We're chugging along, folks, we're getting somewhere! I'm excited for the next chapter. Been debating this little plot bunny for a while. Kind of ties into future events (if I settle on how, we'll see).

As a reminder, I did make a blog for this and future fics (hopefully posting the first chapter of that new one soon) you can find here:

Enjoy!

Part 55: Is It Fixable?

Zim shuffled around, digging himself deeper into the grass. His arm had healed by the morning, a single thin line the only reminder left of the incident. Given he had several scratches he figured he was lucky he didn't have several lines scarring his arm—he was displeased that it had scarred at all, however. He had a short-sleeved shirt on, the bare skin on his arms soaking up the sun's light every time the tree's leaves were swayed away by the breeze.

He stretched his legs and arms out, basking in the warm light when it arrived. He let out a contented sigh. The warmth of the sun was calming to a degree that Zim felt that he could really fall asleep. On the flip side, his body was vibrating with energy. He could have cleaned his old base's lab in a few hours with the amount of energy he had stored at this point. His muscles felt like they were buzzing. It was improving his mood exponentially. Dib opened the back, sliding door and stepped out. He bent over Zim, his shadow blocking the light from Zim's face. Zim tracked an eye open at him, content smile stuck on his face.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dib asks. The neighbors dog barked once to greet him. Zim hummed and nodded.

"I feel like I could run a marathon on HOBO 13," Zim says. Dib cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Where?"

"A military training planet. It has many arduous trials to complete to pass. Very difficult."

"Oh. Well, that would be interesting to see one day," Dib says. He sat down next to Zim, burying his toes into the grass. Zim hummed, looking back up at the clouds. "Are you going to fall asleep or run that marathon? I can't really tell."

"My PAK is storing the energy I'm consuming," Zim says. Dib tilted his head at him. His brain was stuck trying to process the new information. He couldn't sparse the solution to his curiosity out.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"You're storing it? How?" Dib asks. He leaned back, looking at Zim's PAK. Zim set himself up on his elbows so he could see it better. The lights on the three circles were pulsing slowly on and off.

"It is storing the energy from the sun. Much like your plants." Zim explained. Dib gaped at him.

'You're like a plant—"

"I AM NOT."

"And a lizard and a bug. You're three things in one," Dib teased. Zim smacked his arm, scowling. "Ow."

Zim laid back down, returning to basking in the sunlight. He could use the stored energy for the next few days as he worked int the lab. He wondered if humans might be able to do something similar. The back door slid open and closed again. Gaz took up the space on Zim's other side in the shade of the tree. She laid back, her back folding over Zim's arm. Zim gave her a quizzical look and she simply shrugged. Dib paused, looking at them, before mimicking Gaz and pinning Zim's other arm. Zim's face flushed a little. He would claim it was the heat.

He got a devilish idea in his head. He prepped his arms for it and dug his back just a little more into the grass. Dib flicked his gaze to him just before Zim pulled both arms towards him. Gaz yelped, almost flinging her Game Slave across the yard. Dib, far more used to the random actions, just let Zim pull him close. Zim rested his head in Dib's stomach, Gaz's stomach on the other side and chuckled.

"And now you are both my prisoners!" he says. Gaz sighed heavily, readjusting her arms to play her Game Slave. Dib snorted, patting Zim's head. "OI."

Gaz gave him a gentle kick and a grunt. Zim didn't let her go; but did lessen his hold on her. He kept his grip on Dib, feeling no indication he wanted him to let him go just yet. He was shocked Gaz hasn't tried to dislodge herself yet. He could hear their heartbeats and almost feel the blood pumping through their bodies. The sound was like the ocean waves at the island he and Dib had visited so many months prior. Zim wanted to revisit it, doused in paste, to sit amongst the fish again. He regretted not allowing Dib to show him all the spaces to relax on the planet.

Just like now, nestled between the two, he felt content. He was calm. Oh, how great it was to feel calm. He felt at peace—something Irkens rarely felt given their lifestyles. He breathed out in a large sigh. Dib smirked, making knowing eye contact with Gaz. He was starting to feel a lethargic himself. He was stuck in the sun, with Gaz still engulfed in shade and Zim periodically getting hit with sunlight with the wind. Dib felt a subtle rumble coming from Zim and he looked down at him. Gaz paused her game, listening intently for the sound a moment. It came again and she looked down at Zim, perplexed. Was he..?

