Wow. Didn't expect this to get ANY response. Thanks guys :)
It was almost three in the morning before any of us mentioned the problem that we hadn't addressed until now: We couldn't sleep, not without missing surveillance on each other. I looked at Marco, whose eyes were drooping already.
"You can take turns napping," Dib spoke up abruptly. "I don't need much sleep anymore. That way, one of you can watch me, and I can just watch you," he said. Marco looked at me, and I nodded. Without a word, he lay down on his side, and was almost immediately asleep.
"How do you not need sleep?" I asked Dib quietly, so as not to disturb Marco.
"Long story. Part of my years out of school," Dib said. We fell silent again until a few hours past dawn. I wasn't concerned, since Erik and another Chee were covering for Marco and I. We hadn't told Rachel and Cassie, because we didn't have time, but we planned for this from the beginning, so we were at least somewhat prepared. Nobody should have known where Dib was, though, so I was slightly concerned about his family. By noon, Marco and I were both resting, while Dib seemed to be only slightly tired.
"I know you're not Yeerks," he said suddenly. Marco and I were suddenly both very awake, and very on guard. It was the first time an alien name had been used among us.
"How?" I demanded.
"Bio-scan," Dib said, indicating the heavy digital watch on his wrist. "Lots of foreign DNA," he added with a confused look, "but none of it Yeerk."
"Foreign DNA?" Marco asked, startled. He looked at me. Could he deduce our powers...?
"Yeah. Animal DNA. I can't tell how it got there, or why it's there, but I can't exactly talk anyway, since I've still got Bologna DNA in my blood."
"...Bologna?" I asked, confusion overruling panic or sense.
"Another long story. Either way, I know you're not Yeerk."
"We don't know that you aren't," Marco pointed out.
"Which is why I agreed to come here. I was just letting you know, so it would explain why I trust you guys enough to get some sleep, myself," Dib said. With that, he lay down and closed his eyes.
An hour later, Rachel arrived carrying a bag of food for us.
"Erik explained what's happening," she said, her eyes falling on the still-sleeping teen across from us. "Is that really Dib? The crazy kid from way back?"
"Yeah," I said quietly. "He said he already knows we aren't Yeerks. Bio-scanned us or something," I frowned.
"I see," Rachel said. She quickly agreed to get Cassie and Tobias in on duty rotation, so we were set for time. Introducing Dib to Ax could wait.
Dib didn't say much more, acknowledging each of his new guards with a brief greeting. As soon as it hit seventy-two hours, he sat up straighter and adopted a serious look. All four of the normally-human Animorphs were present.
"I believe we can call our trust mutual, now?" Dib asked. Jake nodded, extending a hand to shake.
"I'm glad you understand the seriousness of this situation," he said. "Will you share your information with us, now?"
"First, since I came with you, you have to come with me. My house has been secured against any sort of bugging attempts. What I'm about to tell you is, in fact, secret. I trust you not to be Yeerks, nor in alliance with them, but there are other things that need to be kept out of the heads and hands of less than savory individuals."
He took us by bus to a house in the suburbs. It was a slightly run-down neighborhood, but one house looked particularly shabby. This is where he led us. He unlocked the door and swung it open, ushering us in.
It quickly became obvious that the outside was just a front. The inside, while old, was clean and well-kept. Blackout curtains covered the windows, so inside was brightly lit with flourecent lamps and overhead lights.
"Gaz! I'm home!" Dib called. A female voice from the kitchen barked a reply.
"It's about time, too!" she said, appearing. Shoulder-length purple-dyed hair swung to match flashing brown eyes. "Zim's stupid robot ate my pizza, and Zim won't come out of the basement to buy me a new one!" Dib sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing Gaz a ten-dollar bill. She huffed and grabbed a phone, pressing what we could only assume was a speed-dial for the pizza place. Satisfied that the girl was satiated, Dib went to a door and knocked twice.
Instead of opening, we were shocked to watch it drop out of sight, straight downward, to reveal a sterile grey chute. A flash of light and some smoke, and a being stepped out.
"Where were you?" the newcomer bellowed. Marco, Rachel, Cassie and myself blinked. He looked like an alien—a real alien. Green skin, red eyes, antennae, the works.
"I was making sure our new allies could trust me," Dib said, stepping back so the alien could get a good look at us.
"Dib!" he scolded suddenly, covering his antennae with his hands and closing his eyes.
"Relax, you aren't the first alien they've seen," Dib said, stepping around him into the elevator. The green creature cracked an eye open suspiciously. Then the other eye. Then he straightened up. Jake suddenly recognized him.
"You're Zim!" he said. "The kid from school! You dropped out a few weeks before Dib, I remember now. Your... skin condition..." he trailed off, taking in the alien. Cassie stepped forward to shake his hand.
"Nice to properly meet you, Zim," she said politely. Zim shook it hesitantly. He remembered Cassie. She was nice to him once, back in elementary school, when people didn't associate with the 'weird kids'.
"Cassie, right?" he said. "I don't remember your names," he said to the others. Quick introductions were made before the doorbell rang.
"Down the chute," Dib said, hustling everyone into the elevator before Gaz got to the door to accept the pizza. She looked back to make sure the door was closed and everyone gone before she opened the front door.