Dlbn: Hey there everyone! Wow, I'm only a day late!

Nbld: I'm scared too. Well, it had to be done soon because we're leaving Thursday and not going on the computer tomorrow so we can get to bed early.

Dlbn: Yeah, and it's so rude and annoying for us to be late.

Nbld: True. Anyway, it's now time for the Review Corner! Thank you to invadermakayla, PoYD95, TTfanTT, InvaderJor, Achlys, Codelulu-chan, sailingspace14, and Experiment G1T8L1 for reviewing! Pants to throw at Professor Membrane for you all!

Invadermakayla: Thank you ^^ yeah, I can't believe it either. The semester flew by. Glad you enjoyed ^^

PoYD95: My eyes are burning XD He definitely needs some. And SOON.

TTfanTT: I couldn't keep him silent for too long. It was a little creepy ;)

InvaderJor: Oh, there's no need to apologize ^/^ That poor assistant of his, right? XD Aw thank you!

Achlys: It is? Hm, that's a little strange…yeah, I get annoyed when I'm woken up and get real…uh…bitchy…I tell my parents the bare minimum most of the time, too. It works so easily. It is a little creepy, I admit. I think I scared myself XD I like robots to a degree, but only if they're interesting. Like GIR and SIR. I feel sorry for the people who have to see him pants-less -shudder- No, it wasn't Simmons. His whereabouts are explained in this chapter. And I'll reveal who Mr. Scolex is after the Review Corner ^^

Codelulu-chan: They most likely aren't appearing in this fic, except for in a preview for the sequel at the end.

Sailingspace14: As I say about certain people I know, "how can someone so smart be so stupid?" XD I want to see Zim as a psychologist. It would be scary, yet amusing as all hell XD

Experiment G1T8L1: Take a deep breath! There are worse things you can be high on. ;) Glad you're enjoying it.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim or any characters/places/themes/species/languages that you recognize as being from the show. Membrane's female assistant, Keyvine/Krill, Keef's parents, SIR, Krill/Keyvine's computer, and anything to do with the Slerks belong to me. Everything else belongs to Jhonen C Vasquez, one of the funniest men alive.

Dlbn: Hey, everyone! It's time to reveal the true identity of Mr. Scolex! Drum roll please!

Nbld: (Rolls a drum past Dlbn)

Dlbn: not funny! The true identity of Mr. Scolex is…Jhonen C. Vasquez! Yes, it is actual Jhonen. In the credits for Invader Zim, he is credited as "Mr. Scolex" instead of his real name. Just a little interesting fact for everyone. No, he won't be back later. Thank god. He might make things worse XD But that was my little salute to the man who envisioned and created the show I'm writing about. Here's to you, Jhonen!

000

Professor Membrane running through the Labs without pants on was a sight to behold. Many of the teenagers and their parents covered their eyes as he ran past, letting out shouts of disgust. A lab assistant chased him down the hallways with pants, screaming frantically at him to 'put some damn pants on' and 'get decent'. After Membrane passed the room they were in for the fourth time, Keyvine stuck his foot out the door and tripped the man. The assistant skid to a stop behind him, almost losing her balance and falling onto the man.

"For Slerk's sake, man!" Keyvine scolded as the Professor landed with an 'oof'. "Cover up! No one wants to see that!"

"Huh?" Membrane asked, sitting up a bit. He looked behind him and noticed his lack of pants. He scrambled to his feet and covered his backside with his hands. "Sh-Sheryle!" He called the woman that had been chasing him. "Why didn't you tell me that my posterior was exposed?"

"I did, sir." She informed. "Several times." She scratched the back of her neck and offered the Professor a pair of black slacks that were in her hand. "You just didn't listen to me."

Membrane quickly pulled on his pants and flushed bright red. "I'm so sorry about this." He told the families reuniting in the room next to him. "I was so excited about something that I forgot I was in a hospital gown and not wearing pants." He looked to his assistant. "Sheryle? Would you happen to know where Simmons is?"

"Um…you can't go there…he tried to kill you." She flushed.

"Oh, yes, I forgot. How silly of me. Well, now I feel ridiculous."

"You didn't feel ridiculous running around here without pants on, in a hospital gown?" Keyvine asked, leaning on the doorway.

Keef leaned on his shoulder and peered out into the hall. "I bet Dib's embarrassed." He said.