"Are you… purring?" Gaz asks. Zim stopped abruptly, turning his head to her, his eyes slightly wide in a panic. Gaz turned her game back on. "I like it."

Zim stared at her a moment. His face was completely flushed. He buried it back in Dib's stomach, suppressing a groan. He was grateful, though. Irkens who purred were ostracized. Affection was frowned upon in any capacity that wasn't explicitly to The Tallest or Empire. Zim relaxed his shoulders. Gaz hadn't teased him, much less insulted him over it. She had liked it. He had trouble processing that. The reaction was the polar opposite of what he kept expecting. Even with Dib the nagging anxiety was there, in the back of his mind, until Zim once again realized that he wasn't going to do anything harsh. Zim let the purr start up again, cautiously at first, and then let it become a full blown purr once he'd relaxed again and the buzz of energy returned.

Dib smirked, settling himself down against the cooler grass. "Like a giant cat," he says. "You're four things now."

"Shup ump." Zim's muffled response made Dib start to laugh. Gaz eyed him, raising her Game Slave to see him better.

"Hey, so I wanted to take you to a park, but a far out one," Dib began. Zim looked up at him expectantly, already interested. "It's a National Park, so it's got a lot more open space than the ones here. It'll be easy too find somewhere to land if we took the Voot. We could be off the pathways."

Zim hummed. He nodded, releasing them and sitting up. Gaz gave a disapproving grunt, turning over onto her stomach. Dib rolled once to better free Zim's arm. Zim stood to stretch his back, bending forward and then to each side.

"I'll grab the Voot from the garage. Be ready in ten minutes," he says, slipping inside. Gaz paused her game, looking over to Dib with a side-eye.

"I'm coming, too."

"Fine by me, there should be room in the Voot." Dib says. He sat up, kicking his boots together. "Hey, question."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what Zim has been working on in the lab? I haven't been able to get past him to see." Dib says. Gaz shrugged.

"I snuck down there once when you both were out. Looked like a lot of jumbled parts in a lot of boxes." Gaz says. Dib deflated with a sigh. Gaz eyed him up and sighed herself, sitting up properly. "It looked like a big project. Lots of component parts and all of it is Irken. He's got a few boxes going down there."

"Ugh, damn. I'll ask him later, then," Dib says. He stood up and stretched. "Coming?"

"I already said I was." Gaz flicked her Game Slave off. She'd have to grab batteries. She was the first in the garage, seeing herself the Voot return to its normal size with a remote Zim held. She recognized it. It was always laying on the table in the lab next to the boxes. She came up beside him, poking it. "What's this thing do?"

"Shrinks and regrows whatever I use it on. I've had to lace the sensors throughout the Voot and other things to get them to remain their size for so long. It's not like what I had to use before, I've modified it." Zim says.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but cool."

Dib kicked the garage door shut and swung his bag over his shoulder. "I got snacks and stuff to do! Let's go! We're heading East."

The area of the park they'd settled in was dense with tall trees. The clearing had been hard to find, but it was large enough to land the Voot at the side and allow all three to spread out if they wished. Instead, they'd spotted a stump of a tree and settled there. The large log of it was laying right beside it, the main expanse of tree having taken portions of the canopy down with it when it fell. Gaz took a spot up on the trunk, sitting high above the ground. The base of the trunk was almost too large for Dib to properly put his arms around it. Gaz glanced down at them both.

"It's a good view, but not very nice to sit on," she says.

"I prefer branches," Zim says.

He couldn't find any branches strong enough close enough to the ground, however. All the trees had shot up, their base level branches set high above the ground. Too high for his liking if Dib tried to join him. The large tree they'd found before had had plenty of close knit branches that it hadn't been too much of an issue; but these trees had branches that were far apart. Enough that Dib could plummet if he slipped. Perhaps another day.

