Behind The Tube Glass

By alien freak And Xmimi89eR

story may contain gore/blood/violence/strong language

rating: T

ZaDr/ZaDf


English is my second language, my apologies if there are any mistakes.

disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim.


ATTENTION:

PAK UPPER SECTION IS OPEN.

TAKING ACTION: SHUTTING DOWN ELECTRIC DEFENSES.

SECTION UC2 IS UNDER HANDLY REPAIRING.

999999

Zim sat with a frown on his face at the examination table in Dib's lab. The said lab was nothing compared to his father's but it was still useful. The brown sweater was tossed aside as he sat half-naked on the cold table, not liking it at all.

"Dib, you do r- r- realize that just a small mistake with your clumsy hands might kill me, right?" Zim said, staring at the human who was gathering some equipment, then at nothing as he imagined what might happen.

"Just try to trust me." Dib said, shooting him a glare.

"If I didn't die from your m- m- mistake then I might forget who you are and -d -d kill you." Zim continued his guesses, staring blankly at the wall. "And if I didn't forget about you and k- k- killed you, then I might forget how to speak your language." He said with a flat tone.

"Are you even listening?" The human stopped in the middle of the room. "Remember that day when Gir went crazy?" Dib said while rolling his eyes, he walked to the near table to put his equipment on.

"Yes."

"You were too stubborn to let me help you! It was until you finally trusted me," He folded his arms.

Zim sighed. "I did," He said as he looked back to see the said human. "And I do trust you, it's just- It's like playing with someone else's m- m- mind, do you know how h- h- hard that is?" The alien reasoned. "And lemme guess, you never did a brain surgery?"

"Well, no, but I never did a surgery on an alien in particular, and it did work!" He said, motioning with his hands at the irken's torso. "I'll be careful." Dib said with a soft tone.

Zim sighed. "Hope you do," He said to himself. "Gir!"

The robot came, running on his tinny legs, the disguise made a squeezing sound with every tap he made. "Yeees?"

"Open your head,"

The SIR unit giggled and did as he was told. "Okie Dokie!" Then sat on his master's lap with his metallic head open.

"You'll need Irken technology to work on my PAK." Zim searched inside and started to get some odd-looking tools, one by one came strangely big equipment that Dib wondered how the hell did it fit in there, but he was too used to weird stuff to complain. Then all of the sudden, Zim gasped.

"What?" Dib glanced at him.

"Holy irk, Gir thank you!"

Dib was dumbfounded, Zim doesn't thank anyone, let alone his crazy robot. The boy walked to the other side of the table to see a familiar thing in Zim's hands. "Is that?"

"It's my base!" Zim cheered, his hands wandering around the water-bottle-sized device, a toothy smile played on his lips, he turned around to face the human. "Yes! Now I have another -r -r chance, if I can fix it then it will be e- e- easy to connect someone, maybe even the tallest!"

"Oooh, I thought it was a taco!" Gir giggled. "Tooo bad!"

"You what?-" Zim shook his head. "Thank irk, I have something to work on!" He said studying the human's face. In the far corner, Gir sat there chewing in weird objects... thankfully he was being quiet.

"That's great!" Dib said as he smiled too, hands in the irken's shoulders as he examined the device. He saw as the alien lower the 'base' and straightened himself. "You ready?"

Zim nodded. "Yes." He said, feeling more confident because of his new discovery. He took a deep breath and then, he opened his PAK. The said PAK opened in three sections with a hiss. A shiver ran down Zim's spine as cold air hit the PAK's warmth insides. The four PAK legs came out shaking, they clicked and clacked as Zim tried to hold them in place and not stab the human with them accidentally. After many somewhat painful attempts, they finally settled like wings beside his arms.

Dib's eyes went wide, he took a step back till the sharp PAK legs were in place, when that was done, he finally had the chance to look inside. "Wow..." he whispered, studying everything. It was so fascinating, every little detail about it, every wire, and every odd-looking device inside. The said heir was so in awe, he knew all these little things inside were what keep Zim alive so everything he's going to do must be careful, or else, he might lose the person he started to fall for. And Dib was sure he wasn't ready for this. "Alright, where do I start?" He asked, though he felt like the answer was in front of him.

