Chapter 3

Ritz groaned, groggily rising to a sitting position. She opened her eyes slowly, painfully, to decipher which lab she was in. But she was met only with a dull gray cloud-fuzzy blur. Something slightly scratchy was attached to her face, covering her eyes. She touched it lightly, wincing. Gauze. She peeled it off, scrunching her eyes tightly against the barrage of artificial light.

Something shifted to her left. A large weight pressed down beside her on the bed. She braced herself to prevent tumbling toward it, turning her face to make out what it was. It was slim and tall, dwarfing her petite form, but was human-like from what she could see of the shadow-blur figure. She moved back involuntarily as it reached toward her. Cramming her eyes shut, she bit her lip, awaiting the painful jab of another syringe.

But nothing sharp was pressed into her arm or neck, just a light touch at her cheek. A fingertip tracing her jaw. Eith? She reopened her eyes, trying to pinpoint any distinguishable characteristics the form possessed. She ran her hands through the long hair, comparing its texture with Eith's forest green waves. Nope. These tresses were longer than Eith's, falling onto the bed like satin, and perfectly straight. Dementia's hair didn't even reach her shoulders, but this had a similar feel. She moved her hands to the face, slowly tracing the features, hoping that whoever it was would stay placate.

Nothing she recognized. Large hands reached for her face once again, turning it this way and that, thumbs gently prodding her damaged eyes. Examining them. Ritz realized who it was suddenly, eyes widening.

"Its you. They must have let you out of the tank. How long have you been out?"

"Two days." It looked surprised to hear her speak. Having never before heard a female voice, it marveled at the softness and gentile tone.

"What's your name?" Ritz inquired softly, herself marveling at the sexless voice.

"They call me 'number four'."

"That's not a name, just a heartless identification. What would you like to be called?"

"I don't know, what do you base a 'name' on?"

"Something you like, admire. Or, in Eith's case, a typo of the word 'with'..." She smiled to herself, remembering Eith telling her what he wanted his name to be. After many minutes fiddling with a keyboard he decided upon 'eith', saying he liked how it sounded and looked. She had looked at him oddly until he commented on her own name. I like it! She had retorted. It sounds fancy. Like a sophisticated restaurant.

She returned to the clone beside her, giving it a hopeful smile. It looked down at her strangely, sadly.

"Yesterday they brought you in here. Your eyes were shedding water. What is it called? That feeling you were expressing."

Ritz looked at the floor. What was she feeling? She didn't recall, really. But assuming it was like the many other times she was dragged into a lab, probably...pain. Hate. Sadness. What word could plausibly sum it all up...?

"Remorse." She said finally. She was ashamed of her life. A living plaything. Guilty of so many twisted deeds. Regretful of her loyalties...

"Remorse. That will be my name." It said, standing up. "Because I want to be reminded always of what I will not tolerate."

Ritz looked up at Remorse sadly. "I'm afraid it can't be helped when you belong to this nightmarish institution. And we do. Belong. To them."

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Zim lay in bed, Gaz's head resting on his shoulder in a blissful slumber. He looked down at her serene face, marveling at the amount of sleep the earthlings required. Unconsciously he ran a hand through her violet locks, watching the silken strands slide through his fingers. He rolled onto his side, smiling as she subconsciously curled against him, long hair tumbling into her pretty face. He wrapped an arm around her small, warm figure, pulling feather-soft tresses away from her face. He kissed her dimly rosy cheek lightly, and looked out the window. Dimming stars sparkled almost indistinguishably against the rapidly brightening sky.

He pulled Gaz closer, frowning. It would never be permitted. An inter-species relationship. He could never bring her back to Irk. And he could never leave without her....

She moved slightly, and he looked down at her. Slowly, she opened her eyes, focusing on his face. Hoisting herself to her elbows, she kissed his shoulder, concerned. "You're moving a lot. What's wrong, can't sleep?"

He raised his chin solemnly. "Sleep is not so vital to my superior body as it is to yours..."

