We're going to calm down for a few chapters now and going on a field trip today!

Note: I managed to find Irken as a font but alas, formatting for this website decides it just isn't suitable, so bold lettering we must go.

Enjoy!

Part 57: Field Trip

Zim leaned down close to the circuitry. The sparks were flying, and he was focused past the welding mask. His PAK retracted it as he inspected the circuits in front of him. He'd just finished the GPS functions, copying them from his own PAK. Dib handed him another tool, watching intently as Zim started to fit the GPS boards into the back panels of the PAKs. Gaz was on the other side of the bench, sitting Gir up against the wall. He was still deactivated, his husk of a body slouching forward. Gaz reached out and sat him up again only for the same thing to repeat again. She pouted.

"It's weird to see him so slack," she says. She readjusts him again, getting him to sit straight on the back of the wall.

"It's a reprieve," Zim says. He flipped the welding mask back down over his face. Dib had sidled up beside him, hip to hip, and Zim couldn't stop his face from heating up. He pulled the PAK closer to inspect it and ensure everything was fitting right.

"When you're done with this," Dib began, taking a tool out of Zim's way, "I have an idea of something we can all go do."

"Oh?" Zim prompted. He fit the last of the GPS boards into the PAKs. He fit the panel back over it and turned it over. It fit nicely, and he couldn't hear it falling out, so he marked it as a success.

"Gaz?"

"Hm?"

"Want to come?" Dib asks hopefully. Gaz bit her tongue before she could make a joke about interrupting their date and considered it.

"Where?" she asks. Dib started to beam. Zim could feel his heart pace quicken in his excitement and he pulled the PAKs out of his reach.

"I was thinking the zoo?" he offers. He turned to Zim once he saw Gaz start to nod in approval. She always loved the reptile and insect houses at the zoo. If there was one place he could take her with the assurance she was going to have fun—even if she didn't show it all the time—it was the zoo. "Zim?"

Zim paused, putting the PAKs back into their shrunken forms and into the boxes. He removed the welding mask, his face finally free of the heat that had been plaguing it once he stood to pack up. He'd recalled the class going to the aquarium—an offshoot of the zoo—earlier that year, but they had been barred from going further into the complex. He had heard that it was a good place to learn about Earth fauna but had yet to go himself.

"I am interested…" Zim begins. It was all the confirmation Dib needed.

"We'll take the car," Gaz says, stretching. "I'm getting my keys."

Dib was vibrating in his seat. Once Zim had closed the lids on his box, Dib grabbed his arm and yanked him up the stairs. Zim yelped, stumbling as Dib pulled him up the steps. He fell out into the living room, Dib holding him up until he could stand. Dib's hand fell down to Zim's wrist, holding it almost absentmindedly as he dragged Zim through the living room to the front door. Zim's PAK gave him the remote for his disguise and he clicked it on as Dib snatched his keys.

Dib locked it behind them, with Gaz pulling her car into the drive from the street. She honked her horn. Dib finally released Zim and booked it to the car. Zim stood on the front porch a moment before he started towards the car, face flushed again, and his own heart quickened in pace. He sat in the backseat, looking out the window as the two siblings chose which zoo to go to.

The drive there was full of Gaz's music (she would slap Dib's hand away every time he tried to change the channel, claiming she was driver so she chose) and Zim staring at the passing city until Dib could get his attention. Said grabbing of his attention was Dib tapping his hand on Zim's knee and Zim's body feeling a jolt at the sudden contact. He kept his face neutral as he turned to Dib, who was showing him the GPS on his phone.

"Hey, we're almost there," he announced, bringing his phone back and smiling down at it. "I've got admittance and gift shop. Limit is thirty dollars," Dib stresses, making a point to look at Gaz. Gaz grumbled at him and parked.

Zim followed them like a lost child. He grabbed onto Dib's sleeve as they passed through the gates and then past the gift shop windows. The whole zoo was crowded. Masses of people milling about like a city with hardly any room between them until they had broken out into a larger cross section of pathways. Zim clung to Gaz and Dib's sides, not keen on wanting to be near others, or risk getting lost. He would be damned if he let either of them out of his sight.

Finally, mercifully, they hit the first round of exhibits. Gaz paused briefly at the polar bears. She nodded approvingly and kept walking. Zim watched her confusedly. He was still clutching Dib's sleeve. Dib looked at his hand and sighed, shaking his head. He grabbed Zim's hand and moved it down to hold onto his wrist.

