Hopefully this chapter will please you.

Also, I am now putting statuses on my profile for what I'm up to with my fics. So if you're impatient, it might be worth a look to see if that fic is Active. At the time I'm posting this, of course, it is.

(-)

"Your father is to blame?" Zim seemed interested.

"If he isn't, I'll die of shock." It made more and more sense the more I thought about it. "All those tests and long days in his lab when I was little…I wasn't sick and needing treatment. I was being his lab rat."

Zim examined me. "The Dib is a much more desirable specimen than a rat."

The world-shattering revelation took a backseat to Zim calling me "desirable". My anger subsided and I felt my face heat up. "Um, thanks. Is there anything dangerous about these new changes?"

"Not that I can tell," Zim said. "If he was testing when you were still a smeet, your father must have written you off as a failed experiment by now."

It was like he had punched me. Actually, punching me would have been preferable to that statement. I knew my dad wasn't Father-of-the-Year or even Father-of-the-Minute material, and Zim was probably right. I was a failure in my father's eyes, through no fault of my own. And then everything I did and said was just heaping more disappointment on the pile. I was defective.

I scarcely noticed my vision blurring before my face was wet. Wiping furiously at the tears, I told myself that this was nothing I hadn't already known, not really. Professor Membrane's son was nothing like what he wanted. He was weird, crazy, and an unworthy heir to his father's legacy. Tears kept spilling, even as I kept wiping them away.

"Diblet? Zim did not mean to make you leak. Zim just meant after so many years, your father must have thought he was unsuccessful. He doesn't know that it just required a catalyst to start the reaction." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet and tentative.

Zim was trying to comfort me. The fact in and of itself calmed me. I felt warm inside as my tears slowed and I sniffed a little. "So everything happening right now is by design. Your formula triggered it, but this was what I was supposed to be all along."

"I never imagined the Dib would be such a curious and exceptional creature. No wonder you never fit in with the human filthbeasts."

My God. He had even said it: I couldn't be classified as a human anymore. Of course I never fit in with everyone else: I was never meant to be human. But, again, realizing that I was a solitary creature by design wasn't enough to stop me from fixating on the tone of admiration in Zim's voice.

While disturbing, learning all of this with Zim's help and support was incredibly freeing and satisfying in a way I'd never felt before. I'd always felt superior to those around me (but let's face it, you could give me brain damage and I'd still be smarter than most humans) and this validated those feelings.

And Zim. God, Zim was sitting here talking about my being an experiment in enhanced genetics without any reservations or hesitation. He was comforting me. Although it made sense that such things wouldn't bother an alien. And since I wasn't human either, why should it bother me?

"Thank you, Zim, for all of this. The formula, the tests, the support. I feel…right. Complete. I didn't know I was missing anything until you helped me find it."

It was probably ludicrous to share all my feelings with the cold invader and hope to have some deeper moment with him, but this new development had me bursting with hope. Hope for myself, hope for the future, hope for…love. I needed to reign myself in before I did something stupid that ruined this.

But when I met Zim's eyes, they held…something. They weren't cold. There was something simmering deep in those magenta depths that made my heart leap. I just couldn't tell what it was.

"You…you are welcome, Dib-friend. Zim is pleased to have a partner who can finally keep up with him." The last sentence seemed like it was intended to offset the kindness of the first one.

It drew a sly grin to my face at the challenge. "Face it, Zim, we've been giving each other a run for our money since we met. Don't pretend you didn't enjoy our rivalry as much as I did."

"Don't pretend the Dib hasn't always had more pleasure to gain from our interactions. That the Dib's excitement in our encounters wasn't…passionate."

I felt suddenly afraid, because he said that in a knowing tone. But he couldn't know, right? I hadn't gotten that sloppy already. And this was the guy I had to explain platonic partnerships to. He wouldn't know how to imply that I had sexual passion for him, let alone that he needed to. He had, however, immediately associated partnership with male homosexuality, which sorta applied to me. I had never wanted girls. But I had never wanted guys either. I had only wanted him. But he was technically a "him", right?

Not a good time to contemplate what sort of things Zim might be hiding under that uniform. And the fact that this whole exchange made me want to kiss the little alien meant I didn't have a good comeback for that. Not without running the risk of delving deeper into the topic and revealing too much.

So what should I say? "Are there any other tests you can run to get more specifics on what about me is different? I mean, I know you don't have a 'before' sample to compare to, but-" I cut myself off as Zim looked away and his posture stiffened.

"Zim might have a few old samples of Dib somewhere. Zim would have to check."

Well wasn't that peculiar. "You've had my DNA all along? And you never used it in an evil plan to destroy me?"

The little alien shrugged, still not looking at me. "Valuable resources should be used after careful planning, not wasted on hasty gambles."

I was a valuable resource. Well, my DNA samples were, and only because I wasn't an easy target. Speaking of… "How did you get these samples?"

Zim glanced at me and then away again. "I told you earlier my garments are self-cleaning, yes? Well, I realized I was wasting countless opportunities during our fights. So I made an alternate uniform designed to clean all but one substance that touched it: blood."

Holy cow. "Wait, is that what that fight was about?" In eighth grade, right before Hi Skool, Zim had started a fight with me one day. Out of the blue, no provocation or context. No weapons, no tactics, just up-close dirty melee. Not just punching and scratching either; there had been some wrestling involved that we'd never engaged in before. I had been very confused afterward (and not at all subconsciously enjoying so much physical contact with the alien), and I had nursed claw wounds that I still bore scars from. But Zim had just been wounding me and then absorbing as much of my blood into his clothes as he could.

When I got no answer, I asked, "How many samples do you have?" He had said "valuable" which to me indicated "few".

Turning his back to me completely, Zim said, "Zim would have to check his records-"

Zim's computer broke in. "Five-hundred and thirty-two Dib samples remain."

If I thought he looked tense before, the Irken looked positively taut now, even just from behind. "That's a lot of samples. You could have tried a lot of dastardly things with that much material. What have you been doing with them?"

The computer answered again. "In-depth analysis, genome mapping, potential cl-"

"SHUT UP!" Zim screeched. He turned on me, eyes alight with outrage. "Dib-beast, I can conduct these tests you request. But Zim requires time alone if you want me to complete them today. I order the Dib to go home."

Whoa. Together, Zim's computer and I had done more than poke a nerve; we'd clearly stabbed it. Zim might switch between first and third person when referring to himself, but never mixed together like that. He was upset.

I looked at the watch he'd given me. The default display was time, and I could see that second hour would just be starting now. I definitely wasn't going to school. But I looked up and saw him breathing heavily, eyes filled with anger and something I could have sworn was fear. It had never made sense that I could read his mood in his eyes; they were alien and unlike any eye I had ever seen before. But something just clicked when I looked into them. He made sense to me.

"I can go home, Zim. Will you let me know when you find something out?"

He was calming slightly. "Yes, Dib-thing, I will contact you with my findings."

"Then I guess I'll see you later." I picked up my backpack and made my way out of his lab. A glance over my shoulder as I was almost to the elevator showed Zim folding his arms over his chest, but with a sad gaze that made him look…small.

(-)

When I got home I discovered it was only Zim's presence keeping me grounded. No matter what I tried to work on, my head wouldn't stop fixating on all the new revelations. I started getting depressed and ended up going to sleep.

I woke up when the front door slammed. "DIB!" Gaz was home from school. I had barely had time to sit up before she was opening the door to my room. "What's the deal with you playing hooky with Zim?"

Uh-oh, she had seen me leave with him. "We just had some things to discuss."

"Things you couldn't discuss at school?" When I took too long trying to think of an answer, Gaz said, "Did you finally tell him?"

I got cold, because what did she mean by that? Surely not…it wouldn't make sense. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this truce being your way of getting closer to the alien you've been obsessed over since you first laid eyes on him. Don't play dumb."

So she did know. "I…how did you figure it out?"

Gaz grimaced. "I don't want to get into how I know."

That sounded bad. "But if it's something I might slip up and let him find out…"

"So you haven't told him. Trust me, it's nothing he'd find out if he didn't live with you."

Something clicked. Oh shit. I had wet dreams about Zim from time to time. They had been my greatest shame, since I'd gotten pretty good at repressing my xenophilia otherwise. Having dreams of your enemy touching and licking to bring you to ecstasy was unacceptable if you were going to protect the planet.

"Um, I guess I haven't been a quiet sleeper. Sorry. But even if we aren't constantly fighting right now, I'm not about to tell Zim about my…inappropriate thoughts." I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my little sister. I knew we had gotten closer, but not close enough for this kind of topic.

On the other hand, who else could I discuss this with? I was lucky she wasn't disgusted by me. But she didn't seem phased at all, in true Gaz fashion. "'Inappropriate thoughts'? You want date an alien, Dib." A short pause. "Own up to it. I've watched you fall in love with a creature from outer space whose goal is to conquer our planet. As we've grown up, he's actually gotten more competent. So if there's a chance to get him when he's giving enslaving humanity a break, take it." She smirked. "Just think of it as a plan to keep him from destroying the Earth by convincing him to settle down on it. With you."

Yeah, this was an insane amount of support for my xenophilia. "Gaz, I seriously don't know what I'd do without you." Of course, she didn't know that our truce wasn't based on Zim backing off of his goals, but on my joining him.

I had to wonder how she would take the news of Professor Membrane's manipulation of my DNA. Would she take it in stride, given that it was very in-character of him? Or would she get upset since she had still looked to him to be a father for years? But she was older now, less naiive. In any case, it would be too early to talk about it yet.

A glance at my watch that I couldn't help drew her eye. "That's new." She looked between it and me once and asked, "Did Zim give that to you? He must be looking to go steady if he's giving you shiny toys." The teasing tone was reassuring. "Stop being a weenie and make a move."

And with that, she left, closing the door behind her.

(-)

I was nervous when I hadn't heard from Zim by the next morning. Was he still upset? Would he be at school today? Only one way to find out. I headed to school early (Gaz usually walked with me) and got a surprise when Zim was there before me.

I approached him where he leaned on the wall near the main entrance. "Hey. I was kind of worried when I didn't hear anything from you. Are the tests that complex, or are you still pissed about…whatever upset you?"

Fake eyes searched mine. "Zim has no idea what you mean. And, yes, your anomalies are proving difficult to analyze, which is astonishing. Earth-smellies are too stupid to stump superior Irken tech. Except your father, apparently."

Of course Professor Membrane was special enough to outsmart Irkens. An irrational jealousy rose in me at the slight admiration in Zim's tone. "Yeah, well Membrane is a monster who turns his child into a science experiment, so I don't give a flying fuck if you like how smart he is." I wanted to smack myself. That sounded odd and hostile, and I wasn't sure if Zim would catch onto my jealousy.

"Oh, Zim does not care about your father except what affects you and our plans."

The off-hand tone and frank boredom calmed me. "Good. Sorry we haven't gotten much planning done since all this stuff started happening with me."

Zim shrugged. "The Dib was a powerful ally and partner as he was; now the Dib is even more so. Understanding and stabilizing you takes priority. Then we can enslave mankind."

The matter-of-fact tone of those statements warmed me: it was just obvious. I was the priority; world domination could wait. Coming from Zim, that was the highest praise and statement of worth. I reminded myself that letting all the affection and desire bubbling up in me loose in the form of a hug or kiss would be a very bad idea. Keep it to yourself, Dib.

One of Torque's bully friends who had beat me was approaching the main entrance. When he saw the two of us, his eyes widened and he dashed in the doors, clearly eager to avoid any confrontation. It reminded me of something.

"Have you seen Torque? I was going to repay him, but I haven't seen him since he beat my face in."

The fact that Zim immediately looked away from me was both concerning and strangely hopeful. "After seeing your pathetic self in Hospittle, Zim had to make an example of what happens to those who believe they are worthy of stealing his enemies."

That idea wasn't upsetting me the way I knew it should be. "An example?"

Zim glanced to meet my eyes and then away again. "Torque will not trouble you again. That is all."

I hadn't consciously decided to hug Zim: my arms were just suddenly around him. He tensed, and I was about to let go when, with great hesitance, he returned my hug. But as soon as his arms were around me, we were interrupted.

"Ooooh, the freaks are in love!" Sarah shouted. She had been in our class in Graid Skool, and always took particular joy in implying that Zim and I were a couple. I had been repressing, so I couldn't admit it when I was Defender of Earth, but now I recognized that it only hurt because it wasn't true.

True or not, it was still embarrassing, especially since this time we were actually having a moment together. And she ruined it. We broke apart and our faces turned to glare at her simultaneously, and she looked panicked before she, too, ran into the school. The few others who had been paying attention studiously avoided looking at us after that.

I knew I was bright red, and I couldn't look at Zim. He'd been here long enough to know why I was embarrassed. "Um, thanks. I've never had anyone take revenge on my behalf before."

Zim sounded flustered as he said, "Zim did not do it for you! He must not let anyone take what is his! I mean…YOU'RE LYING!"

The sudden shout and him dashing into the school building startled me, but as the doors closed behind him, I was grinning like an idiot. He hadn't used that lame, last-resort comeback in years. Admitting that he saw me as his had embarrassed him enough to make him panic. I was full of warm fuzzies at the idea.

"What was that about?" Gaz asked from behind me. "That sounded like the old Zim."

I turned to her, unable to dim my smile. "He was embarrassed. About me."

A small smirk snuck onto her face. "So is he going to say something?"

That was a confusing question. "Say what?"

She snorted. "You're an idiot." And so saying, she walked into school.

Did she mean that he realized how I felt? She told me to say something to him. It was probably a bad sign that she thought he would beat me to confronting this. But I just didn't know how to start a conversation that would probably end in ruining the best thing in my life.

I headed inside, deciding to behave towards Zim like this never happened. Only that warmth inside me at him claiming me, even if just as an enemy, made it bearable.

(-)

Kay, that was fun. I still worry about OOC Gaz, but people seem satisfied with how she's gone so far, so I hope this is also acceptable.

Hope this was worth the cliffhanger from last chapter. Got crazier shit on the way.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! They brighten my day and warm my squeedlyspooch.