A/N: Another bulk upload. Please regard the notes at the beginning of Chapter 6.

Obligatory: I do not own Invader Zim or its characters. I do, however, own the OCs. ZADR in future chapters.

Zim paced back and forth anxiously in the lab, hands locked tight behind his back. Gir bounced himself up and down across the room, squealing loudly and clinging tightly to a small rubber piggy, its eyes bugging out of its head. Zek and Nui were seated at different stations at the oversized computer, facing their Tallest.

"We need a plan to infiltrate the government, beginning with The City," Zim said with a nod, glancing up at his computer. "Computer! Who is the mayor? And who else is in power?"

The computer quickly began a search, bringing up images and webpages of the mayor, Kevin Crass, various large-scale companies, and of course, Professor Membrane. Zim narrowed his eyes at the screen, placing both hands on the control panel and leaning forward. "Hmm…"

"My Tall—" Zek began, but stopped when Zim raised one antennae in annoyance toward him without turning around. "Zim," he corrected, "From these pages here, it seems like the mayor and this Professor Membrane seem to possess the most power in this town. Perhaps we should begin with them, and then let them continue to control the rest of The City. It will be less conspicuous that way."

Zim nodded. "Yess… That seems like the most useful direction," he nodded quickly, stretching and glancing over at Nui who simply nodded in response. "Fine. We will begin with the infiltration tomorrow evening. Go do—whatever it is you two do to entertain yourselves!" he shouted, pointing one finger high in the air as he did so. "Zim is going out."

"Zim," Nui began cautiously, not wanting to offend his leader, who spun on his heels to stare at Nui with his antennae both perked high and eyes narrowed. "I just—wanted to ask about this Dib-human you wanted to see today. You told him everything. Things we didn't even know. Why was it so important you told him about what you're planning?"

Zim frowned visibly. Of course they listened to their earlier conversation. They were basically in the same room after all, and Zim couldn't fault Zek and Nui's curiosity toward the human. It was rare for Irkens to become friendly with anyone of a different species. He heaved a sigh. "Dib was…is…very important. We shall leave it at that for now," he muttered.

Zek and Nui nodded, accepting Zim's response as reasonable, not wanting to press the issue any further than necessary and risk causing negative reactions. Like shouting. Or violence.

"Zim has matters to attend to that do not involve being here. GIR!" Zim shouted, turning to the bouncing robot.

"YES, MASTER." The robot stopped, dropping the piggy on the floor, his eyes turning red and saluting at Zim.

"Stay on your guard. You, Zek, and Nui will guard the base tonight. Otherwise—go watch teevee or something," Zim waved his hand with a roll of his eyes, pressing a button on a device on his wrist—one that looked much like a watch—and his disguise activated. Nodding to himself, he turned on his heel and hopped into the elevator without a goodbye to the others, trusting it to take him where he wanted to go, no orders necessary: the ground floor.

He listened for a moment as Zek and Nui's voices faded to a quiet murmur, discussing the events of the day and other various topics in Irken. He allowed himself a weak smile. He knew the two of them were only looking out for his—and their planet's and race's—best interests. They were good soldiers, and in the past five years he had begun, almost, to think of them as friends. With a strict nod to himself, as if to clear his head, he marched out of the elevator and the front door, and made his way toward Dib's house. He hoped that by now, he would be home. It was just past midnight.

It only took Zim a few minutes to reach Dib's house. He still remembered the route perfectly. He looked up the side wall to Dib's bedroom. The light was on, but Dib's vehicle wasn't in the driveway. With a frown, Zim used the spider-like legs in his Pak to scale the wall and reach the window. Dib was laying on the bed, eyes closed, headphones on. Through the window, a sickly sweet smell reached his tongue and he hissed slightly. He remembered that smell from high school—alcohol. Dib didn't drink then.

Zim tapped gently on the window. When Dib didn't respond, he tapped a little louder until the human's eyes opened. Dib sat up quickly, looked nauseous for a moment, then shook his head and pulled off his headphones, listening again. Zim tapped the window one last time, causing Dib to look over. A frustrated expression crossed his face as he stood and walked over, opening the window and pulling out the screen.

"Zim? What are you doing here?" Dib asked, taking a step back to allow Zim to come in. He glanced at his door. "And be quiet, Gaz and Dad are asleep."

Zim simply nodded to the second question, climbing into the window with ease, his spider legs retracting into his pak. "Zim wanted to continue our discussion," he said finally to the first question, closing the window behind him.

