O! Reviews. I love reviews. You guys are great. I want this to be a fun fic for you all and not too heavy on the angst, thought it might seem that way in this chapter. Here's another chapter, finally!

Chapter 7

"Me and My Suitcase"

The sky was a lovely shade of blue. Not even a wisp of a cloud marred the vast, sunny dome of heaven. Everyone enjoyed Saturday's gorgeous weather while they could, for rain was predicted in the coming week. Little children played in the park and old ladies threw bread crumbs to the ducks in the pond.

Eden itself could not hold a mirror to the beauty of this particular Saturday.

Of course, this was all outside. The interiors of some places were far from heaven.

One might call Zim's house the mouth of hell for all the gloom and hatred that festered inside the bowels of the residence. Wait, I must correct myself. It's no longer Zim's base…it's Dib's. For once in his life, Zim wanted to go outside and escape the stifling atmosphere of his former home, but he was a literal prisoner, and all he could do was look out a window to the world he had once hoped to conquer. The windows were one-sided, so no outsider could see Zim's alien face, but it had been one week since his imprisonment and he longed for any contact besides Dib's constant presence.

Zim had to give Dib credit though. He had captured him fair and square. Zim's pride would never admit this openly, but it was true, and all the while the back of his brain yelled that he was no longer an Invader, so it didn't matter. The situation was what it was. Dib tried to make Zim comfortable in his new position, but Zim was going to make sure Dib was miserable in return. He hadn't quite figured out a plan to set this in motion, but Zim was confident that the pregnancy would cause problems on its own.

Of course, the problems were aimed at Zim himself. He was vomiting at least twice a day now, but that didn't stop his plans of DOOM!

Still, Zim didn't know how he had gotten pregnant…well…he knew how, but he didn't know how his body could carry a baby when all Irken soldiers were supposed to be sterile. Several tests by the computer showed no anomalous mutations in his squeedily-spooch; though it did reveal a healthy, but very under-developed embryo in Zim's "uterus," which had no Irken name…yet. Dib also made sure that the baby was his, which it was, to both his relief and chagrin. He was paradoxically torn between the little creature growing in Zim's belly. Would he accept it when it was born? What if it was deformed? What if it didn't carry to term? What if this abnormal pregnancy killed Zim?

There were too many questions this early in the pregnancy and Dib had too many things to do. First he had to make sure Zim had no access to any vital parts of his base. He allowed him to access necessary rooms for bodily functions, hygiene, and sleep. Several rooms satisfied this purpose, but instead of limiting Zim one of each room, Dib gave him a few so he wouldn't get cabin-fever. For the most part, Zim stayed out of his way, and he actually hadn't been in his physical presence for six whole days now. Zim lurked in the shadows with Gir as his companion, who was no threat and he latched onto both Dib and Zim like a mindless puppy; he was with Zim most of the time, absolutely clueless to his master's situation and mood.

The next phase of Dib's plan for the base was simple. He had told Zim the truth—

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

Zim would get his base back, but it would be a severely depleted base. Over the years, Dib had learned some aspects of the base's physical structure. Some information was useless at the time, but one particular piece of useless data was now vital to his plan. The base, in its first stage, resembled a screw. It utilized a rapid building technology Dib didn't understand, but he soon found out that each level of the base, and sections within those levels, could be compacted into those first-stage screw structures.

Dib planned to steal the base little by little, and Zim would never know until then.

He would be baseless and baby-less. Dib knew that sounded bad, but it was for the good of the earth. Zim, with a baby? There was no telling what the alien would do with a child. He would either kill it or train it to be his evil minion, but that's not considering the abortion Zim wanted. He had demanded another abortion earlier that week, but Dib refused and said it was punishment for being an evil alien invader. Zim huffed and left the med-lab to sulk in his room.

Dib could imagine Zim doing worse things than sulk, and he wondered why the alien hadn't thrown an angry tantrum at least once.

Now he was simply staring through the window as Gir watched TV from the big red sofa. One of the kitchen chairs sufficed for Zim's viewing seat. Dib had watched him drag it from the kitchen via a monitor deep in the base. Hopefully he would spend the day silently moping around the house, but he knew Zim would not be quiet for long.