As he took another examination on the PAK's insides, he saw the devices on the middle are badly injured with some blue of that weird liquid falling down. He could see the metallic legs twitching and threatening him with every move he made, Dib noted that the broken parts damaged the legs' main control chip, no wonder Zim couldn't control it... and God did they look damaged, some were strange than the others; probably broken. And two looked burned.

"Here," Zim handed him a driver-looking tool. "Take the first two s- s- sides out, they're for the legs."

"Right," Dib nodded as he examined the said two parts then looked at the driver. This should be easy, right? Well, maybe not. But he's Dib Membrane and nothing can stop him! Kinda... the boy began to undo and take off the two sides slowly, being as careful as he could. He'd catch frightening movements of the PAK legs from the corner of his eyes, afraid it may kill him. Maybe all this was just a bad idea... but no, first he challenged much scarier things, second he was helping his friend, dear he say crush.

First side came off almost too easily, though some wires were still stuck with its end. Dib tossed it aside on the table and went to get the other side off. This time he had better knowledge of what to do, he took the part off slowly, hearing a click from it then put it on the table beside the irken.

"Okay, they're off." He said, catching the alien's attention again.

Zim has to admit, this was fast. "Now this part might be a bit difficult," He started. "There's a part a bit darker in shade th-th-than the others, do you see it?"

It took a moment for the human to focus his poor sight before he caught the right part. "Yes, I see it." He conforms.

"That's my translator." Zim said, glancing at the human. "You don't have to take it off, there's a button on the side, the blue one. Press it then slid the box to the r-r-right."

Dib began as he was told, his fingers searched for the button before he pressed it. It makes a clicking sound and Dib could feel the box-looking device become a bit lighter and movable. He moves to the right exposing another section of the PAK, this one looks more complicated. The box settles in place with a click.

"Now move the other one, it a-a-almost looks the same with the same size on the left-t-t." Zim said.

Dib looks around for a second. "Which one?" He asks, wanting to be sure before doing anything stupid.

"Eh," Zim tried to remember, he was a bit expert in PAKs but that doesn't mean he will remember all. "It's probably hot in touch."

The boy runs his fingers slowly and carefully on the left side, he draws them back when he feels something warm- hot even. "Found it."

"Be careful not to c-c-cut your fingers, there's a sharp side of it." Zim said.

"Okay, how do I move it?" He asked, covering his hands with his sweater's end.

"Just like the translator, but pull it back, not to the side."

"Okay." The human pressed the blue button and the device came off a bit with difficulty. When Dib looked at the other side of it, he was surprised to find two things: first, there was a fan-looking thing in there, almost like a cooling computer fan. The second thing he noted is the fan moving fast but... smoke coming from it? And the smell was like burning wires. "Hey, is this normal?" He asked.

Zim sighed when he saw the broken-looking fan. "No." He answered. "That's why m-m-my PAK heats up." He mumbled the last part.

"Oh." Dib carefully puts on the table on its back, and almost away from them. "What's next?" He asked but stopped in almost shock when he saw the same blue liquid again, all covering the insides of the PAK. There was a tube-looking device that was broken and technically the one leaking. "Shit..." He whispered.

Zim hissed. "Yeah, that one." He searched for a second to find the right tool. "Here, take it off carefully with this." Zim handed the human the sharp tool. "And don't screw up."

Dib took it in hand and looked at the device. It smelled weird, almost like Gas but with an odd tint to it. He shook his head and started to remove the device, slowly placing his hands on its side.

"Take the two tubes out and immediately block them with this." He handed him what looked like some sort of cover.

"Okay." He did as told and held one tube in hand as his other disconnected it. The blue liquid flowed fast as if it was as thick as water before Dib covers it up. He sighs and does the same with the other one, this time not letting a lot to leak out. After that was done, he resumed taking the device off. It took time but after around ten minutes of wandering his fingers around, the device finally clicked out.

Zim sighed. "Gimme!" He turns around and holds the device from the human. He examined it for a second before calling for his robot. "Gir!"