"I'm a little tipsy right now, Zim, I don't think this is a good time," Dib grumbled, opening his desk drawer and rummaging through until he found some aspirin. "But, okay, I guess, if you need to talk about this now," he muttered, sitting on his bed and picking up a bottle of water from the sidetable. He swallowed the aspirin quickly and patted beside him on the bed.

Zim moved to sit next to Dib, but not so close. He didn't want to break any personal space boundaries. "Zim feels as though, perhaps he was not clear on his intentions here."

"No, you really weren't," Dib said with a shrug, "so clarify."

"Zim does not intend on changing much of the way the planet is run. We are, however, going to infiltrate the government, beginning here, and then moving to a much more global scale," Zim began, glancing over at Dib to make sure he was following. He looked groggy, and a little flustered, but otherwise he seemed to be listening. Zim continued, "We are doing this to ensure that humanity does not catch on to Irk's plans for Earth. Considering the highly dangerous nature of the planet—the strange way that there are defense systems built into the planet's own geography—it will be used for study by our scientists. Zim would like to see if there is any way to utilize these tools for Irk's benefit during Impending Doom Three and future missions," Zim paused again, looking Dib up and down, who was rubbing his forehead.

"Is the Dib okay?" He asked cautiously.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm listening—study Earth's defence mechanisms and utilize it," Dib said with a nod and a weak smile to the Irken.

Zim simply nodded. "Yes. On top of that, we will be taking criminals from your prisons—another reason why we must infiltrate the government and those in power, so that these criminals can be taken without suspicion, and without your officials alerting the general population to our existence. Zim would like to discover what it is about humans that makes them so resilient, so powerful, while at the same time being self-destructive and so destructive to its own planet and species. Zim no longer intends to destroy Earth in any way," he finished with a nod, eyeing Dib to make sure that there were no qualms with this plan. If there were… he hated to admit it, and he never would out loud, but he would have to change his plans again.

Dib nodded. "Okay. Then—I suppose I can let you do that. Who knows, maybe infiltrating the government could benefit the planet as well as your species," he suggested, rubbing his temples. "Just, make sure you know the difference between different crimes and different criminals. You know, the difference between people who made a mistake versus someone who knowingly did something bad and illegal on purpose," he suggested, tugging his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, Zim will—is the Dib sure he is alright?" Zim asked, antennae leaning back in concern.

"Just—having a hard time focusing, we drank a lot tonight," Dib laughed softly, turning to look at Zim. He frowned. "So, what about us?"

Zim cocked his head to the side. "What does the Dib mean?" he asked in confusion.

"I mean. We were, kind of friends when you left. Wouldn't you say?"

"…Yes," Zim replied slowly.

"So what are we doing then? Did you… I don't know. Want help with your mission? I don't… think I can put everything behind me right now. But, that might give us somewhere to start." He stood up, walking over to the window and opening it. He rummaged through his pockets until he found his cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it.

Zim hissed when the scent of the smoke hit his tongue. It burned his insides and made his mouth tingle. "Why does the Dib smoke those infernal things? Zim thought he would have learned from high school that they were disgusting, dangerous creations," he grumbled, briefly flashing back to horrible videos played in class about the dangers of smoking, and the utter horribleness it caused to human organs.

Dib laughed weakly. "I started quite a few new habits while you were gone, Zim," he muttered in response, taking a haul of the cigarette and breathing the smoke out the window. The wind carried most of it off, but a hint of it blew back into the room. He'd have to leave the window open and light some incense to keep the smell out.

"Oh? Aside from the drinking and smoking, then?" Zim asked, crossing his arms with his eyes narrowed. It wasn't his place to tell Dib what to do, but, he couldn't help but feel disappointed in the change in him. He used to be so strong. He never gave in to temptations or addictions, focusing on more important things. Protecting his planet and his family. The paranormal. Science. 'Me.'

"Uh, yeah. I'd…really rather not talk about it," Dib rubbed the back of his head, glancing over at Zim uneasily, who was seated on his bed.

Zim stood. It looked like it was time to leave. Dib was acting strangely and did not appear to want company. "Fine, if the Dib does not wish to discuss it… Zim will not continue." He slid off the bed and made his way toward the window, stopping when a hand tugged on his sleeve.

"Maybe I'll come by after class tomorrow?"

Zim didn't turn around. He simply nodded, using his spider legs to latch onto the window frame as he climbed out and dropped gently onto the grass. The long metal legs slipped back into his Pak almost sounlessly, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, finally looking back up at the window. Dib was leaning out slightly, cigarette slipped through his first two fingers tightly, watching.

"Get some rest, Dib-beast," Zim said, turning quickly on his heel and walking back toward the base.