Zim's new bedroom was… well, it was unlike any bedroom I've ever seen before. The walls were painted the typical Irken Purple, and the floor was a soft ocean blue carpet. Rather than a typical mattress on a raised platform, there was a circular recess in the middle of the floor that housed a round bed. A glowing yellow orb hung from the ceiling, surrounded by small silvery balls strung together in a haphazard net; this seemed to be the computer's idea of a chandelier. The ceiling was vaulted, and looked to be covered in a giant sheet of curved acrylic etched with a map of the galaxy. Lights along the side of the ceiling lit up the acrylic so it glowed cyan. The effect was stunning, if a little gaudy. The bedroom wasn't perfect though, by any means. The door to what I really hoped was the bathroom had a large, industrial 'men's room' sign on it, there was a drinking fountain on the far wall, and a comically large toilet paper dispenser contained extra blankets. All in all, though, it was a surprisingly comfortable space.

"Eh, this will have to do for now. I'll fix it later," mumbled Zim, now shivering constantly. "Dib-beast. Bring forth the cuttlefish and demonstrate to Zim how it functions."

I rubbed my eyes, wishing I had a watch. There was a digital clock on a small pedestal near the drinking fountain, but its LED display read 'FERN' in glowing green letters. "Zim, there's no fish. It's called cuddling." Zim looked at me blankly. "Like snuggling?"

"Snuggling? Now you are just making mouth sounds, no intelligent species would ever use that as a word."

I sighed, kicked off my shoes, dropped my trench coat, and climbed down into the recessed bed. "C'mon, Zim," I mumbled, a part of me not looking forward to this. Zim hopped down into the bed and stood, looking lost. Between his shivering and his obvious unfamiliarity with the concept of a bed, I felt a pang of sadness for him. So vulnerable. This must be how he saw me when he still had his PAK. And wasn't banished by his leaders. I motioned for Zim to lay next to me.

"Zim demands that you explain this 'snuddling'… snuggle… fish… thing, before Zim participates."

"Well, you come lay next to me, and I'll put my arms around you, and you just… sorta… y'know, snuggle." With a distrustful glare, Zim crawled over to me, and curled up with his back just barely touching my chest.

"Zim does not feel warmer," he muttered. I reached my arms around him and pulled his tiny body close to me, trying to transfer as much heat as I could to him. He began struggling, trying to move further away. "Human, what on Irk do you think you are…?" I curled my knees up beneath him, locking him in place, and suddenly he stopped squirming. "Oh."

I smiled to myself. Zim could be adorable some times… Adorable? I wondered, the word echoing in my head. Did I really think Zim was cute? I felt Zim relax in my arms, pulling my hands closer to his chest. Yes, I decided, as I felt his cool skin start to warm up. Zim was cute. Irritating, reckless, self-centered, and hopelessly clueless, but definitely cute.

"Zim sees why it is called snuggling now," muttered Zim quietly, almost to himself, as I felt his body go limp with sleep. Carefully adjusting one of the pink pillows (of course it had to be pink) to keep from getting a neck cramp and pulling the soft velour sheet over us, I closed my eyes and dropped off to sleep as well.


I don't remember much details, just Zim. We must have been at some sort of formal dance, since I vaguely recall bodies in tuxedos around us, although I don't know if they were human or Irken. Zim was wearing a tuxedo as well, although it had the same ribbed pattern and color as his invader uniform, and he had a goofy silver bowtie on that, in my skewed logic, reminded me of GIR. He bowed low to me, then extended his hand. "Dance?" he asked, his voice soft and comforting. I grinned, taking his hand and sweeping him off his feet. For some reason, Zim was much taller (or I was much shorter), and our similar heights let us dance together without any stooping or reaching. It was a slow song, although I don't recall any actual music, and Zim rested his arms on my shoulders. Just like I've seen other kids do at skool formals, I placed my hands on Zim's hips and began swaying back and forth, taking small steps in time with the nonexistent beat. Zim pressed his body against me, and all I could think about was how much I cared about him, how he made me feel, how he completed me. I briefly wondered if this is what love feels like. Something outside of my world stirred, and everything shifted into darkness. The dance was gone, and I couldn't move my arms. Or legs. I was pinned… no, suspended; hanging from some sort of restraint. I wanted to try to escape before something bad happened, and I knew somehow that something bad WAS going to happen, but my neck wouldn't let me look anywhere but straight ahead. In the darkness, something moved. Something big and spidery.

"Foolish, pathetic human." It was Zim. His PAK was back, and he was using the extended spider arms to climb toward me, hovering just outside of the ring of light I was in. "You actually thought I could be defeated so easily?"

I swallowed. I had let my guard down. Zim had led me into his base, into his lab in the basement, hadn't he? He'd tricked me into falling asleep. How could I have been so dumb?