Gir, who was chewing in which Dib hoped wasn't important, ran to his master. "Yeees?"

Without hesitation, Zim sneaked his hand inside the robot's head and took another tool, this one attached to Gir's head. The alien turned it on and electricity began to heat up the device. "This should close it."

Dib watched in amusement, his eyes would flicker to the alien working then to the exposed PAK. There were a lot of things he didn't have time to examine in the PAK, some things that looked like a motherboard and others that looked more like a small computer, there were also some weapon-looking devices inside. However, the middle section was almost ruined. Burned and broken. The blue liquid was everywhere in the insides. If Dib could take more time to examine it, then he'd say it broke because of pressure from the PAK Legs. He almost sighs when he remembered that it was because of him. Too smart Zim.

"You're PAK is a bit... hot. Is that also normal?" He asked, wanting to fill the silence and also out of curiosity.

"I told you, most of the eh- cooling fans are broken." He answered, eyes glued to task in hand. He was halfway through. "You know," He began. "I only have t-t-ten minutes before I lose consciousness."

"What?"

"If I took my PAK off then I'd have ten minutes to live, but-t-t if I took this out then I'd have ten minutes before I lose c-c-consciousness. After this, I'd only have another-r-r ten minutes before I die." Zim explained. "That's why my PAK is probably heating up m-m-much faster now."

Zim's right, his PAK is heating, Dib could feel it without even touching it. Silence fell on them and Dib couldn't help but put a timer in his watch, just in case.

"Can you fix your- um... voice? Glitching?" Dib asked after a minute.

"It's not that important." Zim answered. "If I got back to irk then it'd be s-s-safer to fix it there."

"Oh." The boy shifted around. "What else do you want to fix?"

The irken went quiet for a second. "Maybe my PAK legs, I dunno." He said, seeming glued to his task. "Just let m-m-me finish this."

Dib sat on the nearby chair and stared in somewhat amusement as he watched the alien work. His eyes would look from Zim to his watch. Almost six minutes left.

"How are you gonna get back to your planet?" He asked, just to fill the silence.

"... I dunno." The alien answered in almost a whisper. "My base is advanced, I'll find a way using it, maybe we could get back to my Voot."

"We?" He echoed. "There's no way you'll be able to get back to my Dad's lab."

Zim shot him a glare. "Do not underestimate me."

To be honest, if Zim actually had the ability to get him out while he was unconscious, then he won't be surprised if the irken was able to get back inside. But it was hard. Just the thought of how complicated that would make Dib's headache even worse.

"Fine then. We'll find a way." He glanced at his watch, three minutes left. "You done yet?" He asked, a bit on his nerves. If the alien lost consciousness then hell he won't be able to fix him. Dib tried shaking the thought away.

"Just a second."

Zim gritted his teeth as blackness seemed to invade his sight and he felt lightheaded. He just needs to close some gaps here and there and he'll be done.

Two minutes passed and Dib was staring at the last minute as it clicked by. "Zim," He called.

The alien didn't respond.

"God, hurry up!" He leaned a bit closer.

"Yes!" Zim cheered up. "Here, plug it back in place."

Dib wasted no time as he got the device from the irken's grab and went to task in hand as fast as possible.

"Just do what y-y-you did before, don't w-w-waist any serum." Zim shifted in place.

"Okay."

It didn't take him that much time and he was finished. Dib sighed in relief. "What is it anyway?" He asked now that he had more time to spare.

"Function serum." Zim answered. "IPFS for short. It's m-m-more like... how do you call it humans? Gasoline but-t-t much important."

"Uh-huh." He gave a glance towards the alien who seemed a bit calm, so Dib put it in his chance. "Now that I think about it, what are you going to eat? I know you're allergic to almost everything."

"Almost. Waffles are g-g-good." He shrugged. "But I'm not sure I can just live on waffles..." Zim started to wonder for a bit, maybe waffles tasted good, but he can't just eat them for irk knows how long till he fixes his Voot and leaves.

Speaking of which...

"You said your illness w-w-were like your... father-unit, right?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah," Dib responded with a forced smile. "Why?"

