Breaking the Disease
Epic Six
Written by Cartman's Girl and Invader Poe

~*~

Chapter Six

A few weeks ticked by, Poe was getting better each day, luckily. As for Zib and Enid, they were discovering the joys of parenting. Like Ivy chewing on anything within her range and so forth. Meanwhile, back with Zim he had agreed, a little too eagerly, to allow Vishti to live with him for the time being. Until her Voot Cruiser would be fixed, and it'd be able to make it's own. Zim had suddenly become a gentle.. er, Irken, constantly asking, to an almost annoying degree, if there was anything he could get her, as well as opening doors, pulling out chairs, whatnot. Right now, he was sitting on the couch with a Big Gulp Suck thingee, looking somewhat exhausted, he wasn't use to being nice afterall, or all these weird emotion.. things. Vishti was meanwhile in a bath, not that she needed it but at least she was away from Zim. Not that she hated him, but being around someone who was so.. nice got annoying indeed. She sighed heavily and slid down under the gel, her antennae just jutting out of it. Zim started to get worried, he hadn't seen her for a whole of.. five minutes afterall, who knows what could've befallen her! He jumped off the couch, slushie still in hand, and started opening doors, checking them to see if she was in them - convienetly forgetting one of them was the bathroom. Soon he slid the door open of the bathroom, just as Vishti was lifting herself out of it and was pretty much, erhm, glistening from the cleansing gel and so forth.

"You in.." He blinked a few times, stared, blinked again, dropping his drink to the ground as he froze. She blinked a few times as the door opened, snapping eye contact with Zim as he stood in the door. Weather or not she didn't care, or was too stunned to move, she didn't move a muscle. After a few moments of stunned silence, Vishti finally moved and picked up a towel.

"Do you want something?" she asked as she started drying her leg.

"…just.. wondered... where.. you.. were.." He squeeked in a high-pitched voice, otherwise immobile. She stood up, arms to her hips, one antennae quirked.

"I told you I'd be in the bath a while ago."

"..wellIforgotsorryforbarginginseeyoulateryouknowhereIamifyouneedanythingbye!" He suddenly spoke a thousand words per minute, slamming the door, his footsteps heard running away from it muffedly. Vishti blinked a few times, then sighed.

"Great, you messed up the opportunity again. FOOL!" she smacked herself in the head and continued to grumble as she dried herself, and pulled on her clothing then left the room. Zim didn't stop running until he was nearly out of the house, and he didn't have his disguise on, so. He settled for sitting on the couch and twiddling his thumbs with extreme nervousness, sweating. Gir wandered in, extending an eye-cam at his master, and hopped up on the couch beside him,

"Wuz wrong, Master?"

"..she was NAKED.." He mumbled, almost unintellibily to himself.

"I'm naked!" Gir giggled, then tilted his head to the side. "Izzat bad?"

"You're not an incredibly beautiful Irken female who happens to be cohabitating with me!" He snapped and glared down at Gir.

"...does Master liiiike the pretty one?" the robot asked, a slight hint of giggling forming at the end of his question.

"Erm.." What was that, a blush creeping over his features? "Don't be silly, she's merely my friend and I'm merely assiting her and I merely happened to just see her after a shower and it merely happened to… nevermind!"

"But you wanna be ta'gether don't ya Master?" gee Gir didn't seem as dumb as he looks! "I wanna be wif Beka's bobby ball thingie.." he sighed as little metalic love hearts floated from his head.

"I.. um.. ng.." He arched his shoulders in irritation, "Maybe," he muttered under his breath, pinning his antennae back to his head. "But this mushiness I've become afflicted with is totally against Inva- oh, wait."

"You're not an Invader no more!" Gir squealed like a little piggie, pointing to Zim.

"Yes.. you have a point." He glared at the floor, somewhat upset at being reminded of that, but on the other hand it meant he didn't have to hold himself to regulations or protcol anymore. "But she.. well, I'm not really sure what she is but she probably doesn't want anything to do with an exhiled little Reject!" He said huffily, in a sulky tone.

"...what's she?" Gir asked, since he never actually heard what she was anyway.

"She's.. um.." A look of puzzlement disrupted his pouting, "Um.. I don't.. know. But I'm sure it's something important!"

"Do you really want to know?" Gir and Zim both jumped at the same time, since Vishti just seemed to enter the room, she'd been listening since they brought up what she was. Zim looked over at her, the blush returning to his face since, well, he had just seen her naked, rendering him speechless. Gir, however,

"Oooooo, tell tell tell!"

"Fine. I was hoping it'd be a while before I'd have to reveal my horrible secret to you." she walked into the room and hopped onto the couch a ways down from Zim. "I'm exhiled. Back on Irk, I caused nothing but trouble for the carers in the Nest, then the teachers in the Learning Chambers. I was to be an Invader, but my antics got me a quick ticket to exhile land with a faulty Voot Cruiser and shot out into space." she turned her head up, antenane flattening against her head.

"You're… what?" He stared at her in shock this time, then frowned, reaching over and patting her limp antennae tentatively, "Well, um, I guess that makes two of us.."

"I had hoped you'd never ask." Vishti glanced at him, "But it's no use trying to cover up what I am. A pest."

"Bah! If that's the case you're the prettiest pest I've ever seen!" He waved his free hand dismissively. She stared at him blankly for a while, one antennae quirked up now.

"...no way, really?" He realized what he said, blushing madly and glancing away, but didn't move his hand,

"Well, um, yeah. And… uh… I don't think you're a pest at all." Vishti smiled slightly, a tint of red flushing onto her cheeks.

"Oh well... thank you Zim that.. that's really nice of you."

"Nice?" he looked back over towards her, and grinned slightly. He'd certainly never been called that before.

"Yeah." she leaned over and tapped him where his nose would be. "Nice." Zim went slightly crosseyed at the finger, and grinned more broadly, his green skin becoming a few shades redder. Gir started giggling insanely, putting his hands to his mouth. Vishti glanced at Gir, then suddenly pointed out the window.

"Look Gir! It's Beka's bobby ball thing outside!"

"OOOOOOOH!" He screamed, "BOBBALLY!" He squealed and shot out of the (closed) window, shattering it. She giggled slightly as she watched him leap and vanish from sight.

"Well, at least I suppose I don't have to worry about Gir reproducing and moving out.." Zim winced as the window crashed.

"Yeah." Vishti then looked at him, and very slowly reached up and ran a claw-tip down one of Zim's antennae.

"Eh? What're you--" He blinked in surprise, eyeing her claw and nearly freezing again, his shoulders scrunching up in response, the affected antennae shooting straight up.

"Look Zim, I'm not going to mess around now." Vishti continued as her hand started twirling his antennae through her fingers, "I… I like you, allright? I know it's against every rule written for Irken protocol, but… you're just so… amazingly in control of things and that you're just really great."

"I… like…" He squeeked, shivering and taking a deep, rigidly controlled breath, "I… uh… likeyoutoo." For once, he didn't have much to say. She smiled back and scooted next to him so now they were sitting besides each other.

"I'm beginning to believe that saying here on Earth, there's someone for everyone." He grinned unevenly,

"It's… uh… always a possibility.." He started sweating again, obviously very nervous or, well, something similar.

"You're too tense, you know that?" she grinned slightly.

"Z-Zim? T-tense? I'm.. perfectly relaxed! Yes!" He coughed nervously. Vishti grinned slightly evilly, leaning against him and asked quietly.

"Do you want to be relaxed?"

"I… um… what.. do you mean?" He leaned his head away from her slightly, looking even more nervous.

"This time, it isn't to fit in." she then leant against him, due to the weight Zim ending up pressed against the sofa now as she kisses him on the lips! Gasp. His eyes widened in shock, and he was rendered frozen for a moment, until he finally started to relax and close his eyes, setting his arms around her shoulders. Vishti smiled as one hand supported his head and the other was still manipulating his antennae freely, kissing him still rather gently mind. His antennae perked forward and he wiggled his fingers, before wrapping his arms around her shoulders tightly and actually pulling her closer, starting to actually, ahem, participate. Her eyes opened in slight surprise as she suddenly felt Zim's tongue begin to force it's way past her lips, she glanced to the side, then closed them as she allowed him to do so, forcing hers back into his mouth.

"Mgff!" He blinked and made a muffled sound, his competitive nature kicking in, he became determined to kiss her harder then she was him, and leaned forward. She muffled something back, when suddenly Zim sat up, still holding onto her and kissing her harder and pushed her down so now he was, ehrm, on top as he held her thightly in his arms. He smirked out of the corner of his mouth and reached up, fumbling with her antennae, not exactly, ahem, experienced. Vishti tilted her head to the side to uh, accomodate Zim's forcefull kissing as she bent her arms up that were over his shoulders to still mess with his antennae, curling the tips around her claws. That only encouraged him, of course, and he slowly became more accustomed to her antennae, trailing his claw down the side. This was met with a slight shudder from Vishti, who broke the kiss quickly, tugging on his antennae.

"Zim look, as much… as much as I'm enjoying this we might have to pause to get somewhere in the base where-" she paused to close her eyes and make a moany sound. "Where any humans passing by can't… see us."

"…huhwah?" He blinked as though out of a trance, sitting up once his antennae were yanked on. He glanced over at the windows, then blushed furiously when she made the moany sound, "I… um… guess you're right." He slowly and reluctantly slid off of her, having a bit of trouble standing. Vishti sat up, taking his hand as she got up also finding it somewhat difficult to walk straight let alone stand.

"So do… do we continue this elswhere…?"

"Eh… um… to the lab!" He pointed forward, well, pointedly; there was a makeshift room he'd made up for Vish, since he usually fell asleep in whatever chair was nearby when he was doing his experiments.

"Yes, lab." the base complied, and the floor beneath them shifted down to the lab, more specifically, Vishti's room. And it's best we, ehem, leave those two to do as instincts tell them to.

Vist was following Cten as she made her way to the elevator, knowing she was going to be leaving soon and whining for attention,

"Can't you just stay out a little while longer?" He held onto a corner of her tanktop, looking up at her with big eyes.

"Now Vist," she knelt besides him showing a slight bit of difficulty. Plus, notice she doesn't look exactly well. "Today, I'm going to let Poe out and about in the base today. I won't be long." Cten smiled at him, then cupped his face in her hands. "And you'll be good, won't you?" He didn't seem to notice the fact she looked slightly ill, his antennae drooping sadly as he looked down at the ground.

"Yes, ma… " He said quietly, letting her go.

"And he promised he's going to try and be a Daddy to you." she said, stroking his cheek gently. "I want you to have a propper family, not just me."

"I dun want him. He's scary…" He put his hands in his little pockets.

"He is scary on the outside, but he's nice on the inside. That's what matters." Cten said, "You have to look past the outside from time to time." He nodded weakly and sighed, partly closing his eyes in resignation. Meanwhile, downstairs Poe was giving himself a shower, wanting to look nice since Cten said it might be the day he finally gets out of the cell, even had some fresh clothes she brought him. As he was drying himself off with a towel, Cten had given him a propper bed during this time as well, and so on. She arrived in the other room, carrying some clean clothes for him.

"Well well, Mr. Clean aren't we?" she smirked slightly.

"Hey, I wanted to look nice for you." He looked over his shoulder and grinned at her, putting the towel over his shoulder without a second thought.

"Aw how nice of you." she smiled gently, entering the room. "Well today's the day Poe, you ready?" Cten held out the bundle of clothes in her hands to him.

"I guess so." He glanced up at the concrete ceiling, "Can't say I'll miss it." He tossed off the towel and put on his tank top first, followed by the rest of his clothes, he even had a spiffy new trench coat. He stretched widely, having to get use to the feel of having so many clean clothes on for the first time in a long while, then glanced over at the door.

"All right... Vist said he's giving you a chance to be a Daddy to him." she held her hand out to him, "So come on…"

"Maybe I can draw him out of his shell.. I know what it's like to be a young outcast, afterall." He took her hand, and followed her too the door. As it opened, he was hit with a blast of fresh(er) air, taking a deep breath and blinking. "I hadn't realized ho stale it'd gotten in there.."

"Yeah it was.." Cten paused to rub her eye with her free hand, then lead him up the stairway. "Let's hope things start going better from now on, for Vist's sake anyway."

"I hope so." He followed her up the stairs, his legs slightly cramped from lack of real use, "So.. have I missed anything in the outside world lately?"

"Well... Zim seems to have gotten, uh, friendly with a new arrival called Vishti." she explained, "She seems all right, but I've only seen her from afar. Zim is still having to talk to Zib about what happened, seems he has disowned him like Dib did."

"Zim, friendly?" He raised his eyeridge, nearing the upper door. "I guess I have to feel sorry for Zib. I mean, my dad didn't want me either, but at least I never knew him."

"Yeah." she stopped at the door and took a deep breath, before opening it up into the living room. Vist had been waiting by the door nervously, then looked up at Poe. He shrunk away from the tall Irken, running by him and clinging to the back of his Mother's leg. Poe started to say something, then sighed, lowering his antennae and trying to look unintimidating.

"Vist, Poe promised he wouldn't hurt you." Cten said gently, smoothing the back of Vist's head.

"I'm not dangerous, Vist. I know I was scary before but I wasn't.. well." He leaned down to his knees, holding out his hand towards the young hatchling. Vist leaned his face against Cten's hip, staring down at the offered hand, then shook his head furiously. Cten looked almost hurt at this, then closed her eyes.

"Vist please, for me at least?" she looked down at him again. Poe did as well, lowering his antennae futher until they were limp against his sides. Vist seemed to consider this, then looked over at Poe with a mixture of fear and… hostility? He tentatively reached out his tiny hand though, and Poe took it gently in his claws, noticing it was shaking.

"I was kind of like you when I was little, Vist." He said in his soft 'daddy' voice, "I was scared of everyone and I ended up alone for a long time…" Cten then sat down on the floor, Vist now stood closely besides her yet still holding onto Poe's hand. To help keep Vist feel a bit safer, she put a hand around him. Vist had his eyes shut now, but his antennae perked a bit at the voice, whether it was because of the gentle tone or the words, who knew. He leaned back against Cten and started to open his eyes up at Poe, who gave him his best gentle smile, careful not to show any teeth.

"See Vist...?" she said quietly to her son, smoothing his side. Vist quickly withdrew his hand from Poe's when Poe smiled, startled, maybe not trusting anyone else enough to accept affection from them - he instead hugged onto Cten's hand. Poe sighed and slowly stood up, looking down at Vist,

"Maybe he needs some time to get used to me.."

"I think so." Cten said, reluctantly calming Vist down as he held onto her.

"He might have imprinted on me negatively when he first hatched.." Poe held his antennae back, glancing down at the floor with a look of slight shame.

"Well you still have time to fix it, Poe." she said, her antennae flattened against her head. Not because of sadness but possibly because she wasn't well at all. Poe looked up at her, tilting his head and reaching out, stroking one of her flattened antennae,

"Are you alright?"

"No, not… not really." she shut her eyes and cringed as he touched her antennae. "I've been feeling sick lately.. and can't sleep at all."

"Uh-oh." He said quietly and moved over to her side, Vist quickly skittering over to the side opposite of him, and put his arm around her shoulders, stroking her cheek with the hand near her face.

"I know what a small part of it is but.. everything else is just worse." Cten opened her eyes, looking at Poe. He looked down at her sadly and hugged her, resting his chin on her head.

"Well… I'm here for you now, at least."

"Thank you.." she shut her eyes leaning against him, one of her arms around Vist. He squeezed her shoulder, holding her close.

"Maybe we should ask Zib about it? He seems to be aspiring to become some sort of amatuer Irken doctor.."

"Only, if you want." Cten shivered slightly. He nuzzled the top of her head and closed his eyes.

"You seem like you could use some rest right now, though.."

"I can't." she said, looking at Vist wearily.

"Maybe I could try to bond with him." He leaned down and suddenly picked her up, something he hadn't been able to do in a long while, "I've taken care of a hatchling before, remember. You're getting some sleep." Cten didn't really respond, since she was out of it by the time he had picked her up, snoozing slightly. Poe smiled slightly down at her, while Vist looked up at him in horror.

"Leave my Mommy alone!" He nearly screamed, and Poe winced,

"Vist, it's alright, your Mommy needs a nap…"

"NO! Don't take her away!"

"She's just going to be in the bedroom--" Vist started wailing. The wailing jolted Cten awake slightly, and she looked down at Vist wearily.

"Honey... want to, want to come and have a nap with me...?" she asked quietly, holding a hand out to him.

"Good idea. Maybe I'll go for a walk, it's been ages since I've seen the light of day." Vist nodded eagerly and managed to clamber up on top of her, clinging to her chest and ignoring Poe for the moment as he started up the stairs, entering the bedroom and setting Cten down on the bed gently. Cten rested her hands over Vist and shut her eyes, already half asleep as Poe set her on the bed.

"Thank you... Poe." she murmered sleepily.

"It's my pleasure." He smiled down at her gently, leaning down and kissing her on the lips before pulling the blanket up, tucking them in. Vist snuggled against her firmly, practically shaking again, and Poe left the room. He found his disguise, which was hidden somewhere  in the living room, putting it on and stepping out hte door, looking up at the sun and taking a deep breath. He smiled, putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the street - stumbling when he passed Zim's base, as a rather loud cry of,

"YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!" issued somewhere from the ground. He looked disturbed, and quickly made his way to where Cten had told him Zib and Enid moved into, walking up to the base and knocking on the door casually. There was a pause and the door was slowly opened by Enid, she stared at him blankly for a while.

"...Daddy!" she semi-squealed, and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Poe laughed and hugged her back tightly, actually picking her up off her feet.

"Glad to see you too, En." He grinned down at her, "I missed you so much.."

"Oh I missed you so much!" she pulled back from him and grinned broadly, "Zib's at work right now though, but, but you can come in and see Ivy and Ragde!" Poe smiled widely and followed her. Ivy and Ragde were in the living room, Ivy playing with some blocks - well more like stacking them together and then knocking them down and proceeding to cackle. She paused from her cackling when she saw the tall Irken for the first time, looking up at him in slight awe. Poe grinned down at his grandaughter, leaning down again,

"Lemme guess, you're Ivy." Ivy tilted her head to the side, but grinned back at him. Sat across the way from Ivy, in other words out of harms way if he was to get hit by a flying block, was Ragde. He was just clutching a blanket which was semi-wrapped around him. His antennae perked up as he heard the door open, but his eyes were wide in awe (possibly fear too) as he looked up at Poe. He squeaked. Ivy giggled as Poe scruffed her hair, then took off his wig and contacts, figuring they'd do better to see his true form. That turned out to be a bad idea, as as soon as his antennae fell down, Ivy was entranced by them, batting at them like a kitten would a string. He quickly folded them over the shoulder furthest away from her, since Enid had been inclined to do the same thing and generally would bite soon afterwards. He looked over at Radge and held out his hand, determined not to have another hatchling shy away from him today,

"Hey, Ragde… I'm your grandfather." Ragde shied back slightly as he saw how big Poe's antennae were, but he blinked a few times as Poe held his hand out to him. The small smeet then leant forward, kind of sensing this tall black eyed Irken isn't going to hurt him and smiled. He giggled slightly, reaching up and grabbed onto Poe's hand. Enid crouched down on the ground, smiling broadly.

"Aw, they both like you." she said. Poe relaxed, smiling warmly at Ragde. Ivy of course got jealous and crawled over to the side where Poe's antennae were, yoinking on the tip and causing him to fall back out of his kneeling position. He blinked blankly at the smeet's strength, but laughed it off when she clung to his other hand possessively.

"I guess they do." He grinned slightly, then slumped a bit, "That makes two hatchlings that do, at least…"

"Lemme guess, Vist had problems?" Enid asked quietly as Ragde hugged Poe's hand and made a slight 'purring' sound.

