Comments!

Torrasque666

Chapter 25

Me lovey. Your writings give fanfics a good name, which my girlfriend doesn't believe due to all the crap out there. And yes, I would enjoy the children as a subplot. What can I say, I love a family, even if it is a total cobbled mess of non-related(even legally) people. Speaking of which, your work is what I base my style on when I work on my personal subplot in a communal Gotcha Force fanfic.(Its a fun video game that was undermarketed) If I were to send you a sample of my work, could you provide me with some feedback?

O.o

Me . . . Help you with your story? . . . Well, I don't know, I'll have to think about it-YES! OF FREAKING COURSE! I would love the opportunity to help a fellow author.

Unfortunately though, if you are okay with this, I have never heard of Gotcha Force, so I would be unable to help you with accuracy or things like that. If you want the general FEELING or wording of a story, I can definitely help ya there.

So definitely! (Btw, my PM is finally on, for anyone who wants ta know)

Yay for me for figuring that out! ^_^

TimIsaFunSucker

Chapter 25

I know what you mean about geography and such. Too much to remember. But, I do know that Englad has a Queen/Royal family, but they have little to no political power, and they elect a Prime Minister, which is sort of like a president. Damn I listen to my mom and her political shows way too much. -.- also, "I've never been out of country," BITCH, YOU WENT TO SPACE! Sorry, I was in Memebase-Mode. o.O

LMAO!

Lol, yes, but that took like, two seconds! This is taking HOURS! blech!

And cool. Unintentional accuracy. ^_^

fairychix26

Chapter 25

Hey so i am healed enough to write a review now um first ur lemon i would like to say it was amasing now i don't go around the site looking for lemons like someone i know but if i am reading a well writen story that loglicly leads up to one then i will read it and yours was verry good even in the lemon you kept charcters in charcter and u didn't use lines like well frankly like twilight. ok seccond in book one you had to use a robot Gaz to send to i think astralia (i just spelled that wrong but whatever) and i believe Gaz said that they often went on travel with their dad this leads me to believe that she travels out of country with her dad often but then in this chapter she says she has never been out of country. well that is all keep up your writing till next time
Fairy Girl

She DID travel. But she just never went out of the country. Going to Australia would've been her first time, but as she did not go, she's never been out of the country.

Thanks for the review!

ForceWalker

Chapter 25

Ha, Gaz is playing with the young ones! I pity the poor souls! It's going to be fun!
But what is going on with Tak? Why did she freeze up at the mention of Dib's father? Is there a connection? And will Dib find out? So many questions, so few answers, and a likely plot twist to come our way! Oh the humanity!
And where is your daily quote? I love the daily quotes!

Lol, I keep forgetting stuff! I feel so scatter-brained!

My bad, sorry! XD

My sister got mad cause I was running around with my swagger singing, "Everybody Loves Me" by Onerepublic.

That song needs to be popular again.

Can we say "filler chapter"?

Shit, this is turning out to be a really long, huh? My longest yet. O.o

That's also what she said.

And I was referring to the story and its vast amount of chapters.

Updated a day early because I maxed out on my chapter space and want to write more.

Enjoy!

Chapter 26
"A Nightmare Unresolved"

Zim stood over her, straddling her as she lay beneath him and beaming smugly at her.

"Does that mean I win?" He questioned.

Gaz glared at him as she breathed heavily, recovering. "Not in the least."

"But you caved!" He insisted, giving her a look of complete disbelief. "You said my name!"

"But you said mine first," she retorted, smugly.

Zim scowled at her. Then he chuckled and shook his head, lowering himself to lick one long, straight line up her body, making her shiver, before stopping and hovering his mouth centimeters above hers.

"Very well," He amended, kissing her once before sitting up some more. "You win this time. But next time, it will be Zim who has the victory!"

Gaz snorted and shoved him off of her, none too gently. "Horny bastard."

"I'm trying to figure out if that's a compliment or not." He retorted smugly beside her, not deterred in the least.

She laughed at him, sitting up. "What time is it?"

He glanced at the clock. "Soon to be sunrise. You should rest."

"I'm not tired," Gaz admitted, surprised.

Zim smiled at her and kissed her, once, tenderly. "Rest anyways."

She rolled her eyes and lay back down, curling up against him and shutting her eyes. "You think one of these days I'm going to fall asleep with my clothes on?"

"Not unless I'm working or you're sick." Zim assured her.