How do you juggle an alien and school? Not very well in Dib's case. Even though Dib had faith in his newly programmed base, he spent each day in school with paranoia chewing on his brain. Zim was locked up tight, but he could never completely assure himself Zim would be there when he checked in.

No one at school asked where Zim had gone, but Dib made an excuse with the computer's help.

Zim and his parents now lived in the far-off and mysterious state of Florida, where the oranges graze in the pasture, and creatures known only as "old people" scare kids with stories of the good old days…

In reality, Zim was going crazy. Dib visited every morning before going to school, and he came home every afternoon to spend the evening in his base, perfecting his base-stealing procedure. Then he would leave and the cycle would start again the next day.

One month had passed slowly in this manner before it wore on both alien and human.

Dib couldn't stand the strain anymore. He had to choose.

"Dad?" Dib asked nervously. Professor Membrane was in his own lab poking something that looked vaguely like a moldy piece of toast.

"Yes, son, what is it?" he replied undistracted.

Dib took a deep breath, "I have to tell you something dad, and I know you won't like it, and well, I don't like it either, but it's for the best. You see, I've decided to quit school to do my own scientific research, kinda like an independent experiment, but it takes up too much time and it's very, very, very important, but the other thing is…well…I plan to move out of the house and live with a friend, who has all the necessary equipment for my research. So, uh, I might need some money, maybe a monthly allowance so I can live by myself. I know Gaz won't mind, but I want your permission, even though I'm seventeen and I can legally drop out anyway." Dib abruptly stopped his speech. His father continued to send electricity through the toast-thing.

"Ah yes," Membrane said, "independent research, it's a beautiful thing." He put down his tools and turned to his son to proudly put his hand on his shoulder. "I've been waiting for this day for years. Of course you can quit school. I've never had much faith in the public system and you're such a genius that I have faith you'll do just fine. I'll give you your monthly stipend, so long as you inform me of your research."

Dib was stunned. "Really, you'll let me do it?"

"Yes, yes. I'm intrigued by this thing that pulled you into the scientific community and away from your…para-science. Tell me, son, what is it you'll be working on?"

"Uh, oh, well, give me a few days to properly put it in writing. I'm sure you'll like it."

Membrane chuckled. "I'm sure. Now, get packing and have fun, and here," Membrane went to his desk and returned a moment later with a card. He gave it do Dib, who took it excitedly.

God bless the credit card.

That was easier than he had thought. He said goodbye to his father and left the address of his new residence, and then immediately packed what he needed and loaded it into his car. He didn't forget the handy card with a massive credit limit of $500,000. Dib reasoned that it must be one of his father's extra government-issued credit cards used solely for research.

It was in good hands now!

Dib found Gaz and told her the good news, and she actually helped him pack his crap in the car, but only because he would be leaving; he spoiled her hopes when he said it would only be for little over a year.

"Why are you leaving anyway?" she asked curiously.

"I guess I should tell you," Dib said as he shut the trunk of his car. He opened the front door and got in. Gaz leaned on the open door to hear the response. "You remember the pesticide incident?"

Gaz blushed a little, "Yeah, so?"

"Well, uh, Zim and I happened to be near each other and one thing led to another and now he's pregnant." Dib laughed nervously, and Gaz's eyes bulged.

"You mean, you and Zim had sex and now he's pregnant with your baby?" Dib nodded. "So that means I'll be an aunt." Dib nodded again and swung his legs into the car. Gaz shut the door and the siblings parted on good terms. Gaz couldn't believe she was going to be an aunt to an alien baby thing. It seemed too freakishly good to be true.

Dib parked on the cul-de-sac and made a mental note to somehow squeeze a garage in Zim's tiny lot. The car would be fine on the street for now. He unloaded his large suitcases, two in all, and hauled them to the front door where he put in his voice code to gain entrance to the base. He immediately inquired about Zim's location. The computer said he was sleeping in one of his rooms.

"How are his levels?" Dib asked, referring to the various systems monitoring Zim at all times.

"All levels are stable and healthy. A steady increase in two hormones has been detected, however."

"What hormones?" Dib said as he grabbed a soda from the fridge.