That earned some laughter from the families, and even the assistant.

"Gaz, too." Sheryle added.

"Yes, well…" Membrane paused for a moment. "Carry on." He ran off down the hall.

Sheryle wiped a hand down her face. "I don't get paid enough for this job." She informed, giving chase to Membrane.

"Awkward." Keef commented.

"Very much so." Keyvine nodded in agreement and followed his redhead lover back into the lab room.

"What happened with Simmons?" Keef's mother wondered.

"The pressure of constantly living in Membrane's shadow caught up to him." Keyvine explained to her. "And he ended up attacking the Professor. Luckily, we were all there and stopped him."

"We?"

"Me, and Keyvine, and Dib, Zim, and Gaz." Keef answered.

"Ah, how is Zim, by the way? I haven't heard much about him since the reunion." Keef's father said. "It's been 'Keyvine' this and 'Keyvine' that since you showed up." He winked at the disguised Irken, making him blush.

"Dad! Stop telling people!" Keef flushed and folded his arms.

"I only told Keyvine."

"He's a people!"

Meef snickered. "He's a 'person', Keef." He corrected his brother. "One that you happen to be obsessed with."

"I am not obsessed!"

"Yes you are." His parents said as one.

"I hate you guys." Keef muttered.

Keyvine had to laugh. "Don't worry about it, babe, it's fine." He said, wrapping an arm around the teen's shoulders. "I'm obsessed with you, as well." He winked.

Keef flushed.

"That's enough of that." Meef stuck his tongue out at his older brother. "You two are so flirty, it's gross."

"Sickeningly cute, I believe is the appropriate term." Keef's mother giggled.

"We've been called that before…"

"Zim and Dib are the same way!" Keef jumped in. "And they've been together longer!"

"Speaking of, I believe the beginning conversation was along the lines of 'how is Zim'?" Keef's father asked.

"He's oaky." Keef shrugged. "He just misses his home and his family is all."

"Can't they come into town now?" Keef's mother asked.

"It's a touchy subject." Keyvine informed. "I wouldn't go too deep into it. But he thinks they wouldn't come, even if they knew where he was."

"They don't know…?"

"Like I said." Keyvine stated. "A touchy subject."

"I won't butt in, then."

"But, dear, butting in is what you do best."

Keef's mother gave her husband a look that could kill. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

000

After being informed that Membrane had put on pants and returned to work, Zim and Dib retired to their bedroom for the night. Gaz went off to hers as well to plug in her Game Slave while she played, since the batteries were low. Dib lay on the bed, one knee bent up and his arms behind his head, while Zim worked on some weapons at the table. Neither had spoken for a while. Dib was going through the night's events in their heads, but Zim was immersed in his technology. A bomb could go off and he might not even notice until he looked up to see the walls gone. It was amazing that Membrane was so easily tricked into believing something so stupid. Maybe his psyche was just looking for a simple thing to grasp on to, to try and pull him out of his mood? Zim wasn't a therapist, and this was his first time using some form of psychology to try and assist in a problem, so he had no idea what caused it to work. Membrane seemed fragile and defenseless when he was sitting in the hospital room. If Zim had been easily frightened, he would have shivered whenever membrane's eyes flickered to someone in the room. He was glad that Membrane was oaky, though. Even though he really did deserve to have the truth knocked into him, Zim didn't want his eyes open to the truth if it meant that he would shut down so easily. It had seemed like Simmons was the only one of them that would crumble into madness, but Zim had seen the look in Membrane's eyes; even when they were trained on his own knees. He was about to break and fall. Fall hard.

Dib wondered what they were doing with Simmons. Sure, they had him locked up, in a straight-jacket, and on constant watch, but what were they actually doing with him? Keeping him locked up wasn't going to keep him away and keep Membrane safe forever. Perhaps they were interrogating him? Or sending in a psychiatrist to try and diagnose him with something? It was all a mystery, and Dib knew that no one would know what was being done with Simmons until he was 'cured'. Dib didn't think that what was going on with Simmons was solvable. The man had a mental breakdown because he was being surprised and forced into the shadow of someone else. It was as simple as that. How did one recover from such a meltdown? If at all…

"Hey, Zim?" Dib asked the Irken.

"Hm?" Zim grunted back in response.

