A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews! And yes, you knew it was coming, sooner or later…

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Chapter 6

"You Knew it was Coming!"

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Dib thanked his father for buying him a car. He hadn't used it much because he was a bit of an environmentalist these days, and why drive when he could ride the bus for free or walk to school on a clear, sunny day?

Now it was necessary. Zim was lying in the front seat beside him, his head virtually in Dib's lap. Dib wanted to throw something over Zim's face so he wouldn't have to look at him, but he needed to keep a constant vigil in case Zim woke up on the way to the base.

He didn't want to be mean, not even to Zim, who made it a profession to be hateful, but he was very tempted to kick Zim when he was down, simply to get retribution for all the strife the stupid alien had caused in the past. But Dib stilled his hand, and despite the fact that he didn't want to look at Zim (for so many reasons) he found himself gazing at him with concern…and running over someone's garbage cans in the process.

"He he he," Dib laughed to himself. It was a harmless hit and run. Though, Dib could see a mental image of some old man in his robe getting really mad when he went to get his morning paper.

Dib finally made it to the base, and making sure the coast was clear, from human eyes that is, he took Zim in his arms and entered the base, which was not locked by the way. Gir was probably the cause of that. The robot was doing something in the kitchen and a very odd odor came his way. Dib wasn't about to ask any questions because he had work to do, and luckily for him, Gir had decided to ignore the intruder.

Dib tossed Zim on the sofa a little rougher than he had intended and he let out a soft moan but didn't wake up. Sighing, Dib got out his laptop and found a port in a nearby wall which he used to create a direct link to the base's computer. It wasn't hard to run his own programs on Zim's Irken technology and in ten minutes flat the base was his.

Dib wondered why he hadn't done this years ago, but as he thought back, Zim always seemed to be home when he chose to invade the Invader's home. Bad timing was not against him now. He tested the computer several times before feeling confident that he was in total control, and he even went as far to let Gir know what was happening.

Gir thought it was nice that he was gaining a new "roommate" as he called Dib. He finished in the kitchen after finally acknowledging Dib was there and he watched his sleeping master with rapt attention.

"Aww, master's sleeping…shusssh," Gir said with great sympathy.

"Yeah, he is," Dib said, not bothering to whisper. "Computer? Take Zim to the uh…" Dib checked on his laptop for the exact name of the medical areas. "….to Level 11, and see what's wrong with him…AND, restrain him!" Dib added with emphasis.

The med-lab was very big as Dib soon found out. He took a separate elevator when the computer took Zim deep into the base, and when he stepped out, the room unfolded before him. It was sickeningly sterile and dimly lit. The middle of the room was occupied by hospital-like beds, these being less bulky than human ones, and in the upper part of them were indentations for the pak.

Dib figured that all these beds meant that the base could, or was supposed to support a large amount of soldiers…why did Zim need all this space, or was it just the standard base design? Ah, Dib was getting distracted with his own questions. Getting back on track now…

One wall was reserved for stasis pods to be used in extreme cases of injury. Each pod was lit from above with a dull blue glow. Another wall housed the computer terminals and the other walls had doors that led to private rooms. Dib peeked into a few of these, but they weren't as cozy as he thought private hospital rooms would be. He imagined Zim being badly hurt, not sadistically, but wondering if the alien had ever used one of these pods before.

Dib had ignored Zim until now. He was strapped to one of the main room's beds, completely surrounded by empty beds and an even emptier room. Dib sat on a bed and watched as a pivoting computer screen compiled the results of Zim's scan. Dib held the corner of the screen in one hand while the other was nervously occupied with one-handed-knuckle-cracking. He was already reading the diagnosis, in English of course, before the computer declared that the tests were over.

Most of the words were complete gibberish to Dib, even though they were in English, but he kept reading and brooding over little graphic pictures of Zim's gooey guts. If Dib hadn't been squeamish before, he was now.

"So, that's a squeedily-spooch," Dib said out loud. He looked at Zim and tried to imagine it in his body, but he shook it out of his mind and continued to read.

Now, imagine a scenario in your magnificent brain. Dib is sitting on a hospital bed reviewing Zim's medical report. Dib's clueless. He doesn't remember asking Zim if he was pregnant…ha! If only Dib knew how right he was, and how wrong Zim had been in the bathroom.

