was very nervous about what Zim would to to him. He gave a sigh and started to leave the room, feeling rejected.
After making it to the doorway, he put his hand on the frame and looked back at the alien. He was still standing there with his head turned to the side and one eye slightly narrowed. Dib then made his way out and left Zim's base.