"Zim may be defective, but ZIM IS SUPERIOR. AND ZIM SHALL PREVAIL. ZIM SHALL SLAY!" he screamed, alien spittle flying. I still couldn't clearly make out his face, but his eyes glowed red in the dark. A metallic spider arm crept into the small ring of light and lingered on my exposed, inexplicably shirtless chest. "Dib stupid. You felt for Zim. You cared. You worried. And YOU WILL DIE!" I felt a searing pain as the razor sharp tip of the PAK arm sliced into my chest, grating on my sternum. I screamed, thrashing about trying to free myself. Another arm snaked up my leg, ripping flesh and sending my blood flying. Zim was hanging upside down, in my face, laughing…

No. Not laughing. He looked worried. Panicked, even. And the darkness and pain was gone.

"Dib? Please wake up, Dib! Please… you are having a malfunction! Dib thing… please…"

I blinked the sleep from my eyes. Somewhere in the back of my mind the tiny voice of logic informed me that it was all a dream, that I was still laying in bed with Zim, that I wasn't injured. But my knee-jerk reaction was to get as far away from Zim as possible. I scrambled to my knees, throwing Zim off of me, and crawled as far away as I could, screaming. "Aaahh!" I huddled against the side of the bed.

Zim looked around, his eyes fearful. I guess he gave up trying to figure out what was going on, and he resorted to screaming as well. "AAAAHH!"

"Aaahh!"

"Aahhhh!" We went back and forth a few times, screaming, until I finally found my vocabulary. "Murderer!"

"Where!?" Zim looked around the room, not realizing I was referring to him.

"You! You killed me! …Were killing me! You stabbed me in… my…" I stopped, catching my breath. It was all a dream, the voice reminded me. "A dream…" I muttered to myself, patting my hands across my intact chest just to make sure.

"Zim did not kill you. Zim would not kill you. Not any more," whimpered Zim, looking hurt. "Please, Dib. You are scaring me." He began shivering again.

"What?"

"You were moving in your hibernative state. Moaning. You seemed to be in pain. Zim was worried… Zim is still worried."

I sat down on the mattress, my heart rate slowing down. "Sorry… I, uh… I had a nightmare."

"A mare? Those are female equines, yes? You had a horse?"

"No… well, I guess I kind of did, figuratively. I had a… um… a dream. Y'know what those are, right?"

Zim nodded. "My GIR unit told me about them. You humans have hallucinations when you are in sleep mode. Sometimes they can lead to dampness."

I snorted. "Uh… sure. I… I had a bad dream. But it was just a dream." Zim nodded, still looking lost. "It's not important. I'm fine." Zim gave me a reproachful glare. "Really, I'm fine!" I laid back down on the bed, and Zim curled up against me, his head on my shoulder.

"Zim would not kill you," he repeated softly as he pulled the velour sheet back over the two of us.

"…I know. Thank you." We lapsed into silence for a few minutes, Zim curled up against my side as we both gazed into the star map etched into the ceiling. "Which one is Irk?" I asked, beginning to feel awkward in the silence.

"The Irken home planet? It is the big yellow orb, stupid. The most glorious planet in the galaxy." Zim gestured at the glowing chandelier as his shivering subsided.

"Oh. Right." We dropped into silence again.

"Zim has been to many planets. Vort, home of the brilliant yet repulsive scientists…" Zim pointed at a dot near the door to the bedroom. "Hobo 13 and Devastis, both training planets for invaders. Over there, that's Conventia, home of the largest convention center in the galaxy, and some of the most expensive parking this side of Boodie Nen. Way back there, that's Planet Foodcourtia, where Zim was banished for… uh… 'improving' Operation Impending Doom I." He shivered, and I held him a little closer, although I got the sense that the shiver wasn't from the cold.

"Where's Earth?" I asked.

Zim spent a moment looking around. "Uh… There." He pointed at a little tiny fleck in the far corner of the map, barely visible.

"Wow, we really are out in the boondocks."

"Incorrect. We are in Sector Y, Quadrant 8, subsection 22."

"I mean we're out in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh." Zim sighed, curling up a little closer to me. "Yes. Earth is in the least populated sector of the galaxy. My- I mean, the Tallest probably sent me here because it is so remote."

I wrapped my arm around Zim's shoulders in what I hoped was a comforting way. "If you could leave, would you? You still have your Voom thingy."

"Voot Cruiser." Zim sighed again, looking up at the star map. "Zim would not know where to go. Without a PAK, Zim is not capable of invading. And as a defective, Zim is no longer welcome in the Irken Empire. Perhaps I could go to Blorch."

"What's on Blorch?" I asked as Zim pointed it out on the map above us.

"Planet Blorch is the home of the vile slaughtering rat people. It is also the planet assigned to Invader Skoodge, perhaps the only remaining Irken still loyal to Zim… I hope."

"Huh. Maybe you should call him?"

Zim rubbed his chin. "Maybe. I think he was killed." I looked over at Zim, half-expecting him to show some sort of sadness. But he just scratched his neck absentmindedly, looking around at the other planets on the map.

"I'm uh… sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, it probably hurt a lot. I think I will call him tomorrow."

