A/N: Ahhh...Such enthusiasm in your guys' reviews last chapters. o3o I suppose posting another chapter already wouldn't be too out of the question, given how eager you all seem for updatage. ^^ Besides, my headache is gone now and I can't sleep. So I might as well make myself useful and get another chapter up. =3 That said, here be Chapter 52 of ZADR Orange. ^^ Much love to those of you who faved or added the story to your story alert lists. And, as always, feedback be much appreciated. So we hope you all enjoy this next chapter. =3
Warnings: Extreme OOCness
Rating: M
Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Zim: Notgonnadie
Dib: Me
Jack/Rose: Both of us
Beta: Notgonnadie
Eyes growing wide at Zim's collapsing onto the floor, Jack quickly knelt down next to him to sit him up carefully and hold him in his arms. "Hey! Are you alright?" he asked before deadpanning a moment, just then seeming to realize what the other had just said. "W-Wait a minute...D-Did you just say you were looking for Dib? As in Dib Membrane? Light green skin, 16 years old, wears a black trench coat Dib?" he listed off what he could think of to describe Dib.
Eyes perking open as alert as he could manage, Zim's voice shook as he brought up a hand to grab Jack by the front of his shirt. "Y-You've seen him? Wh-Where is he?" he demanded, his determination to find him back once more.
Smiling wide down at him, Jack reached down to take Zim's hand. "H-Hang on a moment!" he said before turning to call into the kitchen excitedly. "D-Dib! Dib, come out here! You too, Rose! Th-There's someone here for Dib!" he almost couldn't contain his excitement in that moment.
Pulling away from Dib at all of Jack's shouting, Rose could only look at Dib curiously. "Well, I guess we better go check it out, huh, Dib?" she said before smiling and taking him by the arm to walk with him to the door.
Nodding his head at her words, Dib followed her into the living room, eyes growing wide upon seeing Zim on the ground being propped up by Jack. "Oh my God! Zim?" he ran over to them, sliding to his knees next to Zim and taking hold of the Irken from Jack.
Unable to believe it, Zim could only stare up at Dib, wide-eyed. "I-I found you..." he smiled a little before letting his eyes close, falling very quickly into some much needed sleep.
Eyes growing wide with fear when the Irken blacked out on him, Dib held his prone body close. "Zim? Zim? Zim!" he began to shake him almost roughly, causing Jack to have to reach out and stop him.
"Whoa! Whoa, Dib! Take it easy! Calm down! He's going to be fine! He just passed out." Jack reassured the other, taking his hands in his own to stop Dib from shaking Zim.
Kneeling down next to Dib, Rose then placed her own hand on one of Dib's shoulders and smiled. "This is quite romantic." her voice came out soft as she shifted her gaze down to look at Zim.
Still in shock, Dib could only continue to stare down at Zim with perfectly wide eyes. "Th-This is my fault...I did this to him!" he looked back up at her, new tears streaming down his face. "This happened to him because of me!" he exclaimed, breaking down where he sat.
"Oh, Dib. How do you know? He's only sleeping. Just let him rest, and then you can find out what happened after he wakes up." Rose took him by the shoulders to pull him away.
Unable to take his wide eyes off of Zim's prone body, Dib nonetheless allowed Rose to move him back and help him to his feet as Jack scooped the Irken up and carried him over to the couch to lay him down and cover him up with a blanket.
Smiling sadly from her spot across the room, Rose then turned her attention back to Dib. "Now how about something to eat, huh, Dib?" she tried to coax him away from the sleeping alien, afraid to leave him alone with Zim in the event something else bad happened.
That being the last thing he wanted to do as he didn't want to have to leave Zim, Dib's antennae could only droop at that suggestion. "...I'm not very hungry..." he said in a quiet voice that was shaking quite a bit now.
"Dib, he'll be fine. You need to eat something though." Jack urged the other to come back to the kitchen with them.
Shaking his head, Dib tried to pull away. "But...But what if-" he began to protest just to be cut off by Rose.
"Dib!" Rose said in a stern voice so as to get his attention before dropping it back down to a more gentle tone once she had it. "You can't starve yourself, Dib. Not if you're carrying a baby. You need to eat even if you don't feel like it." she reached out a hand to caress his cheek lightly.
Smiling, Jack then stepped forward to pat him on the back. "Come on. We'll make you something special." he said, beginning to lead him back towards the kitchen.
Antennae drooping even more, all Dib could do was stare back at Zim as they lead him back into the kitchen to take a seat at the table.
Taking a seat across from him at the table, Rose then leaned forward a bit with a smile, resting her chin in her hands as she stared at Dib. "So, what would you like to eat, Dib? There must be something you're craving." she tried to probe Dib for an answer.
"Yeah, Dib. I'll make you whatever you like." Jack said, setting up at the stove to make whatever it was Dib wanted.
Merely sitting at the table, Dib kept his gaze fixed down on his lap. "I-I don't know..." he really didn't think he even COULD eat at this point.