"Do you think there's anything they can do for Simmons?"

Zim stopped working and looked over his shoulder at his human lover. "I don't know." He said, after a few moments of thinking. "I sure hope so. He's a nice guy, regardless."

"Yea, he is."

"Just a victim of circumstances." Zim turned back to his work, discarding a wrench for a smaller one.

Other then Zim tinkering, there was no noise in the room for a while.

"So…what are you making?" Dib asked after a few minutes.

"Remember the weapon that I made explode so that we could escape Caiuk back on Slerka?"

"Yea."

"More of those." Zim smirked, though Dib couldn't see. "They might come in handy."

"Yeah."

Silence reigned once more.

"Hey, Dib?"

"Yes?"

"When do you think we can go back into the city? I want to get GIR, and SIR, and computer, mine and Krill's ships. It's not fair to leave them all over there."

"I'm not sure. They haven't made an announcement." Dib shrugged. "Probably in the next few days. Once everyone's settled back in and had time to be with family before they set everyone to work."

Zim stopped working and rubbed at his still slightly sore side.

"Your side okay?"

"It still hurts from the tumble we took in the ship."

"Well, they are cracked ribs, after all. They need time. All this running around after psychopaths isn't helping you at all."

"Don't yell at me." Zim pretended to be upset. "It's not like I did it all on purpose or anything." He added in a false sniffle for good measure.

"You're a great actor." Dib said, smirking. "You should be on Broadway."

"On what?"

Dib's face fell. "Never mind, babe."

000

A few days passed before the four friends managed to spend time together again. It had been announced a few hours before that they were allowing people out into the city to start the rebuilding process. Keef and his family were going to their house to start working on it. Dib and Gaz were going to their own house, but Zim was accompanying Keyvine to his in order to get GIR and his half of their conjoined ships. They weren't allowed to leave for another hour, so the group of five decided to get together and formulate a plan.

"So let me get this straight." Gaz said. "Zim has a robot that he himself made. And it's in the labs of Keyvine's house?"

"Yeah." Zim nodded.

"So Zim wants to get his robot and bring it back here, though it's insane and highly destructive."

"Yup." Dib added.

"So…where's the common sense in this?"

"There isn't." Keyvine shrugged. "But we can't leave both of our insane robots at my base. Not that we're planning on leaving any of them there anyway."

Gaz rolled her eyes. "So there are going to be two equally insane robots running around the labs, and we may not be able to control them…tell me how this is safe?"

"It's not." Keef admitted. "But we can't leave them in town on their own…they'd make things worse and undo repairs."

"And my computer can keep an eye on them when we're out." Keyvine shrugged. "I'm going to put him into a laptop and bring him into the labs too. That way they can be babysat and will only ruin my room."

"How are you guys going to…have relations…if you've got robots…?"

"They turn off." Zim blurted out. "So it's not a problem."

"Then why have the computer watch them?"

"A little extra insurance never hurt anyone…" Keyvine muttered.

"I guess." Gaz rolled her eyes. "And how exactly do you plan on fitting your ships into the labs?"

"They can shrink." Keyvine said. "Standard-issue ability for every Irken air and space craft."

"You sound like an advertisement." Zim pointed out.

Keyvine slapped him upside the head.

"Hey, if you have a way to get them here, then I guess I can't stop you, right?" Gaz asked. "It's not that I actually care, but I just think it's a little stupid…a lot stupid…downright insane, actually."

"Yeah, insane like Simmons or Caiuk, or your father's mental breakdown, hm?" Keyvine chuckled. "I think we all know how to deal with our own fair shares of insanity by now."

The loudspeaker crackled to life before Gaz could give a witty retort.

"Attention citizens!" The head guard's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "We are now allowing the release of citizens back into town to start reconstruction. Small supplies are ready at each exit for people to take. One bag per person, please. And bigger materials are already out in place at the homes of every citizen. Please use materials wisely, as we only have a limited amount at this time. We will start with the Northern parts of the labs now. Another announcement in half an hour will allow the south side to leave. Thank you, and everyone be back by 9:30 tonight, the latest. That is all."

Keyvine looked at the clock. "That gives us…11 hours to work…"

"That should be enough to transport everything." Zim nodded.

Keef stood. "What are we waiting for?" He asked. "Let's go!"