"Lethrogen-32 and Sesticine." Dib stopped mid sip. Okay, those are definitely not human hormones, he thought.

"Uh, okay, what do those do….in Zim's body? Be specific." he said. Gir decided to appear that very moment to join Dib at the kitchen table.

"Hellooooo Dib!" he greeted. Gir threw his crayons on the table and proceeded to draw something terribly inconceivable to the human mind.

"Yeah, hi Gir. Computer?"

"Lethrogene-32 exclusively regulates the growth in the embryo. The spike in this hormone indicates the embryo is growing steadily and rapidly."

"And the other one?" Dib asked.

"Sesticine is a hormone that regulates emotions and moods. The spike in this hormone indicates that Zim is going to get really bitchy." The computer cleared its throat. "I mean, uh, he's going to be emotionally unstable." Dib suddenly got a headache.

"Thanks, computer."

"You're welcome."

Emotionally unstable? Dib thought. Hmm, Zim is pregnant, so I should have expected something like this…wonder when it's going to kick in…NO! Don't think things like that Dib, you'll just jinx yourself…

"Lookit Dib!" Gir held up his picture for a moment. Dib absently nodded at it and gave Gir a moderately interested smile which Gir took to be positive criticism. He put his picture on the fridge via a little carrot shaped magnet, and he quickly disappeared into the bowels of the base. Dib sighed and contemplated his next moves.

"I guess I should write something to dad," he said aloud, referring to the statement of "research" he planned to do at the base. He figured it shouldn't be too hard to find something scientific to do around here; he could get the base to pick a human ill and that would be his research for the year, even though it would probably only take like two minutes to solve.

The base's deconstruction was coming along nicely, so other than that, the only thing Dib had to deal with was Zim. He had seen him three days ago, and he didn't look so bad for a pregnant person. Zim wasn't showing yet, even though he was over two months pregnant, but with the nearly fifteen month gestation period, he might not look so for a while. All Dib could do now was wait and take in the computer's daily vital reports, hoping beyond hope that everything would play out smoothly.

Dib had just jinxed himself.

Zim decided to show at that moment. He came through the elevator in the living room and he immediately gave Dib a cold shoulder. Refusing to reply to Dib's hello, Zim took a drink from the fridge and casually walked to the sofa. Now was probably the best time to tell Zim the good news, so he entered Zim's personal space by sitting on the sofa at a comfortable distance.

"How are you feeling?" Dib asked.

Zim snorted. "Hungry, no thanks to you, human." Zim took a sip of his drink and turned on the TV.

"Hungry? Well, there's plenty of food in the kitchen so just help yourself."

"I don't want any of that disgusting food, human."

"It's your food!"

"I don't want it anymore, human!" Zim kept his eyes angrily plastered on the TV.

"Quit calling me human."

"I'll call you whatever I please…human."

"Christ Zim, you're so…so…frustrating! What do you want then? What?"

"What are those?" Zim suddenly asked, pointing to Dib's suitcases.

"My suitcases. I quit school and I'm moving in until you have the baby."

Zim was at a loss for words. He looked like he was going to have a heart-attack or a stroke or a seizure. He was hyperventilating and he dropped his soda. Dib panicked and shook the alien's shoulders to rouse him from the fit he was having.

"Zim, don't freak out on me…calm down…come on, we'll go to the store and buy whatever you want to eat, okay? Just breathe, breathe…" Zim was trying to breathe along with Dib's hypnotic chant.

Breathe, breathe, breathe…

"That's it," Dib encouraged with a smile. "Okay, that's better." Dib listened as Zim's hoarse inhalations died to gentle exhales; it was one of the most beautiful sounds he had heard the whole day.

"No," Zim said gruffly. "I can't handle that."

"Yes you can. You'll barely see me. Are you still hungry?" Zim nodded. Dib knew he had successfully distracted Zim. "What do you want to eat then?"

"Something…sweet. Very sweet. I've been craving sugar all day." Zim looked wistfully at his fallen soda. Even its syrupy contents could not satisfy his hunger. Dib ordered the computer to clean up the mess, an act that was a slap in the face to Zim. It only reminded him that Dib was in control of everything.

Now the human was in control of curbing his sweet hunger.