"Oh, Dib. Come on. He's going to be fine." Rose reassured him, reaching forward a hand to place over his.
"And we still don't know if there is really anything wrong with him to begin with." Jack said, setting to work on making his and Rose's breakfasts as he waited for Dib to tell him what he'd like.
"But who knows how long he was out there searching for me! He could have been looking for me this entire time!" Dib sobbed into his hands, feeling so horribly guilty now.
"Even if that were the case, Dib, there is nothing we can do for him until he wakes up, and I don't think he'd want you to go hungry." Jack said, about ready at this point to just make something random for Dib to eat.
Wiping at his eyes, knowing Jack was right, all Dib could do at this point was slump down in his seat a bit. "But I don't know what I want to eat...I haven't craved anything since I left him..." he said, refusing to make eye contact.
Sighing at that response, Rose turned away from Dib to look back at Jack. "Then we'll just surprise you." she gestured at Jack to just make something for Dib to eat.
Sighing himself, Dib wouldn't even look up from where he was staring. "Okay..." he said before resting his head in his arms on the table.
Sighing at Dib's downtrodden mood, Jack could only shake his head and turn back to what he was doing, fixing up something to eat for all three of them.
It wasn't until after the food was cooked that Zim, still laying in the other room, began to come to, the smell of food causing his stomach to growl. "Mmm..." he whined quietly, still looking pretty horrible. But despite how he looked and felt in that moment, he couldn't help but force himself to stand when he heard his stomach growling louder, his legs leading him to the kitchen where Jack was busy passing out plates of food.
Lifting his head only after Jack had placed a plate of food down in front of him, it wasn't until then that Dib noticed Zim standing in the doorway. "Zim!" he pushed himself up onto his feet and ran over to where the other was standing, helping to hold him up when he began to sway a bit. "Zim...Are you okay...?" he asked, his voice dropping down to a whisper now.
A bit dazed, it took Zim a moment to answer Dib as he leaned up against the boy's body. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good..." he licked his lips, leaning even more on Dib for extra support.
"You should sit down, Zim...You look horrible..." Dib said, some concern in his voice as he lead Zim over to the table to take a seat next to him. "You should be sleeping...You can hardly walk..." he then said, pointing out to the other how unstable he was.
His stomach growling again, Zim could only moan a little however, wrapping his arms around it and snuggling up against Dib in his seat.
Hearing the Irken's stomach growl, Dib blinked his eyes wide open before grabbing a piece of toast off of his plate and offering it to Zim. "Zim, how long have you gone without eating?" he asked, wanting answers now.
Looking away at the question, Zim seemed hesitant to answer as he refused to even take the toast Dib was offering him. "I-I...haven't eaten since you left...And I haven't slept since I found out you were missing..." he said, voice coming out in a quiet whisper.
"Zim!" Dib narrowed his eyes on the other and shook him a bit. "That was nearly a week ago! Why would you do that? Are you TRYING to kill yourself?" he exclaimed, hands holding Zim beginning to shake. "How long ago did you find out I was missing?" he then asked, wanting to know how long the other had gone without sleep.
Feeling ashamed, Zim kept his gaze averted. "A-A day or two after you left..." he responded, flinching back as he knew what was coming next.
"What?" Dib reached up to turn Zim's head towards him. "Never do that again, Zim! Never! Look me in the eyes and promise me you won't do something so stupid ever again!" he demanded, looking Zim straight in the eyes and not letting him look away as he then continued in a softer voice. "Please...I don't want to be the cause of your death..." he seemed to beg the Irken now not to scare him like that ever again.
"I won't die..." Zim looked away stubbornly, avoiding promising, knowing he couldn't be sure this wouldn't happen again. Then, hearing his stomach growl again, he couldn't help but flinch as he thought he'd pass out soon from a lack food.
Taking this as his opportunity to cut in, Jack quickly moved in to change the subject before Dib could continue this conversation with Zim. "Would you like to eat with us, Zim? I can make another plate." he said, returning to the stove to grab another plate.
Looking up at Jack at the question, Zim then looked to Dib for his say so before answering.
"Zim, I'm not going to let you starve." Dib sighed before looking back at Jack. "He can't eat anything with meat in it though. He's allergic. He needs sugar, so something sweet would probably be best." he then looked back at Zim, refusing to let go of him just yet. "Zim, I want to hear you say it! I want you to tell me you won't do anything that will get you killed for my sake!" he refused to drop the subject until Zim promised him.
Nodding his head at Dib's words, Jack headed for the fridge to pull out some sweet desserts as Dib and Zim continued their conversation.
Avoiding Dib's eyes, Zim, however, looked away yet again before speaking. "I...can't promise that..." he didn't want to risk breaking a promise to Dib.
Eyes growing wide at Zim's words, Dib couldn't believe what the other was saying to him. "What? Why not, Zim? Why can't you promise me that?" he shook him some more, breaking down now. "If something happened to you because of me, I would never be able to continue living knowing it was all my fault!" he didn't want to think of what things would be like were Zim to die.