"If they couldn't f-f-find a cure for the previous Earth leader then-n are sure they'll find one for you?..." His eyes locked with amber that seemed to have lost the shine in them for a second. The alien studied his face.

Dib went quiet for a moment. "...Well, if it's Dale's virus then I don't think they made a cure for it." His voice was low.

"Hm, thought so." Zim stayed quiet making the human swallow. "Of course. Humans w-w-won't be able to fix it on time."

The words made Dib slow his work on making sure the device is secured in place. "Huh?"

"Humans won't be a-a-able to find a cure for you." His face was blank with a hint of concern. Before Dib could pout at the harsh words, Zim spoke again. "But I can." He looked away.

The IPFS was tight in place when Dib decided to actually rethink what the irken just said. "What do you mean?"

Zim's shoulders moved, seeming almost uncomfortable. "If I fixed my base then I'll find a cure for you," He moved to look at the boy again, his ruby eyes hiding a lot of emotions behind. "I can do it. I can fix you better than any human, I won't let them kill you."

Dib was almost shocked, he noted that the alien's voice wasn't glitching, he wasn't sure if it was because the irken was focused on his words or because he messed something up in the PAK. That aside, now he needs to understand what he was told. "You-" Dib blinked. "Really?"

"Of c-c-course."

The boy stared into a blank face for what felt like forever. "That- that would perfect." He finally said in a whisper, a smile sneaked to his lips. "Holy hell, thank you!" Dib hugged the alien tightly for a moment.

Zim stayed blank as he felt the human cling into him, taking his body in an embrace. Something in his mind was clicking. His antennae could pick the human's heart lullaby, it was slow, slower than yesterday. Zim's lips twisted in a frown.

He can't let the human die.

Watches as his mind eats itself and the boy's life with it, slowly, almost unnoticeable, but yet so painful. It just felt right, the human being there was so right to him, he can't imagine what he'd do when he gets back to the massive.

Zim's antennae lowered.

Right. They'll have to separate. Dib will stay on Earth, hopefully healthy. And he'll be back to his tallest to claim back his state. Would they even want him back after what happened? Maybe they'll find out he's a defect...

Zim hugged back so tight it took the human by surprise. He closed his eyes and tried to get all those thoughts away, but irk, they kept coming back.

Maybe he can take the boy with him somehow...

"Zim?" The voice broke him out of his thought. "Can you let go? Your claws kinda hurt." Zim blinked twice, his hands slowly moved away from the human's back, he felt them get removed from the skin with slight blood on their tips.

The alien stared at it.

"I didn't break your PAK, did I?" Dib asked anxiously as he saw the irken's behavior. "Hello?" He waved a hand.

"You humans have w-w-weird things on your heads, I'll never understand." Zim said after a second.

Dib knew the alien dodged his question but didn't say anything about it. "It's called hair." He answered.

"I know what it's c-c-called." Zim's eyes narrowed. "It's just-" He sneaked a hand to snatch the boy's hair. "It's weird. Yours at less."

"Ow-" Dib leaned closer. "I can't help it!"

Zim's expression softened and he let go. He shifted in his place. "Give me my PAK legs, I'll try to fix-x-x them."

Dib drew a hand through his hair. "Okay." He held the PAK leg carefully and put it on the irken's lap.

This shouldn't take long.

999999

Well, maybe he was wrong.

It took the alien hours nonstop to fix only two of his PAK legs.

"Zim," Dib whined tiredly. "Don't you get hungry?"

The alien stopped for a second. "Are you?"

"Well, yes!"

Zim glanced at him, he was about to start fixing his other PAK legs, but maybe the human's right, they need some rest. "Fine." He let go of the metallic leg. "Get back-k-k everything in place and clean the remaining serum."

"Okay, then we'll order something." He stood up and went to task in hand. The 'cooling-fan' was the first thing he got back in place, the translator, then the legs. It took almost two hours to get everything back together.

Zim sighed in almost relief when his PAK was finally closed and secured. It wasn't exactly fixed but at less he won't die because of a stupid leaking of IPFS.

"What do you have in mind? Can you eat pizza?" Dib asked as he searched for his phone in his old jacket, thank god he didn't wash it yet.

