AN: Thanks to Piratemonkies64, missduckyduck, Chocolate334, and Zim999. Happy Valentine's day!

Chapter 14: Love/Hate

Zim P.O.V.

I groaned and opened my eyes. Where am I? Everything's so cold. I held my head as I sat up. A loud bang came from behind me, making me clutch my antennae in pain. I turned around and finally started taking in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a metal cell. The door closing must've been that loud bang. Ugh my head hurt.

Other than that there wasn't anything much to see besides the restrains on me. My hands and feet were shackled to the floor by a long thick chain that I could barely lift up. I tried to see if my Pak legs could cut me loose but unfortunately they must've been informed of what it can do because there seemed to be some sort of lock on it, blocking any of the appendages from coming out.

I sighed and tried to piece everything together. How did this happen to me? Emma... That disgusting little brat of a human! She lured me into a false companionship only to call for the Earth authorities to take me away at my weakest point! And I had been foolish enough to trust her. I hated her so much! But then...why were my eyes all wet?

I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, they were the same small clear droplets I got when I broke down about my defectiveness. But why now? I should be filled with boiling rage, not sadness. What did I even have to be sad about? That little worm betrayed me! Emma left me to rot! My...my friend left me...like everyone else.

Before I knew it I hugged my legs into my chest and my tears fell onto my knees. I was so confused. Why would she do something like this? Was all that kindness just a ruse? Just a way to weaken me so I would be easier to capture?

I never realized it before then but Gir had been all I had...before I met her. I had been practically alone. And then...I tampered with my Pak.

Adjusting a Pak's hardware is strictly illegal for any irken to do but since I was already a banished defective there was really no harm in it. I had practically torn it apart to see how it worked, keeping a copy of my personality and memories on a separate file so I wouldn't damage them permanently.

What I had done had changed me. I had removed almost every bit of hardware seeing how well I could function without them, including my emotional processor. Since then I had been acting in ways I never thought I ever would. I felt so unstable and Emma had been the one holding me together. I didn't realize how much she had made herself a part of my life until now. I felt something pound in my chest as she came to mind.

I was jerked out of my thoughts as the cell jumped and began moving. Not having any sense of direction I soon became extremely dizzy. I felt it shift even more before lifting off the ground. Was this an aircraft? I held my head and stay curled up in the corner of the cell. I was starting to feel bile rising up in my throat. I swallowed it back down and groaned as the cell finally leveled out again.

I just stayed on the floor, not bothering to sit up. My mind continued to think about her but I didn't make an effort to understand. All I knew is that she betrayed me. And now I was alone.

Emma P.O.V.

I curled up tighter under my blankets with a sniffle. After Zim had been taken away I locked myself in my room and tried to sleep but all I could do was cry. Dee-Dee sat beside me, whining quietly in my ear. I looked up at her and sighed, petting her head as she jumped into my lap. "What do I do Dee-Dee?" I muttered, knowing she wouldn't answer me.

Was Zim really going to kill me? Did he even like me at all?! I growled and held my head as I debated again and again who was right, Zim or my mother. Eventually Dee-Dee jumped off my bed and pawed at the door to be let out. I sighed and slowly stood up, Dee-Dee yipped and jumped around me as I shuffled my feet to the door. As she did this a folder dropped out of my school bag, it's contents spilling across the floor. I pouted and let my hyper puppy out of my room before bending down to pick up the papers.

Wait, this was my art folder. I picked up a few pieces of paper and saw the drawings that had been scribbled on them. They were all of me and Zim. I set the papers on my desk and stood up looking up to the sky. I may not know Zim's real intentions but as a fangirl I couldn't let them just take him away. I had to save him, no matter the cost.

I ripped off the duct tape securing the towel covering my busted window and jumped out onto the front yard. I covered it back up and quietly made my way to the shed, hoping that mom hadn't heard me. I opened it up and hopped into the cockpit of the ship.

Taking a deep breath before glancing down at the control panel. I tapped a few buttons and messed with the switches for several minutes before growling in frustration and slamming my face down on the console.

"You know, I could just tell you how to work this."

I jumped at the sound of a deep voice and glanced around the ship before remembering that it was Zim's on-board computer system. "You'd do that?"

"Yeah, I guess, anyone is better than my master."

Now I felt kinda bad that I was actually using it to find Zim.

"Well...thank you. Just tell me what I need to know." I coming for you Zim, just hang on.

Zim P.O.V.

I opened my eyes about an hour and a half later, still in the same dark cell. I rubbed my eyes and sat up with a sigh. I was still debating if I missed Emma or hated her with every fiber of my being. Logically it would be the latter but for whatever reason I was still indecisive.

Eventually I lost my train of thought when I heard two humans talking outside my cell.

"You see that?" the first one asked.

"Yeah. It looks like some kind of-."

The other one was cut off by a massive blast the shook the entire craft. I clutched my antenna tightly as I was thrown around in the cell. The door flung off along with one of the walls, a blast of cold air suddenly slapping my body. I was just able to crack an eye open to see that I was, in fact, inside an inferior human aircraft but I was also falling to my death! The plane was now nothing more than large chunks of scrap metal with screaming humans clinging onto them. It had been completely destroyed.

I looked down at the quickly approaching ground. This was it, I was dead...

"ZIM!"

My eyes snapped open as I felt something grab my arm and my decent abruptly stopped. I looked up in amazement when I saw Emma's tear-filled eyes staring back at me. The Voot Cruiser's laser cut off most of the remaining restraints as she pulled me into my ship and I collapsed on the ground in a heap.

I felt something tug at my Pak as Emma ripped a strange silver strip off of it.

"Duct tape? Seriously?" she muttered, peeling off another strip.

When they had all been removed I used my Pak legs to get rid of the remaining chains. As soon as I had freed my arms and legs and sat up I felt Emma's arms wrap around me. I bit my lip to keep from squeaking in surprise as she held me and let out a quiet sigh.

"I'm glad you're okay, Zim." she whispered into my shoulder.

I felt heat spread across my cheeks before snapping out of my trance and pushing her away. She smiled at me, her face a burning red. I looked down at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

"Wh...why are you here?" I asked, still not looking at her.

I felt her hand brush against my cheek and lift my head up to look at her.

"I...I came to save my friend." she muttered, the red on her cheeks glowing even brighter.

Friend? She...actually considered me her friend? Before I knew it Emma had pulled me into another hug. I let my chin rest on her shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her.

"T-thank you, human." I muttered, not letting go of her.

She smiled as we heard a tap on the shield of the Voot. I looked up and saw Gir giggling on the windshield. I felt my face flush as Emma stood up and let him inside, holding the snickering robot in her arms as he dropped in.

"Aww, Mastah's in luuuuv~" he cooed.

I glared at him before sitting down in front of the controls. Emma sat down next to me with a warm smile on her face. And the strange thing is..

I smiled back.