Zim was pregnant! Exactly one month, two weeks, and four days pregnant! He was full of Dib's genetic stuff! Dib only had a moment of ignorant bliss before he read the last few lines of the report. The words didn't register at first because they weren't how a human doctor would deliver the information. Congratulations, you're going to have a baby! No, it wasn't like that. Dib re-read the suspicious lines again aloud.

"Presence of zygotic residence, resulting from the union of a primary ovum and a secondary spermatozoon. Genetic spermatozoon…wait, sperm, that means sperm! Uh, genetic sperm reads physically anomalous with host base." Dib didn't know what that really mean, but he finished, "Host base is not rejecting anomalous union, zygote rapidly forming, embryogenesis in progress. Maturation expected in approximately fourteen to fifteen months."

Dib read it again. And again. And again. What did this mean? He saw sperm, ovum, and "embryogenesis," but he quickly reduced that to embryo. Maturation? The maturation of an embryo as the result of a sperm and ovum…

"OH MY GOD!!!" Dib screamed and leapt off the table, smacking the pivoting screen away from him like it was covered in an incurable disease. He kept his eyes on Zim as he was irretrievably pulled but pushed away from his green body…his pregnant body.

"PREGNANT!" Dib pointed accusingly at the alien. "YOU'RE PREGNANT??? COMPUTER WAKE ZIM UP NOW! HOW ARE YOU PREGNANT ZIM HUH HUH??? HOW, ZIM, HOW?" Dib was shaking, his hands were cold, and he almost couldn't control the urge to kill Zim or beat him till his little green face was black with bruises. The computer listened to Dib's command and injected a small but safe amount of something into his veins. Dib stood beside the bed now and watched the clear liquid empty into Zim. He just couldn't think. Did Zim even know?

"No," Dib gritted his teeth, "because he's so goddamned fucking stupid!" Zim seemed to be coming around, and the first thing Dib wanted him to see was his captor's angry face, because frankly, Dib was so angry and confused that he couldn't see himself. Someone had to remember this rage and this wonderful moment. Oh yes, it was wonderful in the most sarcastic way.

This was all Professor Membrane's fault. "I'm going to kill him next," Dib spat in reference to his father. He knew that the thing in Zim's…uterus? well wherever the thing is, it was his thing! He had gotten Zim pregnant. Dib closed his eyes and saw that scene again. Zim was under him taking the pleasure of sex but bearing the pain of virginity, and since Zim had been a virgin, there was no way it was someone else's baby…or maybe Zim had slept with someone afterwards?

No, Zim would never do that, Dib mused, He hates humans and besides, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to randomly pick someone to sleep with. Oh God I'm debating Zim's principles now. For all I know, that day at school turned him into a slut or a sex fiend or something!!! But, this is my baby…Zim wouldn't do that…It's ours…a mutant, freakish alien human baby…

Dib finished his thoughts just as Zim opened his eyes. They were clear and instantly focused on Dib, who had lost the hateful glare in turn for sadness and regret. Dib believed that Zim had no clue that he was pregnant, and now he had to be told the "good" news, plus he had to be told that the base was no longer his. Great, Dib thought, just fucking great.

"Dib!" Zim spat after having looked suspiciously at his surroundings. "Computer! Release me at once," he ordered immediately, but the computer did not respond, even with a beep or some other kind of computery type noise. "Computer?" Zim questioned, his voice laced with concern. "Computer?" he asked once more, but this time, his red eyes were latched onto Dib's and they couldn't let go.

"The computer won't listen Zim," Dib finally explained in an unusually soft voice. Zim was breathing heavily and Dib became momentarily distracted by the rise and fall of his chest, but most of all, Dib was surprised by Zim's silence. Dib guessed that Zim knew something had happened while he was out.

"I suppose it won't," Zim consented calmly as his breath evened out. He added with obvious contempt, "You know, Dib, I can't remember a time that I've woken up and you weren't there, or that I was tied down. Explain yourself."

"I think you know what's happened Zim."

"Do I?" Zim looked at the ceiling to distract himself from Dib's strangely sympathetic voice and his face which had somehow elicited an allure Zim didn't understand.