Zim shrugged. "What's a pizza?"

"It's just-..." He stopped. "Hey, did you see my phone?"

"That weird m-m-metallic thingy that rings?"

"Eh, yeah?"

Zim stood there for a minute, he thought about it then it clicked. He laughed anxiously. "I might have lost it while picking you up..."

"...Where?"

The alien shrugged. "P-Probably in the lab." He dropped his head by the slightest. "Yeah, sorry."

Dib sighed. "It's okay, I'm just afraid Gaz would call me." well, he had some important stuff on that phone, but his life was better of course.

"Why don't you just g-g-go and take your phone back? You're still the heir-r." He got up from the table and snatched his sweater.

"About that..." Dib frowned his eyebrows. "I have a plan." He gave the alien a determined look.

"Eh?" Zim put the sweater all the way down to his thighs, being careful with his antennae.

"Dale's plan was to kill me if I'm right, so after all the coffee I drank and me disappearing for days will probably give him the thought that I'm either dead or sick." Dib explained. "I want to give him this feeling that I'm gone so he'll start with his next plan."

"And?"

"AND then we'll kill him."

Zim was taken aback by this. "Kill him?" He echoed. The alien wouldn't mind killing someone, but it was weird for the human to say this. This was Dib, maybe he knew him not for so long but if he knew something, then it will be that he'll never hurt someone.

"Maybe I won't, but sure Gaz will, and I don't blame her." He said. Dib watched as the alien leaned closer to him and helped him walk upstairs. "Maybe I will too..." He mumbled the last part.

"What d-d-do you think his next plan is?"

"I don't really know..." Dib replied. Getting upstairs was a bit hard, he noted. It's just the fact that he'll probably doze off if Zim wasn't there. Dib still doesn't exactly know what's this virus doing to his brain, but it seems to be making him... act all drunk as Zim said. This can't be good. It feels as if it was eating his brain off. Destroying it from the inside. First, Dale takes his father down, and now him. This only gives Dib one conclusion.

"Dale's want the throne." He said aloud. Using the word throne so the alien would understand.

Zim sat them both on the couch before answering. "Thought so." He said as if it was something common. "On irk, some invaders tries to take others down because they're taller. If they're caught then they'll immediately be banished."

Something clicked in the alien's head after he spoke.

Dib saw the shocked look on his face. "I told you." He began. "Your mission was good, you've been sabotaged because, as you said, you're taller." He saw as the alien's face twisted.

Shock turned to somewhat anger. "Oh, they wait." He hissed dangerously. "When I get b-b-back I'll walk on them!"

The human sighed. He leaned back on the couch, watching the TV flicker with what he assumed was a horror movie. Or maybe it was action.

Dib wanted to say something but Gir cut them off.

"I made WAFFLES!" The tiny robot exclaimed happily, two plates of waffles in his hands. "You gonna eat cuz ya hungry!"

Dib rose an eyebrow. "H- how did you make this?"

"I saw it on TV!"

"No, I mean, I don't exactly have the ingredients." He took the plat in his hands and examined the food.

Gir went quiet for a moment, then shrugged and went running to the kitchen again.

Zim sighed and began to eat his sugary sweet waffles. "At less he c-c-can cook something I eat." The alien said before chewing on his food. He shifted around on the couch till he was sitting on the human's lap, something he got used to and almost did it without noticing. His antennae were high and smacking the human's face, the alien almost enjoyed it.

"Hm, yeah." He gave up and began eating as well, surprisingly, the food was delicious.

They'll try and think of something, hopefully Zim will be able to fix his base. If he did then most of their problems will be done, that except the two facts: first, Dale's still there. Second, Dib didn't want Zim to leave. He wanted his little crush to stay near him even if he has to suffer and hide his affection from the other.

Zim was right, the universe hates them.


END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

Mary: It's been a while since this story got updated even though I think some of you were waiting for Dib to try and fix Zim's PAK (even though it's not much). Whatsoever, it's here!

AF: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's kinda hard to work on multiple stories (including the stories we still haven't posted). But where's the fun if we didn't have any at all?

Mary: Reviews are highly appreciated!

This was Alien Freak, signing off.