"Here. Easier?" Dib asks. Zim looked away to the next pin of bears, face red, nodding. He could hear and feel Dib's heart rate increasing in time with his own cheeks growing pink. Dib nodded, moving to the next pin with Gaz leading the way slyly to the reptile house. "Okay, good."

Zim wasn't paying attention to any of the animals around them. He was more focused on trying to keep his heart rate down. He would glance up occasionally, spying an interesting creature here and there, until the sun was gone and they were inside the reptile house. Zim felt himself stop in front of one of the exhibits. His brain was picking up on the lizard scrambling around in the casing. Gaz was almost cooing at it, and Zim would have started to tease her about it relentlessly if his brain was operating normally.

He glanced down at Dib's wrist, where his hand was still wrapped around it. His eyes darted away. He felt that if he could, his palm would be sweating. He focused instead on the lizard and whatever Gaz was saying as he slowly slid his hand down.

"What kind of lizard is this…?" Gaz asks, searching for the name.

Zim's palm hit Dib's. He laced his fingers between Dib's. it was awkward with only three fingers. Despite the hologram looking like a normal hand, his was still alien. He made it work regardless. He was a determined one, after all. He was shocked, and elated, when Dib didn't pull his hand back. He caught the pink on Dib's cheeks and found he could focus on the lizard again. Partly because Gaz was giving him a devilish look.

"What?" Zim asks. His anxiety peaked and deflated at her words.

"Ya know… you really do look like a lizard," Gaz says. Zim blanched at her.

"What?" Zim repeats. Dib snorted, covering his mouth. Zim glared at him. Dib snorted again and cleared his throat. Zim narrowed his eyes at him. "Say it, coward."

"…She's right—ow!" Dib flinched when Zim punched him. Zim refused to let go of his hand, but his other hand was free as a bird. Gaz smirked, pointing to the lizard.

"You like to sunbathe," she began.

"Stop it."

"And you have scaly skin that's green," she continues. Zim flushed a deep red.

"Stop it."

"AND, you like being high in the trees and making yourself look bigger than you are." Gaz finished. She leveled him with a stare that kept Zim from hitting her as well. He wanted to, but he also wanted to live. Gaz straightened up, looking like she was thinking hard about something. "Like a cat."

Dib lost it, doubling over in his laughter. Zim fumed, kicking him in the shin. Dib gave a grunt, finally lowering his laugh to a chuckle after a second kick. Zim ripped his hand back, crossing his arms in a pout. Dib wheezed, placing a shaking hand on the glass of the lizard's case. Gaz stared at the odd display before her confusedly.

"The fuck did I say?" she asks. Dib waved her off, struggling to compose himself. Zim held back a hiss with his sigh.

"I am neither a lizard or a cat," he stresses. Gaz puckered her lips at him a moment, studying him. Zim narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

"You're also like a bug," she says, mimicking his antennae on her head with her fingers. Zim groaned loudly, hunching over and grabbing at his wig. Dib fell to his knees in another wheezing fit.

Zim started to stomp his feet, ignoring the eyes that Dib's bout of uncontrollable laughter had drawn initially as they hastily walked away from their area of the reptile house. Zim stopped when he heard a new sound. He turned, awed, to see Gaz snickering. She was covering her mouth with her hand, looking away so he couldn't see her face, but she was undeniably snickering at him. Zim almost shoved Dib to the floor entirely as he pushed himself closer to her. She took a step back in shock when his face was instantly so close to hers.

"YOU CAN LAUGH!" he shouts. Gaz punched him in the face.

"You're a moron!" she shouts. Zim held his face, joining Dib as he crouched with him on the floor, for entirely different reasons. "Of course, I can laugh!"

Dib finally composed himself, pulling himself up. He grabbed Zim's hand, pulling him up beside him. As he caught his breath, Zim rubbed at his sore cheek. "Was that necessary?" Zim asks.

"Entirely."

"Liar."

"I dare you to prove it, coward," Gaz challenged. Zim slunk away towards the snakes. He knew when to back down from a fight. He wasn't an idiot.

Gaz retained herself as the main lead to the expedition of the reptile house, leading them into the insect house soon after. First was butterflies—an insect Zim largely avoided because of their bright colors. He knew that things that were the most poisonous were the most enticing. As contradictory as that was. Earth creatures were so strange. Next were the beetles—Zim's personal favorites, though he was never sure why. When they passed the ants, Gaz stopped them to look at a few through a magnifying glass.

