Mikko's voice was shaky as she said, "He… he looks older, Riddick."

Riddick rubbed her shoulder gently, keeping his own voice steady. "I know."

"What happened to him?" She asked, barely holding together.

"HIM changed the rules. Every time he used his power in the fight, it drained more of his lifespan. I tried to ensure he wouldn't have to use it, but… HIM had other plans."
Zim bolted up, almost smacking foreheads with Mikko as he gasped, "YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM, THEY HAVE TO FORGIVE, THAT'S THE KEY! THEY HAVE TO…" He blinked, his senses taking in his surroundings. "Hospital."

"We figured it out already." Riddick patted his head. "We're recovering now, sleepyhead. Glad you aren't dead."

"We… we won?" Zim's face split with a heartbreakingly joyful smile. "I did something right, and we won?"

"We won." Riddick hugged him around the neck. "You helped us win. You're a hero to this whole world, Zim. And to your brother."

Zim blinked, and gingerly hugged Riddick back, grinning. He caught sight of his own arms, noting the wrinkles and translucent skin, and his smile vanished. "Oh." He sighed regretfully. "I used a lot of time, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." Riddick flicked him on the forehead. "I suppose it couldn't be helped, you're just so stubborn and all. But you certainly aren't helping things emotionally." He gestured toward Mikko.

Zim glanced at his sister, who dropped her gaze down quickly.

"Hey… smeet?"

"I'm not a smeet anymore." She mumbled.

"You're always Smeet to Zim." He took her hand gently. "Zim is still here. I'm not gone. I didn't throw myself away. And you helped, didn't you?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes.

He pulled her into a gentle hug. "You did a lot of growing up too, you know. You're not so quiet and scared of everything anymore. You couldn't even say two words together when I first came to your home. Look at you now, shooting cannons at a monster the size of a building." Mikko gave a half sob half laugh. "It'll be okay. I think things will calm down, maybe."

Riddick patted Mikko on the back. "I may not have known you as long as Zim, but whatever my words are worth, I too am proud of you."

Zim blinked, looking at himself again. "I used a lot of time… and energy." He pulled back. "Why can I still move? Last time I did that I couldn't even move.

"It involves an Irken that was already dead, and a feeding tube." Gaz deadpanned from across the room. "Don't ask how one went into the other."

Zim shuddered, gagging a little, but shut his mouth. He was grateful he hadn't been awake for that.

"I'm even proud of you too, Inky sister dear." Riddick called wryly. "You, after all, finished HIM off."

The tired little puddle managed to turn an icy glare on Riddick. "Push it, Irken. Push it. I can still give you nightmares you won't be able to burn out of your head for weeks."

"Oh we're gonna be great friends, I just know it." Riddick snorted.

Zim looked down at his arms again, biting his lip and silently wondering how much time he had left.

"Shocked you haven't asked why I'm so level headed right now, and not choking you on the hospital bed for being so stupid and careless." Riddick eyed him.

"I wasn't being stupid or careless," Zim retorted, "I knew what I was doing. I couldn't let HIM get to you."

"Of course. What kind of protective little brother would you be if you didd? And what kind of big brother would I be if I let that be in vain? But you would expect me to react, wouldn't you? So why aren't I?"

"Well?" Zim demanded.

Riddick looked at him somberly. "There were times in that battle where I thought we were all going to die, you know. All that matters to me now is that you're alive and well. How you look doesn't matter. We all knew there was risk and sacrifice involved in defeating that monstrosity. It didn't kill you, so I'm not mad at you as long as you aren't dead. Sound good?"

Zim cracked a grin, nodding.

Red carefully guided his hoverchair over to them, looking even more haggard. "I've been in communication with Zim's base," He gestured to the communication panel in the wall. "We will be joined by Zim's familial unit shortly. I'm having my drones target a teleportation device within Zim's base, but it is deflecting all attempts to establish such a link. Zim, please tell your SIR unit that things are back to normal. He doesn't believe I'm a normal Taco." Red's eye twitched.

Zim turned to the wall panel nearest his bed to speak with GIR.

A grunt sounded behind Riddick, followed by the sound of cloth tearing. He turned to see Blossom still trying to make the uncomfortable looking uniform fit correctly, only succeeding in tearing it. He strode over to her. "Mind if we talk in private? Perhaps we can find an outfit better suited for you, you look ready to rip that in two."

Blossom nodded, giving up. "Something better fitting would be nice." She hovered out with him.

He led the way, avoiding the crowded areas of the intensive care units as they found the only quiet place in the building—the laundry facilities. "So, holding up alright?"

Blossom hovered in place, not fully looking at him. "I think so. It's going to take a long time though. I miss them." Her voice wasn't steady.

"I know. But think about it, you kicked HIM's behind. We all did. We made him pay, and he felt all the pain he's caused. Even if you couldn't see them, they were there cheering you on. You can envision that, can't you?"

The ghost of a smile lifted the corners of her lips. "Yeah, a little."

"You lied to me, you know." Riddick put on a stern face.

"What?" Blossom blinked, caught off guard.

"You told me a bit ago there would be no more smiles." He touched her cheek gently, with a smirk. "Well then, what's this I see?"

