A/N: Notifications:

Portion in Italics: Recording

The next morning dawns to find Dib back on the couch, though this time Zim is lying beside him. In a fashion unlike that of GIR (who is happily dozing at their feet), the little child has cuddled close to Zim and set up camp on his chest.

Zim, the first awake, notices this. And as per usual nowadays, instead of shoving Dib roughly away as he is wont to do, he moves to smooth the boy's unruly hair with a feather-light caress.

It is a strange thing, especially for one so afraid of feeling any trace of affection as he once was, but this child means more and more to him every day.

At first the silence surrounding them is so great that he has only his companions' breathing to fill the void. But after another few moments a strange, quiet beeping sound causes his antennae to flick upward.

Narrowing it down as coming from the youngest of them, he examines the twelve-year-old discreetly, checking for explosive devices or anything out of the ordinary (after all, some of GIR's more mischievous pranks aren't thought through…he knows from past experience…). Finding nothing but a small piece of equipment strapped to Dib's wrist, something like what the humans would have called a 'watch,' Zim extracts some instruments from his PAK.

The one in question awakens about a minute later, squinting in the sunlight pooling in from outside the fallen wall. The hushed chuckle of Zim is known at once as the alien affectionately pushes GIR out of the way of his work…which apparently is—Dib gasps as his eyes land on the object—his compact-transmitter!

Yanking his arm from Zim's grasp and far out of reach of his tools, the young human covers the tiny device with one hand and demands, "What are you doing?"

The Irken quirks an eyebrow, his antennae following. "Your wrist-thingy was emitting an increasingly bothersome noise, so I was attempting to dismantle it to fix the problem. But I've just realized what this is: a miniature transmission device!" His face is bright with excitement, his smile huge as his eyes shine. He takes the boy's shoulders gently in his hands. "Do you know what this means?" He doesn't give the child time to answer as he continues on his galvanized spiel. "The Tallest love me! They must be lost without me! Surely we can use this to get in contact with them!"

But he stops his words abruptly as he takes in Dib's reaction.

The boy has begun shaking uncontrollably, eyes wide and face almost devoid of all color as he shakes his head in vehement denial.

"No, no, no! This is…so wrong!" he cries, fists pressed to his shut-and-teary eyes, and Zim truly fears a repeat of last night. But all crazed scenarios leave his mind as the child merely sighs and hangs his head. "I—" his whispered timbre wavers vulnerably, and when he looks up at his former nemesis there is such a plea for his only friend to still love him after this that Zim feels zarnl blarg-sick, "—I never wanted you to know…"

Slowly, painfully, Dib removes his trembling arm from behind his back and strokes his thumb across the machine's screen. Creeping closer, Zim grimly scrutinizes the device, but still can find nothing extraordinary about it.

Peering back up at the human youngling's stricken face, he says softly, "You know, you don't have to tell me. If it pains you that much…it's not mine to know."

But the adolescent shakes his head vehemently and takes Zim's hand in his. Squeezing once and bestowing upon the alien the most intense gaze he ever has, he asserts, "No. If anyone has the right to know the truth," he exhales and inhales shakily, "it's you."

Looking down at the inanimate object pensively, there is a moment of calm in contemplating whether the device will work at all. It was almost as badly damaged in the explosion as its creator—the screen is cracked, the strap is severed but for a stubborn thread, and most of the buttons are either missing or more than likely malfunctioning.

But if it works, they'll have all they need. (Though half of him prays upon prays it won't.)

Pressing a distinct series of buttons—ironically, these are the five that are present and fully functional—Dib turns his wrist Zim's way as the archived feed comes through.

The Almighty Tallest stand on their mobile platform, blatantly ignoring their other work for the day to laugh raucously at what just transpired.

"And—and do you r-remem-ember that—that time w-when Z-Z-Zim called us from the basement of a s-soup k-kitchen and told us th-that the Earthlings were actually machines fueled by their own liquid waste?" Tallest Purple chirps, rolling on the floor laughing beside his co-ruler.

"O-Of c-course I d-do!" Tallest Red replies, his words barely understood. "One o-of the st-stupidest things Z-Zim's ever—ever d-done!"

They both give in to another long bout of laughter.