Zim let a PAK leg break out of his PAK, slicing the top of the stump off to make it uniform. He tossed the scrap top into the trees. He fell back onto the stump and knocked his heels on the bark. It would do as a seat for now. Dib sat in front of him, notebook in his propped-up legs. He yawned. Again. He'd been yawning most of the trip, Zim had noted, and looked tired before they had left. Zim set his fingers on Dib's forehead, pulling his head back until it rested on the trunk. The sun had Dib squinting his eyes shut with a whine and a very half-hearted wave of his hand to get dislodge Zim's grip. Zim saw the bags under Dib's eyes and took off his glasses.

"Hey-"

"Take a damn nap," Zim ordered. Dib watched, helplessly, as his glasses disappeared in Zim's PAK and out of reach of his grabbing hands. He groaned, letting his notebook slide off to the grass. He'd wanted to get some designs pumped out; but doing so without his glasses would just cause him a headache.

"Fiiiiiiine," Dib whined, curling up next to the stump.

Zim smiled, brushing some of his hair over his eyes to block out the sunlight. He had taken the disguise off, letting his antenna breath for a moment while they sat there. They were so far into the woods that no hikers were likely to even stumble upon them. Dib had expressed a concern about rangers, but if any came close Zim was sure to hear them in time to get his disguise back on if not high tail it out of the vicinity. Gaz had likely already gone through several explanations for why they were out there in the first place should they need to explain themselves.

Dib's breathing leveled out alongside his heartbeat. Zim felt his shoulders loosen up a little against his leg and he hummed to himself contently. He really needed to get Dib on a proper sleeping schedule. He hated to admit it, but part of the failure in that was the late-night movie marathons. Dib had been insistent about doing whatever they wanted before summer ended. It was feasible it would be Dib's last summer before he started working internships or any other such job at the university. Zim couldn't rightfully blame him for wanting to soak up the free time as much as he could. Though, that didn't stop Zim's pestering of him to take a nap occasionally.

Zim turned around to spy Gaz still on the log. She was kicking her legs. He recognized it as the beat of the music to her Vampire Piggies game. Zim left Dib to sleep and used his PAK to climb the log. He sat across from her and she glanced up at him. She turned her gaze back to her game.

"Wanted a new view?" she asks. Zim shrugged, looking out over the trees. He couldn't see over the tops of any of them. He was a little disappointed by that. He doubted he'd be able to look over them even if he used his PAK. Gaz cracked an eye open. "What are you working on in the lab?"

That got Zim's attention. He looked away from the trees to her, a little shocked and perhaps a little spooked. "…What do you think I'm making?"

"Something stupid."

Zim gave an offended gasp. "It is not stupid!"

"So then what is it? You're not making a bomb or a weapon," Gaz says. Zim slouched, his antennae drooping. He hadn't done that for years as it was still annoying to be called out for it. "So, what is it? Not the micro bots, either. Those things would probably be cooler."

"What I am making is AMAZING! And also not your business!" Zim almost shouts. Gaz looked steadily at him for a long moment. She flung up her leg, kicking Zim off the log. He fell to the grass below with a screeching hiss that rivaled several cats in a fight. Dib jerked awake, looking groggily around to where Zim was still prying his face out of the dirt. Zim shot up.

"YOU VILE CHILD!" he screamed, clawing at the log. Gaz looked down at him. She started to nonchalantly kick her legs again. Dib watched the display for a few moments longer before laying back down. He didn't have the brain power to handle what he was watching.

"I'll apologize if you tell me," Gaz offered. Dib shot up again, wide-eyed. Zim paused in his scratching of the tree. Dib was dumbfounded to find, through his own blurry vision, that Zim was seriously considering the option.

Zim narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "Lies," he whispered. Gaz held her hand up to her ear.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." She says. Zim growled.

"LIAR!" he screamed. Gaz sighed, returning to her Game Slave.

"No apology for you, then, space-bug."

"I AM NOT A BUG!"

"I'll apologize for that and kicking you if you tell me what you're making," Gaz says, pausing her game.

Zim stood there for a moment. He tapped his claws on the bark of the log. He hummed, the hum turning into an aggravated groan. He hit the log, forming fist-sized dents and breaks in the bark. He slid down the log with a slightly muffled and aggravated shout.

"Offer expires soon," Gaz says. Zim kicked the log, putting a large dent into the bark. It wobbled; but didn't move further than that. Gaz, unperturbed, laid out on it waiting for him to crack. "You've got ten seconds."