Gaz snorted and had her eyes been opened, she would've rolled her eyes again. The last thing she felt before she drifted off to sleep were Zim's lips pressed against her forehead as he hummed to himself.

Opening her eyes again though, Gaz wasn't quite sure where anyone was, let alone herself.

Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she got up from the floor, looking down to see that thankfully, she was clothed. It was just a white, knee-length nightgown but that was enough. She looked around, figuring out soon enough where she was.

Or, at least, she was able to guess.

"The maze?" Gaz muttered to herself, getting to her feet. The floor was cold on her bare feet but she hardly cared or minded. "How did I get out here?"

Tall shrubbery surrounded her, perfectly cut, making it clear how well taken care of this place was. She had no doubt it was, since it belonged, or, well, used to belong to royalty. She took a step forward before slipping on something, breaking her fall with her hands. It stung, but she looked behind her to see her cloak on the floor, where she'd just been laying.

Well, that explained why the ground hadn't been so cold when she'd been lying on it.

As a fall breeze blew through the air, Gaz shivered. She quickly bent and draped the cloak around her, comforted by the thought whatever had driven her out, she had at least had the common sense to stay warm while doing so. Gaz kept it tightly around herself, leaving the hood down as she took the only path that led out of the dead-end she'd walked into.

Many questions ran through her head as she walked slowly, looking around warily, slightly on edge. How had she gotten outside? Had Zim noticed she was gone yet or was he already in hibernation mode? What would he do when he saw she was not in bed?

Why couldn't she remember leaving?

Gaz had never been a sleep-walker. Occasionally she mumbled in her sleep but never had she actually gotten up, got dressed and walked outside. How had she navigated through the maze? Well, maybe she hadn't. That was probably why she had gone back to sleep upon reaching a dead-end.

"Great," She growled to herself, holding the cloak tighter around herself. "Now I'm probably going to be wandering around in here until Zim notices, or by some miracle, I'm able to find my way out on my own."

Another chilly wind made everything alarmingly blurry. Gaz stopped, startled as she hissed in surprise, lifting a hand as she turned the corner and a blinding white light stopped her from continuing. Eventually the light began to die down, taking some of the blurriness with it, revealing fog. Which was probably to be expected, since it was probably early morning in October.

Wasn't it Halloween today?

That thought was pushed out of her mind as she peered through the fog, towards a figure that was walking away from her.

"Hello?" She called after them. Maybe it was Zim, looking for her, or someone who at least knew the way out of here. "Hey!"

The figure stopped, to look at her. She couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, but it was looking at her, that much was for sure. Gaz glared at it, wary of approaching.

Then it turned and kept walking away from her.

Irritated now, she began following after it at a quick pace. "Hey! Wait!"

A part of her just wanted to leave them alone. What kind of asshole ran away from someone calling after them, who was very likely lost in a maze? But the rest of her just wanted to see who it was in the first place, if not to get back at them later, to satisfy her curiosity. The figure, however did not wait for her. In fact it almost seemed to be walking faster. Gaz glared after them as they turned a corner. She began running after them, confident she could outrun them.

"Hey!" She shouted again, turning around the corner.

It was odd. Why was she so desperate to find this person?

A fear was crawling around in her chest. That, in chasing this stranger, she was going to get herself further lost. But the need to find them . . . it was oddly overwhelming.

She slipped on one of the wet stones. As she hit the ground rather hard, all she could think was that it must've rained last night.

Her necklace shattered. She heard it but oddly, she could not find herself to care.

Gaz hissed in pain, getting slowly into a sitting position, her legs folded together to her side. The chilly air rushed down her windpipe, making her cough. Her cloak felt rather heavy with water she hadn't noticed before.

Hands that were not hers unhooked it.

Her head snapped up.

Her vision was too blurry and it was too foggy to make out anything more then the figure kneeling, holding a hand out to help her up. Gaz glared at them. Why had they run from her only to come back and help her up?

"I can't see. Who are you?" She demanded, making no move to take their hand.

The figure waited a while.

Then it got to it's feet, turned, and kept walking away.

"No, wait!" She shouted, trying to get to her feet and slipping on the wet stones. "Hey, come back! Don't leave! I was just asking a question!"

They kept walking.

Gaz could feel an irrational panic rising in her. They couldn't very well just leave her here! Gaz could feel a strange heat, rising up from her chest, spreading quickly to her hands and fingers. It was like they were on fire.

And then, they were.