"See?" she asks. Zim leaned down curiously. "You even flick your antenna like a bug."

Zim sighed heavily, his head banging on the glass. Dib shook his head. "No, his antennae are more like flight insects. Looking around all the time, you know?"

"You're both insufferable." Zim grumbles. Gaz have a hum and a haw, bumping into his hip.

"Can you teach me that?" she asks. "I want to curse someone in alien."

"He's been trying to teach me, but I can't get a lot of the pronunciations right," Dib confesses. Zim straightened up, rubbing at his temples.

"I do not need to hear two people butcher the language of my race," he says. He paused. "But, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Why can't you learn it?" Gaz asks. She pointed to her tongue, sticking it out at them. "Thmbs?"

"Yes. Your tongues are so… squishy and smooth," Zim says. He glanced around to be sure they were alone before sticking his out. He extended it farther than necessary, just to see the peculiar look on Dib's face and the tell-tale light of oddly joyous interest in Gaz's eyes. His tongue stretched out far enough that if he bent it, he could probably touch his eyebrow. He pointed out the segments that made it up before pulling it back. "The segments help."

Gaz was nodding, thinking hard. "Okay so it'll be like I never finished a degree in it, whatever. I want to learn what I can, though."

"I can teach you, I suppose." Zim hummed. He smirked devilishly at her. "For a price."

"Oi, bug, you taught him for free," Gaz says, pointing accusingly at Dib. Dib pouted.

"I had to hear him butcher it for over half a year now, I paid my price for him." Zim says. Dib gave an offended gasp. "I want compensation this time."

"I'm not that bad!"

"You are not… terrible," Zim says. Dib scrunched up his face in focus. Gaz blinked at him, having caught the clicks and preens between the sounds she thinks she could reasonably make and started to think twice about her ability to learn. Dib's expression turned to pride.

"You said I'm not terrible!" he declares. Zim nodded, unable to fight off the proud grin. Gaz resigned that perhaps she could learn how to understand it, if nothing else.

He followed the siblings through the zoo, enduring more teasing when they reached the big cats and Dib couldn't help but point out the similar mannerism again. He managed to slip his hand into Dib's once again between the lions and the rhinos.

It was late in the day by the time they'd started to get tired by it all. The heat combined with being on their feet for so long did not do wonders for their energy levels. For Zim, the sun kept him plenty energized to keep going. He could have carried both on his shoulders if he had been allowed. Dib vetoed the offer quickly—it would have looked odd. By the time they'd made it to the gift shop, both siblings were grateful for the AC.

Gaz sighed contently once she stepped through the front door and Dib deflated in relief. Zim felt a brief chill at the sudden temperature change, but his PAK fixed his own body's temperature within seconds. He followed them around, releasing Dib finally when he spotted a section he liked. Dib was perusing the shirts when Gaz came up with a garish pair of sunglasses. Dib snorted.

"I mean, if you want them?" he offered. Gaz plucked them off, turning them over.

"They're hideous. So, yes." She says, shoving them into his hands. She peered past Dib and did a double take. Dib turned around, spotting Zim coming up with a large stuffed animal. It was a beluga whale, and half of Zim's size. He held it up, adjusting it and looking at Dib hopefully. Dib blinked at it.

"How much is it?"

"Gaz, let him use your budget," Zim says. Gaz blinked at him once and shrugged.

"I'm just getting sunglasses. I don't care," she says, starting for the counter. Dib snatched the shirt he'd been eyeing off the rack.

"We're stowing it in the trunk."

"Deal!"

Stuffing the toy in the trunk was easier said than done. It took up more room than Dib would have thought, given the trunk wasn't empty in the first place, and he just hoped it didn't get stained. Once Gaz had parked back in their driveway, Zim had jumped out and waited eagerly for her to pop the trunk. Dib smiled at the childish glee on Zim's face and was first to the front door. He set the keys into the lock and paused, hearing loud sounds from inside. Zim paused at the trunk. He left it almost shut instead of opening it fully so he could hear better. The sound was… familiar.

Dib hesitantly unlocked the door. The noise got louder, and he could identify it as screaming. A high-pitched scream that was vaguely familiar to him as well. He turned to see Zim freeze at the trunk and his head shoot up, a mixture of fear and confusion on his face.

