Chapter 10: Surveillance

The two sat quietly in the cruiser, they skipped school. It didn't matter to anyone that they were missing. They had No friends to ask if they were sick or not, teachers don't give a shit, plus half the kids enrolled in the school don't even show up at all. Another two kids skip school; who gives a fuck? Dib sat with his eyes staring out of the window with his arms crossed thinking about the situation. He didn't want spend time with Zim considering all of the mixed emotions and thoughts that were running rampant in his head and heart at the moment. Then again he didn't want to die by the hands of his sister. Stay with the enemy or die by the hands of family? Oh this bites cheese balls. The ride seemed to last ages, it wasn't a long ride to Zim's base but it felt like a 20 hour road trip considering the silence. Not even the sound of Dib's breathing was noticeable; the small noises that came from the buttons Zim pressed.

"Take me home Zim…" Dib said, not looking at the Irken at all.

"What?"

"I said take me home, you've done enough. I don't want to go to your lab I just want to go to my house and stay on my couch and watch mysterious mysteries episodes on my TV and that's all."

"Human I don't think you realize the danger you're in."

"Oh I know the danger I'm in, I've always been aware of the danger I'm in ZIM. I don't feel too comfortable with staying in your lab for god knows how long!"

The Irken stared at the human; something told him that he shouldn't do this. Gaz was surely going to get Dib for sure if he agrees to this. There was another part of Zim that said to do what Dib had asked, he didn't want to make him upset. He's already upset Dib enough over the years; he doesn't want to do that anymore. Without a word he turned the cruiser around and headed towards Dib's house. The human's expression didn't change at all. Zim sighed, why was he doing this? He wanted to keep his human safe from harm. They reached the house and landed in the human's backyard.

"Dib are you sure you wish to do this?" Zim asked sounded very concerned, it was very out of character for Dib but at the moment he just needed some space.

"Yes ZIM I'm sure of it. Now open the hatch so I can leave." Dib hopped out of the ship and started walking to his house when he realized he was being followed. He turned around to see Zim. His cruiser was on its cloaking mode so it just looks like some weird pig bush. It was kinda creepy in a way.

"Zim what do you think you're doing?" Dib was starting to get annoyed.

"I'm going to your home base with you; if you do not wish to go to my home base then I shall watch you and protect you from yours." Zim said proudly and professionally. Dib had to admit despite some odd and stupid acts he had seen Zim do, it's stuff like this that makes him actually believe that this Irken belongs in the Irken elite.

"No Zim ! Go away!"

"But Dib-thing I MUST watch you! That creepy little earth girl will come and destroy you and I can't have that happen to you! And-"

"LISTEN! I HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF THIS! I don't want you here to protect me for the sake of your 'mission' whatever the fuck it is! I can't think when it comes to you! I slowly loose all of reality when it comes to you! My mind goes into a fog and I just can't think ZIM! I'm trying to come up with a good answer for you TRUST ME I AM! But this-this-this side of you! It's confusing and it's just so new! Not that I don't like it…it's just I-I-I UGHHHHHH I CAN'T THINK! Just go away Zim please….You've done enough for me…just let me breathe…please" Dib mentally kicked himself because some of the things he said weren't really supposed to slip out.

"Human…haven't I given you enough space as it is? If there is any confusion feel free to ask...I mean I-"

"I ALREADY ASKED YOU A QUESTION! I asked you about the mission and guess what I just got the whole 'that's confidential' thing! You have told me nothing Zim…I just want to know why…but you haven't given me an answer…"

"Let me just keep a good watch on you human that creepy-"

"HOLY SHIT! Haven't you heard a thing I said? Just forget it Zim…go away or I'm going to call the cops on your ass."

"Dib I-"

"GO!"

Dib had pure rage in his eyes which actually scared Zim. He chose to leave. He turned off the cloaking device on his ship and hopped in and started to fly away. Dib turned around and went inside. He passed a mirror on the way to his living room and stopped to look at himself.

"Great…now you're a dead man…way to go Mr. Meltdown….."

Zim ran to his trash can elevator and went down to his lab as fast as he could. He ran right by Gir who just so happened to be sleeping soundly and sucking his thumb. At the sound of his masters' footsteps he got up and started to run alongside with him. Yelling like a maniac as usual. Zim had ran to his chair and pressed some buttons on his key board. A screen then appeared showing the human in his house just watching TV. He had such a distressing look in his eyes; it made Zim's antennae go down and reach out to touch the screen.

"Dib…"

"WHY is master so sad?" Gir said with bright blue innocent eyes.