Thankfully it was her flame, but she stared at her hands, her eyes shooting to her shattered skull necklace that had slipped from her neck in the fall. She was out of her own control. She could already see her flames creating a ring around her, tiny, but ones that would doubtless grow in a minute, giving the fact her emotions were spinning erratically out of control.

But all she could think about was that the stranger was leaving her, here, lost and alone, effectively abandoning her.

Just because she didn't blindly trust what she couldn't see?

"Wait!" She shrieked again, angry tears forming in her eyes, her hand reaching out after them. "Don't leave me here!"

Gaz was still yelling when suddenly her flames shot up, matching the height of the maze and surrounding her, blocking her view of the stranger. She cried out in fear, looking wildly around herself to see there was no way out. Gaz closed her eyes and tried to make them go away, but the fuchsia fire refused to die down.

She felt her hands, still aflame, curl into fists as she tried to control herself. If she didn't, the maze would soon go up in flames.

"Don't . . . Don't leave me!" Gaz cried one final time, furiously.

"Don't . . . Don't leave me . . ."

"What are you talking about, silly Gaz? Zim isn't going to leave you!"

Gaz's eyes snapped open, taking in her surroundings. She was immediately aware she had been dreaming and sleep-talking, hence the curious, confused and slightly appalled look Zim was giving her.

He reached up and touched her face, cupping her jaw gently in his hands as his gave softened. "Zim would never dream of parting from you again."

Gaz looked down and eyes his shirtless form with appreciation, though it didn't actually show in her eyes. Then she looked back up at his face. "It was just a dream, Zim. I wasn't actually talking to you."

"Oh," Then he seemed concerned, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her to him in a slightly protective motion. "Whoever was in your dream leaving you should be punished. Tell Zim who it was at once!"

She rolled her eyes. "They can't help featuring in my dreams, Zim. And I don't even know who it was anyways."

Zim seemed flustered and irritated, eyes narrowing and his antenna flattening against his head. She leaned her head against his chest, feeling the last bits of fear in her dream drift away as his abnormal heat warmed her. Zim felt the tenderness and slight vulnerability behind her actions and rubbed her back soothingly, leaning his head down against hers.

"Do not worry," he murmured gently. "Zim will always be there to protect you, even in your dreams."

Gaz snorted, hugging him just a bit tighter. "You can't promise that."

No matter how she wished he could be, oddly.

"I feel your subconscious knows my protective instincts well enough to be able to project them in your nocturnal visions," Zim replied plainly, kissing her head.

Gaz's brow rose at his explanation, but decided not to ask. "Fair enough."

"Are you alright?"

Her nerves were no longer on edge, but the disturbing sight of her flames trapping her inside them was still a vivid image in her head. But she nodded anyways, if not to assure herself, to at least make Zim feel better. However, he didn't seem quite as convinced as she thought he would be and continued to hold her to him closely, nervously.

Then Gaz's hand flew to her bare throat, paranoia filling her. "Where's my necklace?"

Zim pulled away, giving her a confused look. But he reached over her, onto the bedside table, and snatched her necklace off of it, dangling it before her face as he watched her expression.

"Right here," he replied, as she sat up, her slender fingers taking it from her. "Although you hardly need it anymore. A part of your wedding ring keeps you from using your powers unintentionally. The necklace just snuffs them out completely. Why do you ask?"

One of Gaz's hands wrung her wrist, the necklace clamped tight in that hand. So even if she panicked, she couldn't use them.

Good.

That was good.

"Are you sure you're alright, Gaz?"
Zim question warily, when she did not answer him. She felt his bare hand go to her forehead. Checking her temperature. "Do you feel ill in any way?"

She shook her head, effectively shaking his hand off as well. "Just caught off guard is all."

Zim motioned for her to lie back down. "What did you dream about?"

Gaz hesitated.

Zim gave her a look. "If it were I who dreamed (even though that is impossible) and had woken up as completely panicked as you are pretending not to be, you would force me to tell you what it was bothering me. I am being polite and asking."

She sighed and rested her head against the pillow his elbow was propped up on, his head leaning against his hand as he waited patiently for her to recollect her thoughts. Gaz stared at the roof, still able to see that damned figure walking away from her.

"I thought I was awake." Gaz started, reluctantly. "I thought I'd sleep-walked into that maze, outside."

"Curious, since you've never been in it," Zim said, thoughtfully, rubbing a finger on her arm in gentle reassurance. "Continue."

"I pretty much thought the same thing." Gaz admitted. "And, I figured, since I had no recollection of how to get in the maze and therefor no way of knowing how to get out, that I would either wonder around until I eventually found a way out or wait until you woke up from your hibernation and went looking for me."

"No doubt I would panic if I woke up to find you missing." Zim agreed, smiling at her. "If that happens, I'll be sure to check the maze first."

She gave him a look before continuing. "So, I was walking around, pretty bored, until I saw this . . . person . . . at the end of the path."

Zim's brow rose at her hesitance. "What we're they doing?"

"Nothing." Gaz replied, shrugging. "Just walking. But, I figured if they were in, they'd probably know the way out."

"So you followed him then?"

"I tried to." She hissed, irritation in her voice at the thought of that person running from her. "They took off. And there was all this fog, which made sense to me, since I figured if you weren't up yet to see me getting dressed and leaving it still had to be pretty damn early, and I couldn't tell who or what they were. I kept yelling at them to stop and started chasing after them but, I fell."

"On?"

"The floor." Gaz retorted sarcastically. She smirked at his scowl. "I slipped on the rocks. They were wet, which also made sense if it rained in the night."

Zim shivered. "Ugh, rain. No wonder you woke up so shaken."

She rolled her eyes at his joke. "Anyways, I couldn't really see anything. Whoever it was tried to help me up, but I didn't know who the hell they were. Why should I take their hand? But when I didn't give my hand to them for them to help me up, they took off again."

"And you panicked?"

"Pretty much." Gaz agreed, nodding. "My necklace broke when I fell. My powers pretty much went out of control and I'm pretty sure they were about to set the maze on fire when I woke up."

Zim was quiet, simply stroking her arm for a minute.

Gaz looked at him. "What do you think?"

"I think you are for too stressed for your own good."

Gaz's brow rose. "And what made you come to that conclusion?"

Zim shrugged, looking down at where his hand rested on her arm. "It just seems logical to me."

"That's hardly an answer."

He sighed, "I wish I could watch you today."

"Work?"

"The few countries left are being particularly stubborn."

"Isn't it Halloween today?"

Zim groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Gaz was surprised. "Why?"

"I hate Halloween."

She was laughing now, trying not to but failing. "What's wrong with Halloween?"

"That is an experience your brother put me through that I never, ever want to be reminded of again." Zim insisted with a shiver. "It is also one I would prefer not to speak of."

"Fine," she huffed, pouting.

He smiled at her, the hand on her arm moving to trace her bottom lip. "You are quite adorable when you do that."

"I'm many things, Zim." Gaz retorted, dangerously. "'Adorable' is not one of them."

Zim chuckled and replaced his hand with his mouth, smiling against her lips. He pulled away. "Very true. Let me correct myself; You are quite appealing when you do that."

She chose to ignore his comment. "What time is it?"

"Surprisingly, a decent hour for you to be up." Zim informed her. "By how regular waking up at 6 in the morning is becoming for you, I would say that you overslept. It's 8am."

"How long were you planning on letting me sleep?" Gaz questioned, sitting up again.

Zim did the same. "Until 9. Maybe later, if you lasted that long. But that was wishful thinking, I suppose."

"Do you just want me asleep longer so that you don't have to deal with me when I'm awake?" Gaz taunted, smirking at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Hardly. I'm just trying to keep you from collapsing from exhaustion."

Gaz stuck her tongue out at him, getting up and heading towards the closet to change. Zim smirked at her retreating form, figuring how much time he had before he had to go to work. That thought made him smile. It sounded like such a human thing to think. Going to work. Hehe.

"Am I to be confined in this section of the house, or am I allowed outside?" She called from the closet, interrupting his thoughts.

Zim blinked away his thoughts, smirking. "Only if you don't go in the maze without me."

"Next time, I'm not going to tell you if you continue to harass me about it." She retorted icily.

He chuckled. "I would hope there isn't another time but alright, I'll stop. You may explore, so long as you're careful. Try to keep away from your playthings for now though, yes? Zim does not trust them not to try something and stay away from you."

Gaz laughed this time, exiting the closet in a black, knee-length dress and the cloak on. "It is their house. I very much doubt I'm not going to run into someone eventually."

Zim frowned at her outfit disapprovingly. "That's hardly going to keep you warm if you're going outside."

"It kept me warm in my dream," Gaz retorted, but went back into the closet to try and find a pair of pants."

His face turned to one of contemplation. "Hmm. Curious."