"Yeah. He doesn't even want to be near me and started screaming when I helped Cten to bed." He glanced down at the ground. "I'm not so sure she's fine herself…"

"What's wrong with Mom?" she looked at him with a slight alarmed look. "Is she sick?"

"She might be." He said quietly, folding his antennae back and scritching Ivy and Ragde's respective cheeks with his thumbs, "Or… she's pregnant again… She said all the symptoms were worse than the last time thoughs… I think all the stress is getting to her."

"With Vist I don't blame her." Enid muttered, glancing away. "He never gives her any moments to herself, never lets her out of his sight and if any of us dare touch him he has a screaming fit." she sighed, supporting her head with her hands. "I think she's stressed out far too much, and if she is pregnant again that wouldn't help."

"Don't remind me," he mumbled, looking guilty. "If I was in my right mind at the time I never would have… well." He scratched the side of his head. "She's too attached to Vist to try and wean him off of clutching to her, too. He's at the age where he should be becoming more independant.."

"Yeah I mean I was clingy to you but I stopped around his age…" she sighed, shaking her head. "Poor little guy won't know what's going on, he wants Mom all to himself and when the new smeet arrives…" Enid shuddered at the image.

"I don't know what to do for him either.. maybe he'll get use to me. Maybe this is just a phase.." He shook his head slightly. "But… anyway. These guys seem to be doing fine, at least." He smiled down at his grandchildren.

"Oh yeah, Ivy's full of life all the time. It's hard to settle her down for naps and all. Ragde though, no arguements from him." she leant over and smoothed Ragde's antennae, he smiled up at his Mom before smiling at Poe again.

"You're not having any trouble handling them by yourself during the day, are you?" He glanced over at her, "I'd offer to help, but I might have my hands full with hatchlings myself soon…"

"Oh I'm fine." Enid smiled, "I seem to have gotten Mom's mothering skills down pat."

"That's good." He smiled slightly, then arched an eyeridge critically, "Zib does help, doesn't he?"

"Ah Daddy." she smirked, "Course he helps out. He'd be in deep dookie if he didn't. Ivy likes him more anyway."

"Good." He grinned slightly, "I accept him and everything, but I'm always going to be protective." He tried to pull his hand away from his grandaughter to get a better look at her, to no avail. "Huh… she reminds me of you at this age."

"Heh, yeah I know..." Enid managed to lean down and tear Ivy off from Poe's hand and held her out to him. "She's a lot like you and Zim as well, it's a nasty combination sometimes. For Ragde that is." she glanced down at him.

"I can imagine," he murmured, taking Ivy under her arms and holding her up to his face. She blinked her odd, Zib-like eyes at him, and he grinned at her.

"Ooooh…" she stared in admiration at his teeth.

"Aw, Ivy. You should be nice to your brother… You're the first one in the whole family to actually have a full one."

"And possibly first Irken to have a twin. Even if she's 1/4 human." Enid replied, scooping Ragde into her arms. Ivy scrunched up the area where her nose would be in response, and Poe chuckled, poking said area with the tip of his claw. She grabbed onto his finger with her own tiny claws and stuffed it into her mouth, and he started to recoil, thinking he'd be bit, but she started sucking instead. Poe looked blank.

"Um, Enid… what's she doing?"

"She… she likes to suck on our claws now and then. Her and Ragde." she glanced down at her son who was starting to do the same with her thumb. "Zib says it's because human babies suckle milk from their Mother's breasts, and from then they can use dummies as a way to relax them. Weird I know."

"Oh. Well… sorry to interrupt you, Ivy, but I probably shouldn't stay too long. I don't want to leave Cten and Vist alone, especially when Cten's in this condition." He gently set Ivy down and removed his claw, "I just wanted to see how things were going."

"Well you're welcome here anytime Daddy, you know that." Enid smiled, "And bring Mom and Vist next time. We have to keep trying to get at that little guy." Poe nodded.

"I'll try, but it might be hard to get him to go along with it. And I don't want to put Cten through too much right now. I'll be sure to come by sometime soon, though." He nodded, waved to his daughter and grandchildren, and headed back into the kitchen.

[The End]