"This doesn't concern you GIR…"

"But why?" the little robot's eyes started to water from feeling left out.

"Oh…stop it Gir…look can you do me a favor and get me the calendar that's in my bedroom." Zim said trying to give a smile.

"YES SIR!" Gir then ran off to get the calendar that was in his master's bedroom, Leaving Zim alone to stare at the screen. He stared at the screen, observing it. He shouldn't be here at the moment. He should be over there with Dib, being there to watch him instead of waiting anxiously at a computer monitor.

'Why….why Dib…just why…'

"I'M BAAAAAAAAACK!" The little robot screamed as he ran into the room with an octagon shaped hologram board which was the Irken calendar. Zim took the board and held it in front of him then pressed a button. A hologram of Irken numbers and letters and a map of stars appeared before him and he stared intensely at it.

"So in earth time I have two years to complete my mission….I have to act fast…"

"Would this plan work master?"

"It has to Gir….it just has to."

Zim then shut the calendar off and told Gir to put it back in his bedroom. He went back to watching the human who seems to still be watching T.V. Zim turned on a different monitor to get a different angle on the room. The TV was on but it was just static.

"He's….deep in thought maybe? Dib…you should be here."

'I shouldn't be here…' Dib thought to himself.

He really doesn't want to die, but he knows he's going to die when Gaz gets a hold of him. He also knew that Zim was watching him. It was almost like a sixth sense that he had, he always knew when Zim was watching him. He didn't know where the cameras were exactly but he knew they were there. All of this was just so complicated, Zim was acting so strange lately; it was just getting on his nerves! The past few years have been strange. This planet seems to have an effect on Zim.

For starters he grew…A LOT. Second he started to develop and have more understanding of feelings. He can eat stuff now but mostly because he needs to. Plus there's one more thing Dib had noticed that Zim started doing for the past year now that he NEVER did before; Zim started sleeping. Last time he snuck into the house he saw a bedroom which was never there before. His study on Irkens found that an invader Irken like Zim wasn't supposed to any of these things. Well he could feel he just wouldn't comprehend a lot of emotions like cute and sadness and love.

'Love? Is that what this is all about?'

Dib started putting the pieces together, the way Zim's been acting towards him, the way he's been protecting him. How Zim even put off his plans to enslave Earth just so he could complete his "Mission" that had something to do with Dib. The pieces fit together like a puzzle and melted into each other because they fit together that well. His enemy was the only person that ever took any interest in him…and he went from hate to love in just a few years. The obsession, the constant awareness, the sudden likeness of this new Zim. Maybe just maybe he…

'NO! NO NO NO NO NO! THIS ISN'T IT! THAT ISN'T THE MISSION! ZIM IS NOT IN LOVE WITH ME! ZIM IS NOT IN LOVE WITH ME! ZIM IS NOT IN LOVE WITH ME!'

Dib let that be his mantra as he covered his ears as if someone was telling him that he was wrong. He ran around his eyes and into quickly into his lab. He knew that Zim would be so confused on which monitor to look at that he wouldn't see Dib duck into his lab. Zim knew about his dad's lab but not his which was COMPLETELY different from his fathers' lab. His technology was a big mix of both Irken and Earth gadgets, computers and data. This is his safe haven for his obsession and desires. He sat in front of the door to his secret lab and banged the back of his head on it.

"Gaz… just kill me now…"

Dib stared at his monitors in confusion.

'WHERE DID THAT EARTH BOY GO? OKAY OKAY OKAY. He ran to the kitchen, to the dining room, back to the living room, to the kitchen, to the kitchen and disappeared in the dining room. Alright he must still be there. HOW COULD I MISS IT?'

Zim pressed a few buttons to get a better angle on the dining room and couldn't find Dib anywhere. Right when Dib entered the dining room he put his focus on another screen to the living room. When he saw no one he turned to the screen for the dining room he was gone. Zim slammed his fist on the keyboard.

"DAMN IT WHERE DID YOU GO?"

A/N- Didn't expect me so soon? I would just like to thank you all for the great reviews they mean alot to me! I'm so happy that you all like my story and I think you're all gunna love chapter 12. Im working on it now so yay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also I have a little surprise for you all that I will be announcing for when I'm DONE with the story. So I thought I should just tease you all right now for it lol because I LOVE doing that to you guys! Seriously I love it! I honestly make each ending of a chapter a cliff hanger on purpose! So yeah I bet you guys are gunna love your surprise I just need to work on it and the next chapter and well that's about it. Reviews are love!

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P.S. lemons soon but how soon, you'll never know DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN