They Corrupt them

Chapter 36

Zim woke suddenly, having had a weird dream about llamas with hats; he rubbed his forehead before getting out of bed and going to find his mate, who was in the kitchen making breakfast. "DIB! EVIL LLAMAS ARE IN ZIM'S HEAD! DESTROY THEM!" He yelled, and Dib looked over. "Llamas?" He asked, arching his brow in confusion.

"Yes! Evil llamas!" Zim said as Dib wrapped his arms around him and held him in his arms. "The llamas won't get you." He assured as he kissed his cheek, the Irken happily nodded as he nuzzled him before looking over at what Dib had been doing. "What is the Dib making?" He asked, curious.

"Waffles for the Irkens and normal food for everyone else," Dib replied as he went to go put the food on a plate and Zim nodded, walking over to the table, sitting down in one of the chairs, happy to take the weight off his back. "Smeets are fat.." He said after a moment as Dib set a plate of food in front of him. "They hurting your back a little?" He asked as he went to rub his back a little, causing Zim to purr.

"Not really, but it's that pre-pain feeling like you know it will hurt later…" Zim said as Dib continued to rub his back a bit more, helping him relax a bit. The Irken purred more as he started feeling the Smeets moving a little; he rubbed his belly a little and smiled a little. "Jealous little things; aren't you?" He asked, smiling as he continued rubbing his belly.

Dib chuckled as he kissed his shoulder a little. "Sounds like they want daddy's attention." He said.

"They are like Zim; they love attention…especially from big headed Earth boys," Zim replied.

Dib moved in front of Zim and leaned down, rubbing his belly a little. "My little girls." He smiled as they moved a little within the Irken's belly, seemingly happy with the attention. He kissed Zim's belly; the Irken giggled as the smeets continued to move a little more. "Zim can't wait to meet them properly…" Zim said, rubbing his belly, sighing as Dib kissed his cheek. "Me either."

Membrane walked in a moment later, smiling at the cute scene before him. "My grandkids behaving?" He asked, walking over as Zim waved his hand, motioning for him to rub his belly as well. "They are awake if you want to feel them." He said as Membrane nodded, kneeling to rub the alien's tummy as well. "Hello little ones, I am your Grandpa," The scientist said as they moved against his hand, it made him feel joyful.

"This is amazing!" He said.

"Yeah," Dib said, chuckling as his dad cooed at the belly and Zim giggled at the man. As the babies settled down again, Membrane stood up. "That was amazing, I have never got to feel babies move before." He wanted to laugh in excitement but felt he had embarrassed himself enough for now. Dib stopped a moment and looked at his dad curiously. "You never felt mom's tummy when she was pregnant with us?" He asked, evidently his father had to have at least touched their mother's stomach as they grew inside her belly.

This caused Membrane to pause, flinching a little as he rushed to come up with an excuse in his brain. "Uh…I was out on a business trip, yeah…for the whole nine months…er…both times?" It sounded like a question since he knew that it sounded fake, even to himself. Dib looked like he didn't exactly buy the excuse himself but seemed to let it slide for now. "Okay..." He said, tone disbelieving.

Membrane relaxed a little as relief flowed over him a little. "Uh, I think I left something burning in the lab, bye sweeties!" He said, waving at Zim's tummy before running off. "Your parental unit is weird…" The Irken said as they watched Professor Membrane leave.

"Yup…" Dib replied, sighing.

~~~~

Membrane cursed himself all the way to the lab and closed the door. "You imbecile, how can you be so careless! It's like you want everyone to know! This is why we stay at work," He berated himself as he began building something random, which generally helped him calm down. His thoughts were interrupted as Lilith's voice came from behind him. "Are you alright?" She asked as she followed him and he dropped his contraption in surprise.

"Oh…hello Miss Lilith, I am quite alright…just a little upset with myself..." He admitted.

"Why?" She asked. "And sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, it's alright, I was just reminded of why I generally like staying in my lab, I talk a lot less there." He said, knowing he really didn't make sense, but he didn't really want to let his secret out, but he kept screwing up.

Lilith looked at him curiously as she went over to him. "Do you want to talk?" She asked.

"Not really," Of course he does, but the secret was potentially dangerous, and he wasn't putting his kids in danger.

She nodded, deciding not to push him. "Well, if you do…you know where to find me." Lilith said and pat his shoulder. "Thank you." He told her sincerely, surprised at the soft touch; he barely felt it through his coat at first. He sat in his chair as she left and ran a hand up his face, pulling up his goggles to rub the gold eyes beneath before placing them back and cleaning up the mess he had made when he dropped the contraption.

777 walked in a moment later and looked over at him. "You look as if something is bothering you." He said as he went over to help the other.

"I am bothered, but acknowledging that doesn't help me any," Membrane said, picking up the last of the contraption, nothing seemed broken, so he could at least start over. "I suppose not." 777 hummed, nodding as the other began putting the device back together again, not sure what it was, but just let his frustrations out on it as he created it.

"I have almost no filter, it was why I started staying away in the first place, and now I am building a decent relationship with my kids…and I keep running my mouth." Membrane said as the machine sparked and sprouted legs, walking around a little bit before collapsing again, so he tried again on it.

The Vortian hummed in response as he watched him before speaking. "Understandable, it is a huge thing." He said as Membrane kept taking the machine apart, then rebuilding it as he replaced wires and things each time it burned out, till finally, it looked like a robot spider that walked around without catching fire this time.

He then got more random parts, not feeling better, so he started building another. "I just don't know what to do, I could just go back to the lab, but I don't want to lose what I built here. I want to help." He said, though if he thought it would keep his kids safe, he would go back, he didn't know if it was to that point yet.

777 sighed and shook his head. "Alright, listen…I think you need to set them both down and talk to them. I think you need to tell them the truth, the more you try to hide the secret, the more it will just build within you." He said, hating to see his new friend in such a state over this.

"And how do you suppose I do that? Oh, Gaz and Dib! I have been hiding it from you two for years, but you aren't really my kids! Just some clones I cooked up in a lab with my assistant that I have been hiding for years! And the best part, you two are really the same age!" Membrane started to say something else when the sound of glass shattering is heard, and he turned to the door to see Gaz had just dropped a cup of coffee she had been bringing him.

The Vortian jumped at the sound and looked over, frowning and rubbing his eyes. "Irk damned…" He groaned.

"Uh, that…I didn't…" Membrane tried, but Gaz took off. "Wait! Gaz!" He called, but she was gone before he could get anything out. "Dammit!" He cursed and rubbed his scythe as he cursed up a storm under his breath…what did he do now? "I think I need to go find her…" He said, starting to leave the lab. "God, she's going to hate me now…"

777watched him leave and sighed, hoping everything would be alright…oh boy…