Her cheeks colored, and she turned away, mumbling, "Jerk." But there was no venom in it.

"Yes, I am a jerk. A jerk who kisses you and stammers for ten minutes. I'm more of a mess, really." He noted, amused at himself.

Blossom arched an eyebrow. "You are at that. But you managed to do a pretty good job." She paused, then hastily amended, "At the fighting, I mean. With the fighting."

Riddick slowly arched an eyeridge to match. "At the fighting, eh?"

"Yes, at the fighting." She turned, finding a bin of clean garments, and began to rummage through them.

Riddick leaned on the edge of it. "Mhmm. I see. Well fighting is something I'm quite good at. Kissing, pssh. I'm a failure at it." He grinned playfully. "Who would ever want me kissing them, right? You can just spread the word about how awful it really was so it doesn't happen again."

She rummaged deeper, so her whole upper body was concealed by clothes. "Yep." Her muffled voice floated up. "That's exactly what I'm going to do."

"You wouldn't happen to be hiding because your face has turned the same color as your bow, now would you?"

Blossom slowly pulled out, staring at him. "How'd you know I had a red bow? I lost it in the blast."

"I dabbled a little in your thoughts. Nothing too personal. I was going to ask about you getting access to the Irken libraries, you seem to be a bit of a bookworm."

Frowning a little, Blossom muttered, "Well, stay out of my memories. They're private." Even so, the mention of a library put interest back in her face.

"Again, nothing personal, I wouldn't dream of it. But what I saw did give me a thought. First, you were adorable as a child, but that's no surprise to me. But you know, you aren't exactly Blossom without that bow. I saw you even slept in it sometimes. I've never had human hair so I don't really know what having a cloth knot in it is like, but I'm sure it's fun."

She crossed her arms, pressing her lips together to hold back the tears. That bow, like many other things and people, were lost, and it was a painful reminder.

"My point being, of course, I have something for you." He lifted up his hat to reveal a small present box. "Yes, that's been there the whole time." He leaned forward a little. "Go on, take it."

She took it gingerly, pulling of the top. Inside was a bow, almost exactly like hers. The color was a slightly darker shade of red, and there was more of a shine to it. It matched a color she'd grown used to seeing, in fact.

"It's no trouble at all really," Riddick coughed. "A little patch of my cloak, easily replaceable. Would have given up the whole thing if needed, really."

She looked up at him, and back down at the bow. She pulled it out, holding it for a moment, before carefully pinning it in her hair.

"There's one more thing I picked up in your memories." He fished in his cloak. "I remember you picked it up when we first met. I didn't think much of it then, until I saw what it meant to you. You left it in my cloak, so I took the liberty of restoring it in our recovery time." He pulled out the Powerpuff Phone, looking good as new. "It works too, I made sure."

She stared at it for a very long time. She took it from him, holding it carefully like it was made of spun glass, her lip trembling. It took her a few attempts to be able to say clearly, "Thank you. Obviously you know what this means to me."

"Yes. Figured we could use it as a hotline for Irk if Father needs us when everything get situated. Or, you can, anyway, use it wherever you go." He shifted, looking away. "Obviously you'll probably want to be alone now that HIM is gone. Be on your own. Do your own things. Which is fine of course! Things are good."

Blossom stared at the phone in her hands. "And what are you going to do?"

"Well, station myself on Earth. Find a place that's close to Zim and Dib's residences so we can all be close and stay together. They are family, of course, I don't want to be far away from them ever again if I can help it."

She stroked the top of the phone, eyes lost in thought. "They live in a weird city. I've been there once, trailing that stalker kid back to… persuade him… that he needed to stay away." She pursed her lips. "It… probably could use… someone to take care of it."

"I heard there was a giant fish in a bear suit there once." Riddick informed her.

"Oh those are easy," she scoffed, " You just flip them on their backs and they don't know what to do." She squeezed the handle of the phone. "I guess I'll inform the mayor then." Her tone is final and decided. The mayor obviously has no choice in the matter. "Just keep your creepy stalker brother at a distance, yeah? Really not interested in photo ops." She opened her mouth, sending a freezing blast over Riddick's shoulder. Behind him, Dib yelped as his camera froze to his hand.

"You know," Riddick said, ignoring Dib, "If there's one thing I am truly proud of, aside from helping save worlds, it's making you smile. And that's the truth."

Blossom gazed at him for a moment, then leaned forward, giving him a very short peck on the cheek before pulling back and rummaging for clothes again.

Riddick immediately flopped over onto his side like a sack of potatoes.

"Figures." Blossom muttered. Pulling out a larger garment, she found an empty room and closed the door to change.

"Smooth." Dib muttered, attempting to peel the camera off his hand.

"I'd destroy you right now," Riddick sighed with delight, "But I'm in much too pleasant a mood. Also all of my ligaments have ceased to function, so, I'm sort of stuck here."

"Can't destroy me," Dib returned cheerfully. "Mom would kill you. Don't worry, it passed, and you'll be able to think again."

"Good, it's quite hard to think straight right now, but I'll keep it in mind, wise talking mailbox."

Dib rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."