"I do," Zim consented. "So, congratulations Dib. Of course, you had to do it when I was unconscious and feeling my worst, but that's how I would have done it. Actually," he continued, "you have your father to thank for making that noxious stuff. Without it you would have never had me or my base."

"Yeah, I need to thank my father for a lot of stuff." Oh the irony, Dib thought. Zim turned his vision back to Dib. Zim was thinking that this was going to truly be the end. Dib obviously didn't have the courage to expose him in his own home, so he was going to do it in his base. He didn't mind really. He wasn't an Invader anymore, and so this would be his fitting end. A failure to the last. Dib, on the other hand, was thinking the exact opposite. He had to admit to himself that he didn't want to turn Zim in, and now he definitely couldn't because the alien was carrying a baby…his baby!

"What now, Dib-human?"

"Nothing right now, Zim. Computer, release Zim." The bonds around Zim's ankles and wrists vanished and Zim was left stunned. He sat up, swinging his legs off the side to hop off the bed, but he stopped when Dib sat opposite him.

"Stay, Zim," Dib ordered. Zim obeyed, only because he didn't want to be strapped down again. He wished he had his spider legs, but Dib had those too (Well, technically Gaz owns them now!). Right now he would patiently listen to the human and whatever nonsense he had to stay.

"Zim, I need to tell you something."

"Yes, Dib, I already know. You've taken over my base and captured me, you don't have to rub it in!" Zim crossed his arms and puffed up angrily. It was actually quite cute.

"No, not that. Um, I don't know how to stay this, but," Dib grabbed the abused computer screen and read some of the diagnosis to Zim. Dib explained what it possibly meant, but Zim didn't seem to be listening because he was looking away, yet Dib saw his face change from anger to thoughtful. He slowly turned to Dib, his eyes scrunched in confusion. Zim shook off the look and seized the computer screen from Dib. He had to read it again before he shoved it back into Dib's hands to calmly resume his former and more comfortable anger.

"Well?" Dib simply questioned. Zim refused to answer verbally, so he pouted and sulked. "Zim, do you understand what this means? You're pregnant, with a baby! My baby too…I wish you would say something. Don't you care that you're going to carry this around for over a year? God, human women only have to go nine months, but can you handle—"

"I'm not going to handle anything, Dib!" Zim spat. "Do you honestly think I'm going to do this?" Zim hopped off the bed and stood in front of his enemy. He poked Dib's chest to emphasize his demand. "I want you to abort this abomination!" Zim added another painful jab to finish. Dib swatted his hand away and frowned.

"I'm not going to do that Zim. You see, I value life and I don't care if the baby is an abomination, you're going to have it."

"You can't make me do this Dib," Zim unexpectedly pleaded.

"I can! I'll make the base keep you here. You can have the baby—" Dib suddenly got a brilliant idea, one that would both guarantee the safety of his baby and his planet. He had fourteen, maybe fifteen months, plenty of time. It would work. Dib walked to a nearby computer panel and quietly observed it. He curiously looked around the room to re-estimate its vast size, and then his eyes wandered back to Zim, who was too small for this room, or most rooms.

"Ok, I'll make a deal with you Zim." Zim simply listened.

Dib smiled. "You have the baby, and I'll return the base."

"That's stupid Dib-human," Zim retorted. "You're going to force me anyway, so what does that mean to me?"

"It just means what it means. We need to make this as pleasant as possible, for my sanity and for the baby's health…and yours! If you know you'll get the base back, then this won't be so bad, maybe, and when you have the baby, I promise I'll be out of here."

"You know I don't believe you, human...but what about the baby?"

"I get the baby." Dib had barely said the words before the most inexplicable look crossed Zim's face. It wasn't anger, but it was something fiercely akin to Zim's passionate rage. Dib had seen it many times, but it faded too quickly before Dib could decipher its meaning.

Dib doubted Zim's verbal response immediately. Zim's voice should have been full of spite and contempt when he expressed his feelings, but when he said "I don't care about the baby," his words were hollow. Dib felt that the previous, inexplicable emotion had drained something from Zim, body and soul.

Sighing, Dib could only imagine how hard the next several months were going to be.

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