"Dude, go inside," Gaz says, pushing past him. Dib stumbled in, tossing his keys aside. Gaz paused just inside the door.

"Do you hear it?" Dib asks.

"What is that?" Gaz wonders. Zim bolted from the car. He shoved past Gaz and Dib both. Gaz almost hit the wall. "HEY!"

Zim barreled through the basement door and jumped down the stairs, landing at the base. He stood and ducked again almost immediately. A small metal body was rocketing through the room, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. Zim gaped in horror at the state of the lab. The boxes he'd left out were curiously untouched, but the rest of the room looked like a tornado had blown through it. Gir made another sweep around the room in time to for Gaz and Dib to join Zim at the base of the stairs. Dib gaped, making a pathetic noise as he took in the lab. Gaz stared dumbfounded at the chaos. She ducked backward into the staircase as Gir made another pass. Dib almost didn't duck in time.

Zim's eyes caught a different set of movement and he honed in at the corner of the room. Professor Membrane ducked as Gir passed him with a squeal. He'd made a feeble attempt at trying to grab at the robot, his hand missing by inches. Zim sputtered incoherent Irken and reached his hands up frantically.

"Gir!"

Gir paused, catching himself on one of the hanging lights in the center of the room. The room was calm for a moment as he turned slowly on the spinning chord to see Zim at the door. Professor Membrane breathed a sigh of relief, standing fully again. Zim waved his hands to himself, his eyes and voice strained and tense.

"GIR. Come here." Zim ordered. Gir lit up like a child at Christmas.

"MASTER!"

Gir dropped from the light and raced over to Zim, jumping in his arms gleefully. He hugged Zim around his neck, nuzzling into him. Zim wanted to die from the embarrassment and anxiety. As far as Gir knew, it'd been less than a day since he'd been deactivated; and he was acting like it had really been years. He buried his face into Gir, mortified, and trying to think of some excuse for this. Dib stared awkwardly at his father for a long time. Gaz opted she wasn't needed for this and backed up the stairs.

"Get back here, young lady." Professor Membrane ordered. Gaz swore under her breath and took up her place again.

Membrane looked worse for wear. His lab coat was covered in… a variety of things, now that Dib looked at it, and his hair was a disheveled mess. He tried to get some form of decorum back as he straightened out his lab coat. Gir was giggling incessantly against Zim's neck, oblivious of the tenseness in the room.

"H-Hi, Dad. Um… we can explain?" Dib offers feebly. Zim lifted his head just enough to glare at him. Professor Membrane seemed equally unimpressed.

"Hello, Son. Is this another invention of yours?" Membrane asks, turning to Zim. Zim was silent, hesitant a moment before he sighed, pinching his brow. This man was beginning to grate on his patience and his nerves. Gir quieted down, noticing Zim's heart rate starting to increase.

"Y-Yeah."

He sounded utterly defeated in Dib's opinion.

"It's quite impressive," Membrane began. Zim waved him off, shaking his head.

"Just. Don't," he says dejectedly. Gir hopped down, running around the room at a much more reasonable pace in a prance. "He's… just like this. Work in progress."

Zim didn't have it in him to explain that Gir was riddled with bugs and bad AI coding. He didn't have it in him to explain that Gir did not operate to the standard that was common for SIR units. Nor was he going to explain what a SIR unit was to any human other than Dib or Gaz. No, instead, he'd just take whatever was said about Gir being his sole creation and run with it. It was far easier than trying to explain any of that without just blurting out 'I'm an alien, your son was right, and you ignored it for years—good job, great parenting'. As much as he wanted to.

As much as he really wanted to, Zim didn't blame Membrane for not believing in things he'd never seen himself; and given the man's penchant for science above all else… Zim really didn't want to risk being vivisected. No. Bold-faced lying was easier. That said, Zim was shocked to see Professor Membrane seeming genuinely lost on how to proceed. Finally, the man snapped his fingers and clapped his hands together.

"Come to my lab!" he offered.

Zim groaned, leaning on the wall. Gaz patted him on the shoulder. Dib sighed alongside him, sliding down the wall. Gir jumped on Membrane's head to chew on his hair. Membrane tried to pull him off with as much dignity as he could. It didn't work well. As Dib knew well by this point, when Gir wanted to do something, it was difficult to get him to stop or comply to anything anyone else wanted him to do. Membrane sighed aggravatingly, trying to pry Gir off without breaking him.