"H-he's in e-exile, but it's l-like he ne-never l-left!"

"H-he's a disg-race! The b-best Defect-tive ever!"

"A-are we ever g-gonna tell h-him th-the t-t-truth?" Purple questions almost sarcastically, and it is the inquiry itself rather than the alien in question that sends them on their way again.

"N-no way! We mi-might hate him, b-but…this is t-too much f-f-fun!" Red shoots down instantly, pointing to their big screen where a pre-recorded picture of Zim wearing a hairnet can be seen.

The feed goes out and 'Transmission Ended' flashes across the screen, and feed goes blank.

A deadly quiet fills the house now.

Dib drops his arm lifelessly and focuses solely on Zim. Even GIR had quieted in the face of something he assessed as important involving his master.

Zim is staring at nothing, open-mouthed with eyes wide.

"Zim?" Dib tries softly, reaching out to touch the alien's arm. "You okay?"

But his friend doesn't answer. Truly, he's not sure there's anything to say. Dib just prays this isn't the biggest mistake ever made.

Zim's antennae wilt ever more with each passing moment, and his eyes gloss-over. Abruptly, he jumps forward with a choked cry and rips the device from Dib's wrist before rushing to the missing wall and throwing it as far as he can into the abyss of what's left of their world. The clack! and skid across the pavement are clearly heard, but that is ignored in light of the crumbling 'Defect.'

For a long moment, there is a silence so deafening Dib swears he can hear Zim's zarnl blarg breaking.

"Do you see now?" Dib inquires sensitively, his tone as heartfelt as ever. "I'm sorry," he pleads, tears dripping from his eyes before he even realizes he's crying, "I'm so, so sorry, but this was the only way you'd believe me…"

But Zim merely shakes his head back and forth, back and forth, eyes shut and fists clenched in an effort to ward off these truth-biting words.

"Filthy human!" He whipped around and pointed an accusing finger at Dib, while at the same time tears course down his face. "You lie! The Tallest would never—! They—they respect me! I-I-I kn-know it!"

He continues on in this tangent for a long time, eventually crashing to his knees and rocking back and forth, still blubbering as he mutters to himself and occasionally screams incoherently.

For his part, Dib can't even manage to put into words how sad this really is. The poor Irken has hit hysterical in his denial, in his blind naïveté. He hates to see Zim like this.

He sighs heavily.

Having GIR assist him, the twelve-year-old carefully makes his way over to his former enemy's side, kneeling in front of the invader while a teary GIR rubs his beloved master's back soothingly.

"Zim, listen to me! You have to snap out of it! I know it hurts…" his voice quavers, and he almost chokes on the lump in his throat, "…just as much as it hurts GIR and I to see you like this! You know everything is true now—you've seen it with your own two eyes—but that doesn't mean this has to destroy you!" Two tender fingers tilt Zim's downcast face upward, golden eyes meeting magenta. "What you told me last night goes both ways: you are stronger than this, too! You're stronger than anything, I've witnessed it!" His eyes narrow in all seriousness, and his voice drops to convey severity. "Lean on me like I did you; trust in me like I did you; and know that I will never desert you." He smiles gently and cuffs Zim lightly on the cheek with all the affection in the world. He intertwines Zim's fingers with his own and clenches it for all his former enemy is worth. "It'll be all right, Zim. We'll get through this together."

Closing his eyes tightly as further tears threaten to spill, Zim bites his lip to keep his sobs at bay. He nods and concedes in the most vulnerable whisper Dib's ever heard from him, "Okay."

The child swears his heart has never felt so light. Enfolding the Irken in his arms, he squeezes all of the strength he can spare to empower Zim. The only thing he wants now is for his friend-once-enemy to be all right again.

Zim swears he's never been more grateful for the Earthling's survival. In his emotional breakdown, it takes only milliseconds for Zim to reciprocate the boy's actions in kind. The only thing he wants now is for his friend-once-enemy to save him.

Given time, Zim will be all right.

Dib will make sure of it.

A/N: This should be the end of it as far as emotional messiness goes. There might be a little here and there, but that's about it.

Only a few more chapters to go! I've already got an ending plot device in mind!

Thanks so much for reading!