Zim made a frantic trek to Dib's house after he left Squee and Pepito, running as though his very existence was on the line. He skidded to a halt in front of his enemy's house and scanned the premises. What was the best way to gain access to the house? The boy's father appeared to not be home but he could see Gaz through the window watching TV. That made walking through the front door a definite no. How else to get in…His eyes rested on the window of his counter part's bedroom. There seemed to be no movement from within. Good. Zim's spider legs unfolded from his pak and he scaled the wall with ease, only to experience a road block of sorts when he reached the before mentioned window. Count on Dib to be paranoid enough to lock his windows. The irken smiled as a laser his pak contained sliced a neat hole in the glass big enough for him to slide through. As quietly as possible, Zim entered what was considered enemy territory. He glanced around the room, noting the mess of cables and wires spilling across Dib's floor from his computer. The kid had to have every piece of human computer technology available it seemed. Zim smiled again. It figured. Wait…was that his lab on one of those monitors? Still amused, Zim made a mental note to destroy that little camera when he returned to his base. His smile faded, however, when his gaze landed on the human's bed. He could just barely see a certain trademark spike of hair abouve the covers. Red eyes narrowed into mere slits when he confirmed that it was, in fact, the Dib sleeping and not some puppet. SLEEPING while he, Zim, had been…curious… about the humans condition. He couldn't bring himself to admit he had been worried about the inferior being. He moved to poke Dib as hard as he could when the boy's body twitched. The human started to almost writhe. It was as if he were fighting something. Fascinated, the ex-Irken invader watched.

Dib battled against the unconscious state he was in. His mind was yelling at him, trying to convince the boy that this was no time to sleep. Why it wanted Dib up, it couldn't be sure but it knew something was wrong. The boy fought it all the way. Dib did, finally manage to wake up. Unconsciously, he reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses. After he felt them rest on his nose, he opened his eyes. Still suffering the effects of sleep, it took him a minute to fully register what he was seeing; A VERY irate, undisguised, Zim shooting daggers at him with his eyes and tapping his foot. The irken had his arms crossed as well. Dib ignored him a minute. Where was he again? A quick glance around the room confirmed that he was in his room.

"How'd I get here?" He quietly asked, not really talking to Zim. The alien responded anyways.

"What?" Zim all but shrieked. Dib winced as a sharp pain shot through his head. Apparently that was the wrong question to ask. He sat up, giving the alien a nice view of his shirtless, scar riddled chest, and ran his hand through his hair. Still not really talking to Zim he rambled.

"I remember coming home…Dad asked if I wanted to go to work with him. What next? Oh yeah, I changed clothes…" He broke off, staring into space. Zim continued to tap his foot impatiently. He ground his teeth when the human still didn't acknowledge him.

"Well?" He growled, incredibly annoyed. Dib made eye contact.

"Well, what?"

"Where were you today?" Zim inwardly groaned. He sounded like one of those moms on the old TV shows Gir always watched. Dib stared at him like he had grown a second head and looked as if he were ready to spit out some smart aleck response. But the boy's gaze shifted inward and slowly the look of sarcasm melted into one of lost confusion.

"I don't…" When his voice faded, Zim cut in.

"You don't what?" The alien's voice dripped with condescension.

"I don't know, alright?" The boy snapped at him, agitated. "I came home, came up here, changed my clothes, then BAM! Nothing but a frickin' black spot. I have no memory of the past," he looked at his clock and did the math, "shit. Six hours."

Dib glared, frustrated, at Zim and then at the monitors on his desk. The surveillance cameras he had rigged to tape if the boundaries of his room were crossed by someone besides himself had kicked on. Without thinking about it, he checked all entrances to his bedroom. The window. Well, that made sense. He had briefly wondered how Zim got in.

"Hey Zim. You do realize you're being taped right?" The irken blinked at the sudden subject change. Then blinked again before answering.

"So?"

"So? That's all you can say? You're standing, undisguised, in a room chalk full of spy equipment. Can you say 'exposure'?" Zim just stared at him and weighed the odds in his head.

"You wouldn't. You like playing our little game too much to end it now." Dib winced again. Not only from pain this time, but because Zim was right. Huh. Scary thought with even scarier implications. He was saved, blissfully, from having to think too hard about that when the downfall of human civilization flopped down onto his bed next to him.

"You really don't remember today?"