"GIR," Zim stressed. "Sit aside."

Gir stood up on Membrane's shoulder, saluting. "Yes, sir!"

He jumped off the man, racing towards the workbench and sitting in front of Zim's boxes like a guard dog. Zim eyed him curiously and cleared this throat.

"Professor Membrane, why is he active?" Zim asks coolly. Dib pursed his lips, debating if he should step in. He could hear the agitation underlying Zim's voice. Zim felt his rage being overpowered by anxiety waiting on the man's answer. Membrane brushed his lab coat again.

"I came down to work and noticed the little robot," he says. "After some trial and error, he got to working again!"

Zim's eye twitched. "He was not supposed to be working again yet," Zim says, his teeth grinding.

Membrane looked perplexed, rubbing at his goggles. "My mistake—"

"You should not have touched Gir to begin with!" Zim snapped. Dib jumped, hitting the wall again. Gaz took a few steps up the stairs. She caught her father's eye and trudged back down, stomping at each step.

"Why do I have to be here?" she asks. "You're the one who messed with someone else's stuff!"

"Witness," Zim and Membrane said at once. Zim looked at him a moment before his anger took over again.

"DO NOT TOUCH MY THINGS!" Zim shouted. He pointed to the undisturbed boxes. "Even this imbecile of a robot knows that!"

"I couldn't help myself," Membrane admits. "I will not do it again… if you come to my lab."

Zim stared at him, dumbfounded. Dib flicked his eyes between the two and chuckled nervously. He pushed Zim's hand down, stepping between the two. Zim was glared daggers at his father and Dib was sure he was second from using his PAK against him if he didn't step between them.

"D-dad, can't you just… not touch his things?" Dib asks. Membrane shook his head, determined as ever.

"Nonsense! All three of you could do wonders at the lab in the name of science!" Membrane declared. Zim sighed, leaning into Dib's back. He recalled, regrettably, that he had offered to help Dib in scientific endeavors. He had been aware that Membrane had wanted Dib to join him in the lab for years now, but he wasn't aware how determined he really was. Dib pinched his brow.

"If we take a tour will you leave Zim's stuff alone?" Dib offered. Zim perked up at the offer. If it got Membrane to leave him be, he might take it.

"You three must attend and if you all decide against working in my lab, then I will take a break, yes." Membrane agreed readily. Gaz groaned loudly behind them. "Now, Gazlene, I am aware you're going into physics after graduation. There's an entire floor dedicated to testing physics!"

"Yeah, yeah," Gaz waved him off, trudging up the stairs. Dib didn't blame her. Membrane moved towards them, patting Dib on the head on his way by.

"I must get back to work. Schedule a tour with the office!" he says. Dib just nodded, waving him off. Once Membrane was past the stairs Zim sighed heavily. Gir hopped off the table, clutching at Zim's leg.

"Master?"

Zim picked him up like a child. "Gir, what did he do to you?"

"Nothin! He's reeeeeally bad at tag!" Gir says, throwing his arms up in pride for evading the man's grasp. Zim blanched at him.

"You… you challenged him to tag?"

"Yep!"

"Why is Zim's corner the only one untouched?" Dib asks. He didn't want to say it, but he doubted Gir was typically so careful with the rooms he rampaged in. Gir looked them over and smiled.

"They're my Master's!" Gir said simply. Dib blinked at him and Zim shook his head.

"Gir can identify Irken materials. It's meant to be a way for them to avoid destroying Irken technology…" Zim says. he remembered the messes that Gir could make in his own base. As much as he was impressed Gir hadn't destroyed his own projects, he was aggravated the same thought never occurred to the robot while in the labs at the base. "I'm guessing he noticed it was the only Irken technology in the room and avoided it because I wasn't here."

"Did I do good?" Gir asks. Zim patted his head.

"Sure."

Dib sighed, looking over the lab and stiffening. He stared up, gaping, at the top of the stairs as he heard his father's car leaving. "He just left me to clean this all up!"

Zim smirked, cradling Gir. "Good luck with this."

He turned to leave, his shoulder being grabbed and pulled back.

"Oh, no you don't," Dib says. He twirled Zim around until they were both facing the lab. "YOUR robot caused it. We BOTH get to clean."

Zim groaned, dropping Gir. Gir went to sit on the boxes, kicking his legs obliviously. Dib handed Zim a broom with a smug smirk.