Gaz rolled her eyes, but laid back down in near-contentment. "You don't always move around so much, though. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"...Stuff..."

"What KIND of stuff?" Her interested look had now been replaced by a more threatening one. He grinned, wondering how far exactly he'd have to annoy her until she was screaming and pummeling him with pillows, inevitably waking up Dib.

She looked exhausted, however. He decided not to anger her this time. "Us." He said quietly, looking out the window again.

"Oh." She followed his gaze. "What about us were you thinking?"

"Why do you want to know?"

She looked at him absurdly. "Believe it or not, I do happen to be a part of this 'us' you speak of..." She flicked the side of his head. "Tell me."

He looked at her, but didn't say anything. Just brushed the shimmery hair from her face. She mock grimaced, rolling away. "Who are you? What is this strange guy doing in my bed?" She looked at him pretend-crazily. "I don't know this person! He tells me lies, lies..." She rolled off the bed dramatically. It brought a smile to his face, and he slid over to peer at her over the edge of the bed. She grinned and looked around the room wildly. "Where is my boyfriend? I could really use a hug, and arms to pick me up. And...and...someone to tell me certain 'stuff'...so I can go back to being sane and sleep happy...." She pouted, quite cutely, staring at the ceiling.

"OK. Pitiful human..." he play-criticized, lifting her from the floor. He placed her on the bed and leaned over her. "I'll tell you."

She looked at him with a new interest. "Oh, there you are, Zim." That said, she crossed her arms, and fixed the alien with a penetrating glance. "Well..."

He looked away for a second, then directly into her eyes. "Gaz, there's something really important that I have to tell you...I'm..."

"You're..."

"I'm..."

"Pregnant."

He almost lost his balance, face faltering. "..I...I'm...wait...What?!" He looked horrified. Gaz cracked up, stifling her cackling with a pillow. She removed it after a few moments to look up at him, only to fall into another fit of giggles.

A few minutes and one increasingly annoyed Zim later, she stopped, wiping the tears from her eyes. She rubbed them, then opened them wide, grimacing. "Sorry..I...I must be even more tired than I thought." She clasped his hands in hers. "Ok. I'm ready. What is it?"

"I'm..." he eyed her suspiciously, but her expression remained straight. "I'm curious about our future, that's all."

"Why? Do you like someone else?" her voice was suddenly strained.

"What? NO! I was just talking about the acceptance factor. Of us. Of possible offspring....You know that we'd never be able to let anyone know about us...without consequences."

She curled a lock of hair around a finger, pensively. "Dib knows. Mom and Dad know. Are you saying you wish they didn't?"

He thought about it for a while. "No. I mean...I'm glad THEY know. But your entire race, as well as mine. It's forbidden, I'm positive."

"I'm sure it is. But they have no need to know. Really, do you care what a bunch of shallow jerks think?"

A small smile played across his lips. "I...guess not."

"Good." She returned the smile. "Not about that offspring issue..."

"Gaz, are you saying...?"

"Nope. But I would like to know precisely what you think of the idea. In a couple of years, of course..."

"Of course..." he grinned, leaning down to give her a kiss.

THUMP!

They both turned to the door as something collided with it.

"Heh heh. Ooops...."

"Dib! You did that on purpose!" Gaz shouted at her sibling, annoyed.

"Hey! It's WAY past smooch-hours Gaz!"

Zim and Gaz looked at the nightstand clock. 10:30 AM.

"And if you two aren't ready in half an hour I'm leaving without you!" he thudded away, dragging whatever must have collided with the door, presumably a snowboard.

"To be continued..." Gaz smiled, tapping Zim's chin and getting up. He groaned, but followed suit.

"What's going on today?" he asked.

"You're going to learn how to snowboard whether you like it or not."

"What's a snowboard?"

Gaz just grinned.

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Muahahah! =remembers her own run in with a snowboard= This could get..interesting... :)

Yay. Expect more Dementia in the next chapter, and more Dib. Duh duh duh! What could I possibly be hinting at...? =blank face= Nothin'.... :P