Dib watched with bated breath. Finally, Zim stood straight, breathing in a sigh. He dragged his hands down his face. "FINE."

Dib sat up, scooting to the side of the stump that was closest. Gaz smirked, waving her hand in the 'go on' motion. Zim looked like he wanted to stomp his feet, but he refrained.

"I am… I…"

"Like a band-aid," Gaz suggests. Zim glared up at her.

"Do not patronize me!" he screeches. Gaz repeated the same hand motion. "IT IS NOT A PROJECT TO TAKE LIGHTLY, YOU—YOU-!"

"Take your time."

"LISTEN-!"

"I'm trying, you're not very good at explaining," Gaz says. Zim fumed. Dib took the opportunity to join the two. He leaned on the massive piece of dead tree and Zim averted his gaze. Dib's glasses came from the PAK and he slipped them on.

"is it something you're not allowed to make?" Dib asks. Gaz sat up.

"I already figured out he wasn't making a bomb," she says. Dib shook his head.

"Something else." He calls up to her. He looked back at Zim, who was trying to bury his face into the bark. Dib pulled him away from it and into a one-armed hug. "You know we probably won't think the same way as Irkens would, right?"

"…Yes."

"So, you can tell us, but you don't have to."

"…Yes."

"Then that's settled, you don't have to tell us," Dib says. He patted Zim on the back. Gaz huffed. She slid down the log, landing on Zim's opposite side. She leaned against Zim, slinging her arm over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She says. Zim and Dib gaped at her. "I'll make you sorry."

"Apology accepted." Zim said hastily. Gaz smirked, dragging them both back towards the stump. She set Dib down in his original spot, then Zim next to him, then herself on Zim's opposite side. She hunkered down, sighing.

Zim was content to remain there. He looked up at the clouds as they passed by them. He found himself in much the same position after Dib and Gaz had their lunch and he had spent that time studying every planet or insect that caught his eyes. He failed to see that time had shifted considerably until the light of the day started to disappear. Zim snapped out of his stupor. Dib had likely passed out an hour prior. His sketchbook had enough on the page to make that something plausible. He looked over to Gaz, and even she had started to doze to her Game Slave.

Zim slipped out from between them. He climbed into the Voot and set to work making what he could generously call a bed. The blankets Dib had packed had gone unused, so Zim snatched them up and laid them out as a makeshift bed. He lifted Dib up first, carrying him to the Voot and setting him down onto the blankets. Gaz was next. He picked her up bridal style and she slumped her head into his shoulder with an incoherent mumble. Zim lowered her down next to Dib. He had to pry her off from around his neck, ignoring the half-conscious protests when he finally tore her grip away from him. He covered both with the last spare sheet he had. He wasn't surprised that they didn't wake up in the two hours it took to get home.

Zim repeated the same actions putting them to their own beds. He figured he was allowed to enter Gaz's room to put her to sleep as opposed to putting her on the couch. Again he had to pry her arms off from his neck. He had to twist himself out of her grip, and very nearly woke her up, to get free. She turned over in her bed, grabbing for something else to hold. She settled on a spare pillow and hugged it close. Zim stared dumbfounded a moment before slinging the blanket over her. He had an easier time with Dib. He was completely passed out and wasn't waking up easily. Zim dumped him into his bed, flinging the blanket over him and retrieving his glasses before he could roll over onto them.

Zim paused in the hallway, looking between them. He felt something warm start to bubble up inside his chest. He watched them for a few moments, listening to their heart rates and breathing out entirely before he started for the basement. He closed the door gently, using his PAK to carry him down as silently as he could manage. He stopped at the workbench, his PAK dropping him to the ground, and pulled one box towards himself. Something fell to another work bench behind him. Zim whipped around, almost having the equivalent to a heart attack before he remembered he'd left his disguise on, making eye contact with Professor Membrane.

Zim stared at him for an unknown amount of time. Professor Membrane set down the other tool he hadn't dropped. He was staring at Zim, but Zim couldn't see his eye through the goggles. He would never understand why he always wore the confounded things—he hadn't even been welding. Zim clutched the box a little tighter. The tiny movement seemed to snap Prof. Membrane out of his stupor.

"You're Dibs foreign friend."

Zim wasn't sure what he expected to hear; but that wasn't it.