"Wait, I thought you said he was killed?" I sat up a little, feeling wide awake. Something in the back of my mind was clicking together, although I wasn't sure exactly what.

"Indeed, but he'll get better. Yes, he's probably fine by now."

I sat up completely, provoking a small groan from Zim at the sudden lack of warmth. "Zim, when someone is dead, they're dead. They don't come back."

He scoffed at me. "But of course they do! That is what the PAK is for. Upon death of the body, the Irken is uploaded into the control brains on the Irken home world via a relay module aboard the Massive. At the time of the control brain's choosing, a proto-PAK is created and the Irken is uploaded into the PAK, which is then attached to a blank. Glorious, yes?"

"Zim… Humans aren't like that. You realize that, right? When we die, we're… uh… deleted, like you said."

Zim frowned. "N-no, you are backed up as well! Yes! Via your cellular communication modules!"

I shook my head, everything clicking into place. "Zim, we don't have that kind of technology. We're mortal. When you kill us, we're gone. Forever."

"F-forever?" Zim looked shocked. I suppose I really shouldn't have been that surprised, given how advanced their technology is and how completely clueless Zim is. It made sense now. Zim killed so ruthlessly because he didn't realize what he was doing. "Z-zim would not have done that. I d-didn't know." I laid back down, hoping Zim would rest his head on my shoulder again (why did I enjoy that so much?), but he knelt down, his head on his knees. "Zim is a deleter," he muttered to himself.

"C'mon, Zim, it's not that bad. It's-"

"NOT THAT BAD?" He jumped to his feet, suddenly appearing angry. "Do you realize how many pathetic, revolting, slimy humans Zim has deleted?"

I nodded. "Seventy eight. But trust me, Zim. I've looked into it. Most of them were terrible people. Eight already had murder records, eleven had sexual assault charges against them, three were skool officials, nine were extortionists, and over two dozen were leaders of the shadow government."

"YOU!"

"What?" I jumped a little as Zim rounded on me and pointed a finger accusingly.

"You knew this ALL ALONG. YOU did not correct me. YOU did not inform me. YOU didn't even try that hard at stopping me, did you?"

That struck a nerve with me. "Oh, so now I'm the bad guy?" I shouted back, matching his volume as I climbed to my knees. "What am I, your keeper?"

"ZIM KNEW NOTHING ABOUT EARTH! For all I knew, you filthy worm babies could be fearsome war criminals!"

He's right, said a little voice in my head. I ignored it. "Well, FORGIVE ME for not rolling out the welcome mat! For all I knew, you could have been some sort of terrible murdering invader. Oh, wait. YOU WERE!" Stop, said that little voice. This will only end badly.

"And your planet could have been toxic to me! Oh wait. IT IS! I HATE this filthy mud ball you call home. AND NOW, THANKS TO YOU, I'm stuck here for the REST OF MY LIFE!"

Let it go. Don't yell back. "HOW THE HECK IS THAT MY FAULT!?"

"YOU COULD HAVE JUST KILLED ME. I WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT BACK TO THE IRKEN HOME WORLD AND BEEN DOWNLOADED INTO A NEW BODY!" Zim was shaking, although I didn't know if it was from anger or from cold. Despite his words and tone of voice, he looked on the verge of crying.

He's just upset. It's a big shock. Let him process it. "OH, so now it's MY FAULT I DIDN'T KILL YOU?"

"YES!"

Don't do it. "THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD YOU SAY!" Stop, you know where this is going. "YOU THINK I SHOULD HAVE WON?" Don't do it, Dib. "YOU REALLY COULDN'T EVEN DEFEAT A MIDDLE SKOOL BOY!?" Please don't. "WELL I GUESS YOU REALLY ARE A DEFECTIVE, TERRIBLE, USELESS INVADER!"

Zim stumbled backward as if he had been physically punched, a look of shock and betrayal etched across his face. "Wait, no, I didn't really mean…" I mumbled, immediately regretting my words.

"Yeah… you're right, Dib," Zim whimpered. "The Tallest were right. Everyone was right about me." I reached out for Zim, hoping I could calm him down, but he quickly climbed up out of the bed and ran out of the room. A moment later I heard the whirr of the elevator, followed by the hiss and slam of the front door. I sank down to my knees, not even realizing I had stood up. What did I just do?

"Err… Not that it's any of my business…" I jumped at the voice of the computer. "But you might want to know that it is currently raining, and will likely continue raining for another four point seven hours."

"So…?" I mumbled, feeling empty and lost. Zim had left me. I screwed up, and he left. I banged my head against the rim of the bed recess, but all it earned me was a mild headache. How could I have been so idiotic?

"Master missed his paste bath yesterday."

Crud. Without his paste coating, Zim would be burned by the acid rain. "Where'd he go?"

"I dunno, he went out the front door and turned right."

Well, that was helpful. Zim's house is on a cul-de-sac. The only way out was to turn right. He could be anywhere. I pulled my shoes and trench coat on and quickly ran out of the bedroom.