A/N: And there you have it for now. =3 Nothing much to say about this chapter so I guess I'll just get straight to answering your guys's reviews like I promised last chapter. And perhaps I'll post another chapter just a little later on. Maybe. We'll see. For now, however, here be my responses back to your guys. ^^
To lillybean queen of the i ocean: Glad to hear you still do. :)
To kikidon11: Awww. Well we love you too for being so patient with us. ^^ Don't worry though. I'm going to try and get updates up faster again so you don't have to put up with too many cliffhangers. =3 In fact, here be the next chapter for you since you guys seemed so enthusiastic in your reviews today. We hope you enjoy and that the addition of this chapter doesn't cause you to have a stroke or anything. XD
To Mrs Inuyasha Kagome: Yes, yes. Poor Zimmeh searched for days on end and couldn't find a trace of Dibbeh anywhere. Thankfully, however, he has now stumbled upon Jack and Rose's house. So he and Dib shall soon be united again. =3
To Illisandria Carthain: Lol. XD Yes, we are back. Though we never really left to begin with. Just been busy as hell. But like you said, we've had contact with you on DA. =3 And, because I was too impatient to wait and see, I should tell you that -I- was the one who had your request for the ZADR Art Exchange over on our ZO group. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I DID post your request in my gallery. It was for "Random, angsty, fluff." So you may want to check that out if you haven't already. ^^ As for the ZO site, the site is currently on standby, seeing as how NGD doesn't have a working computer. So you won't find anything new being posted there. Rather, she's posting new chapters in her DA gallery. So you may want to check that out as well. Of course, I'll eventually get to posting those chapters here of FF as well. But until then, you should know that the story is still being updated somewhat regularly now. =3
Heheh...If only things really were as simple as them having three smeets and living happily ever after. As a matter of fact, however, it is only really Red that's going to end up making their life a living hell. But you'll see what I mean by that a little later in the story. X3 We're closing in on that scene really soon over on DA. Jack and Rose were named by NGD though. And they weren't named after Doctor Who character OR Titanic characters either. It was completely coincidental that their names just happened to match those of TV/movie characters. Just ask NGD. She'll tell you herself why she named them that. And they most certainly WILL be staying friends with both Zim and Dib. We couldn't just get rid of them, so you'll be seeing plenty more of them in the near future. =3
Meh...I'm personally not much of a Doctor Who fan myself. Have several friends who are obsessed with the show, but I'm more old school. I don't take to newer shows quite so easily. I prefer the shows of my childhood. I find a lot of the TV today to be unoriginal and kind of boring. So I steer away from it. About the only new shows I DO watch are those on Food Network, just because I like watching food being prepared. It's calming to me. And all the Mary Sues and self-inserts in IZ fanfiction is the whole reason I stopped reading it. The only contact I have with IZ fanfiction is writing it myself because there are too many bad stories out there to sort through. There used to be some really great IZ writers, ones who I looked up to and pulled inspiration from, but nowadays, it seems the majority of them left the fandom because of IZtards who have no idea how to write a successful story. It's sad, really, that the fandom has fallen this badly. I miss the old days when there was less emphasis on OCs and more emphasis on the actual characters and real plot lines that make sense with the actual show. As for Danny Phantom, I haven't looked into that fandom much lately, though I feel I should draw some fanart for it. And Phineas and Ferb is alright too. (Not a big fan, but still better than a lot of the crap they come out with nowadays). Harry Potter I've only seen two of the movies for (and that was only because my friend dragged me with her). And well, I guess the only other fandoms I've been obsessive about lately are DBZ and OJ. I just finished rewatching all of the episodes of DBZ, which makes me sad because I didn't want it to end. But NGD just got me back into Osmosis Jones by showing me some of her most recent fanfiction. You should check it out. It's really well written and posted on DA. I don't know what it is about her, but she always manages to pull me in and get me fangirling over the weirdest pairings. Not that I'm complaining. I'm really glad she pulled me in. Now I can add one more thing to my list to make fanart for. X3
As for your question, I'd have to say I prefer Purple over Red and Miyuki over Spork. No real reason. I just do. So don't ask.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, as always. I'm so glad to see we haven't lost you over here. We look forward to hearing back from you again soon. =3 So until next chapter~
To InvaderSammeh: Well, hello, InvaderSammeh. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I do believe this is your first time reviewing here. =3 So allow me to thank and welcome you. We very much appreciate your kind review. ^^ As requested, here be the next chapter for you, so we hope very much that you enjoy it. =3 And we thank you kindly for the Gir-shaped cookie. ^^ Trust me, the suspense of this story will only continue to grow as the story goes on. But no need to worry. We don't plan on stopping this story until it's been completed 100%. So even though we may keep you guys waiting at times, you can rest assured that we haven't forgotten and we WILL eventually update the story. For now, however, we can hope I'll be able to better keep up with updates for at least a little while. So hopefully you won't be kept waiting long again anytime soon. ^^ I plan on making it up to you guys by posting as many chapters as possible. So we hope you enjoy the quick updates to come. =3 Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. ^^