"No, Zim. I really don't." Another wince of pain. Damn. He was feeling the beginnings of a really bad headache. Together the arch nemesis' lay, sprawled, on Dib's bed, mere inches from making contact. Both retreated into their own thoughts as the silence increased. Dib gnawed on his lower lip, trying to come up with a memory, any memory, from the day while Zim, his antennae twitching like mad, tried to guess the cause of the boy's blackout. The glitch, maybe? Hesitantly, he broke the silence in the room.

"Hey. Earth monkey." He paused; waiting for confirmation that Dib was actually listening, then continued when he heard a "hmm?"

"The other day…when I fixed your face. There was something I-" The human cut him off with a quiet sound of pain. Dib rubbed his forehead, face scrunched up.

"Zim. In the bathroom, by the sink, there's a bottle of valium. Can you go grab me a few?"

The alien did and then stood by the bed, watching, as Dib downed three pills with no water. One could knock a human out. Three was borderline overdosing. He came to a startling conclusion.

"You're addicted, aren't you?" Dib's head snapped up, angrily.

"I am NOT. I'm immune is the problem. I mean, come on, with everybody on the planet plus one extraterrestrial trying to kick my ass every time I turn around there have been more than a few occasions I've needed it. Back off." ((Gee, bitter much there Dib?)) Zim looked away and moved to the other side of the room. He felt the guilt worming its way through him. He could take credit for over half of all the scars Dib had. His attention was recaptured by the sound of the human boy stumbling out of bed. He spun, propelling himself across the room via spider legs and caught Dib mid fall.

"What's wrong with you now?" Dib shook his head as if trying to clear it and attempted to steady himself against the Irken.

"I don't know. All of a sudden I got really dizzy and got a massive headache. I can't…see straight. Just really lightheaded and kind of fuzzy." The boy came to a realization and decided to state the obvious.

"I think I have a fever." Heh. How's that for brilliant deductions, Sherlock? Zim moved closer to the shirtless Dib, trying to support the human's weight without falling over. They stood like that, less than two inches between them, for what seemed like an eternity until the pale human shifted and rested his forehead against Zim's. Dib faded fast; succumbing to the fever. When he spoke, his voice came out slow and slightly dreamy and the Irken could see, before Dib closed his eyes, that they were glazed as well.

"You feel nice." The boy moved his hands to touch the bare skin on the alien's face, eyes still closed, enjoying the cool temperature and smooth texture of Zim's skin against his own hot and fevered one. Zim stood, petrified, as Dib's finger tips brushed his cheek.

"Dib!" he managed to squeak. Damnitt. He was not going to blush just because that…that…human touched him. Zim attempted to make Dib focus on him, but when the boy noticed what his supposed enemy was doing, he merely grinned. Then, for the shock value that all fever victims seem to go for; he flicked his tongue across Zim's face, tracing a path from the invader's cheek to the corner of his mouth. The Irken gasped, giving Dib the opportunity he was waiting for; he kissed him. Zim's eyes widened and he stumbled back into the edge of Dib's bed. Before his brain could fully register what was happening, he was pinned under the other boy, returning the kiss and arching his back as Dib's hands pushed up his shirt and slid across his chest. His own hands weren't idle either, as they ran over the scarred flesh on the other's torso then lower to pull on Dib's pants. In response, the human pulled him closer; his mouth leaving a wet trail as he left the alien's to explore the rest of Zim's body. When he reached on Zim where a human's navel would be and started to move even lower, he felt the Irken's finger tips dig into his shoulder and he was pulled up to meet the other's mouth once more. A quiet moan slipped out of Zim's mouth only to be silenced by Dib's. When the kiss broke, the two of them stared at each other, breathing heavily. Zim sighed.

"This is wrong. You're sick and we're 'making out'." Dib's face split into a wide grin and he lowered himself so his mouth was millimeters from Zim's.

"Well, you know. They say you're supposed to sweat out a fever and this is as good a way as-" He broke off, wincing in pain. He then shifted so he was sitting on his bed instead of leaning over Zim and massaged his temples. Zim sat up as well, a look of concern in his eyes.

"Dib? What's-" Then human stiffened in pain. Enemy or not, Zim forced him to lie down but soon after he watched in horror as Dib began to writhe in agony. He could do nothing.

Deep in the bowels of Membrane Labs, the boy's father watched the whole ordeal from Dib's eyes, thanks to the chip he had earlier implanted. His hand released the grip on the activation switch and he smiled. The fun had just begun.