"What is?" Gaz asked from the closet, finding a pair of black plants. Now for a shirt . . .

"The way your dreams identify with pieces of things from your reality," Zim explained, thoughtfully. "It's hard to believe your brains are able to decipher what is real from what is simply a figment of your imagination."

"Well, some of us can't." Gaz replied, slipping the shirt over her head. "And that, Zim, is what Mental Facilities are for."

This got a rather loud laugh from him after a brief pause for that information to sink in. Gaz smirked at his amusement, clipping the cloak on around her shoulders before exiting the closet for the second time.

"Better?" She questioned, gesturing to the pants.

Zim nodded, getting up, still completely naked and not seeming to mind in the least. "Much."

He took her arms in his gasp, kissing her on the forehead before locking eyes with her. "Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself? Do you want me to ask Skoodge or Gir to take you around?"

Gaz made a face of slight disgust. "Eh, no. I'll be fine on my own."

"Very well," He said, with slight disapproval. "Stay in here, though, I'll have Skoodge take your breakfast up to the room before this one."

Gaz smirked at him. "You really don't want me around these people, do you?"

"Call me as many names as you like," Zim said gently, cupping her face with one hand. "But paranoid or not, I don't fancy the idea of you with them."

"Do you think the little girl is going to stab me?" She mused, grinning at him.

"After being around you as a child? I wouldn't put it past her." Zim retorted, kissing her on the forehead again before walking into the closet and shutting the door behind him.

Gaz heard a few machine noises. Her head tilted to the side. "What do you do in there?"

"The house is programmed to let me dress in my uniform as I'm used to, meaning the Irken Invader way." Zim called back, exiting moments later, fully clothed, the dramatic coat included. "It's much quicker, no?"

She just shook her head, shrugging, pulling the hood up. "I'll wait on the balcony. Tell Skoodge to knock on the door or something when he comes."

"Alright," Zim kissed her on the mouth this time, gently, tenderly, before pulling away. "I'll be finished by around 4 . . maybe. Whenever I do, I'll come get you and then we can explore the grounds together. Good enough?"

Gaz nodded. "Okay." Then she smirked. "You can join me from wherever I am."

Zim rolled his eyes. "I figured you wouldn't wait. Very well, be careful then."

"Naturally."

He gave her one last, careful look before releasing her and exiting the room.

Gaz smirked and headed towards the balcony, careful to adjust the hood so the wind wouldn't push it off. She was greeted with the same view as yesterday, her eyes straying at once to the maze. She made a face. She really didn't want to go in there without Zim, or, somebody. Call her paranoid or a weirdo, but it just made her uneasy. She glanced over at the gardens when a knock was heard on her door.

Gaz opened the door to find Skoodge had left. She shook her head, rolling her eyes. And Zim had really expected the intimidated little Irken Invader to take her around the area? He couldn't even say hi without running away, terrified! She made quick work of her breakfast, eating in her room, on the balcony, looking at the garden. She was particularly curious about it. There was like a maze of flowers and various plants, but it was a little above waist-high. While it was huge in width, one would be able to see over it and get out easily enough. It was centered around a fountain.

"Eh," Gaz finally said, shrugging. "Why not?"

She left the computer in the house deal with what was left over, walking purposefully through the house. It wasn't so hard to figure out how to get out, as she had made sure to memorize it yesterday. Although she was pretty sure she screwed up at some point because she exited the house through a greenhouse and, well, obviously she had entered through the back doors, not a green house. She hardly minded though, as it had gotten her out, and directly to the garden.

I chose to end it here because I couldn't think of what else could possibly be important.

BECAUSE YES, THE NIGHTMARE WILL BECOME IMPORTANT . . . LATER . . . yeah.

Mainly Tak and Dib next chapter. Mostly Dib, but Tak so . . . GAH, you get the point!

I actually wrote a whole other 2,000 words for this chapter (it's close to 5,000 already, so quit your bitchin') then stopped, re-read what I wrote in complete and other confusion because I had been writing in a slight daze, was appalled by the lack of importance to what I wrote and it's complete absurdity, deleted it, and left you with this. However, I can never bring myself to entirely delete a creation of mine unless I entirely loathe it (but it came pretty close though), and so I pasted the deleted scene into my bloopers folder.

Shit, there's a lot in that now.

Ah well.

Daily Quote:
"Rude!"
"I try."
-The ultimate retort if someone has called you any name.

Till the next chapter!