ZADR Orange Chapter 162

Warnings: Extreme OOCness

Rating: M for later chapters

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

Enjoy. =3

Getting up himself to follow Rose out of the room when she stood to leave, the medical drone closed the door behind them before glancing at Rose and eyeing her up and down for a moment. "You're heavy with smeet as well, are you not?" he said, having taken note of the rather swollen bulge in her belly.

Placing a hand on her belly, Rose smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah…" she said as she rubbed at it gently, her stomach having grown rather large in recent weeks.

The medical drone bit down on his lip a bit uneasily at that information. "I believe...that a part of his vulnerability to illness may have to do with his pregnancy. Are you...still alright with taking care of him in your current condition? You might be vulnerable to coming down with the same illness if you're not careful." he pointed out, not wanting her to succumb to the same fate as Dib had.

Rose's eyes widened at those words. "I…I never thought of that..." she said before biting down on her own lip now. "I-I didn't think of that...But he needs me..." she said, not about ready to just abandon Dib after everything he'd already been through.

"If there is anyone else who can help you care for him, I would suggest having them do so. And while you are not caring for him, I would also suggest being on a bit of bed rest yourself. You seem to be showing some signs of fatigue when you're with him."

Rose sighed. "I know..." she said, having noticed her own lack of energy lately. Dib had been through so much though; she insisted all her focus went to him.

"Take some time to relax a little. Otherwise you may wear yourself down to the point of being in the same condition as Dib is in. And that wouldn't do either of you any good."

Heading towards the living room, Rose nodded at those words. "Alright, I'll get a little rest right now then. Then I'll go check up on Dib again." she said, figuring it best she follow doctor's orders and get as much rest as she could between caring for Dib.

"I think that would be best."

Rose smiled at him. "Why don't you get yourself a snack and a little rest too?" she suggested, wanting the medical drone to feel a little more at home while he was staying there and helping out with Dib.

The medical drone merely nodded in response. "I'll admit. Some of your Earth snacks aren't half bad. I can see why Zim was so willing to stay here." he said before heading on down the stairs with Rose.

Rose giggled a little at that response. "Well, let's get you something to eat then. I'm feeling a bit peckish myself." she blushed, knowing she had just eaten lunch.

Meanwhile, back upstairs with Dib, the hybrid had fallen asleep again and was shivering at the abuse of a rather terrible nightmare. He was almost to the point of waking up and screaming when a sudden warmth crept up onto him, giving just enough comfort to quell the terrifying dream and allow him to fall into a deeper and more fulfilling sleep that he hadn't known since seeing Zim die.

"Mmmm...Z-Zim..." Dib murmured in his sleep, a few stray tears escaping from his eyes as he cuddled into the warmth, antennae twitching.

Having picked out something small to eat for herself, as well as a tasty snack for the medic drone, Rose took a seat at the kitchen table with him before nibbling at her treat and contemplating what the next best step would be to take in regards to getting Dib eating again.

Entering the kitchen with some groceries just as Rose and the medic drone were sitting down to have their snacks, Jack looked between the two of them before placing the bags in his arms down on the kitchen counter. "Hey, hon." he leaned down to kiss her on the head. "I picked up those things you wanted me to get at the store for Dib." he said, pulling out a few cans of soup as well as some other groceries he'd picked up for dinner that night. "Lily and the kids are just unpacking the rest of it now. So, how were things while we were gone?" he asked, doubting things had improved any but asking nonetheless.

"Not good…It looks as though Dib's getting sick now. He has a high fever, and he won't eat..."

"Oh no...How high? Do you think we might be able to get some soup down into him? Or is he just refusing to eat anything altogether?" Jack asked, beginning to put away some of the groceries just as Lily entered with the kids to help him.

"We could try with the soup…But he barely let me give him water…I think he's lost his will to go on…Not even his smeets are enough anymore..."

"Well, we can't just sit back and do nothing; watch him slowly kill himself."

Rose nodded sadly. "Here, make some of the soup up and I'll go see if he'll eat it." she said, thinking that if he wouldn't eat solid food then maybe she could get something liquid into him instead.

"Alright." Jack set to work on making just a can of chicken noodle soup for him, scooping only a little bit into a bowl for now. "Here. Maybe we can get a little bit of this into him. It's technically not a food if you think about it. If he'll take in even just a little bit of liquid then there's a chance we can get him to take in a little bit of this at least." he said, trying to remain positive despite how he really felt about the situation in that moment.

Setting her snack down and standing up to take the soup from Jack, Rose nodded before heading for the exit. "I'll try to get him to eat some." she smiled and pecked Jack on his cheek before heading up to the guest room and knocking as she opened the door. "Dib sweetheart, would you be willing to eat some sou-" she began to say before freezing in her spot, her eyes widening as she stared at the bed the other was laying in, the bowl of soup falling from her hands and clattering onto the floor as she screamed out loudly.

Hearing the scream from down in the kitchen, Jack and the others all came running to see what had happened. "Rose, what is it?! What's wrong?!" Jack ran to her side as she merely pointed a single finger in at something in the room. Looking inside, Jack then stared in horrified shock at what had spooked his wife so much. "W-What the-..." he began to say before falling silent himself, unable to believe his eyes.

In the bed was Dib curled up sleeping soundly, but curled up half beside him and half on top of him was a pale, bruised, and bloodied up Irken that looked a lot like-

"I-It's Zim..."

Antennae twitching at all the commotion, Dib slowly blinked his eyes open to have a look around, first landing his eyes on the shocked faces of everybody out in the hallway before realizing there was a weight pinning him down to the bed. His eyes grew wide. There was blood on the clothes Jack had let him borrow. Thinking he was having another nightmare in that moment, he screamed, terrified, as he almost instantly pulled away from the body lying on top of him and tumbled head first onto the floor beneath him.

Letting out a small groan, Zim winced from the loss of his Dib but other than that didn't move at all.

Rose's eyes grew wide at the bit of movement. "H-He's alive...He's alive!" she ran up to the bedside quickly as Jack moved in to sit Dib up and hold the trembling hybrid close.

Staring wide-eyed at what looked to him to only be Zim's dead corpse, Dib rather shook his head, yanking at his antennas and pulling his knees in to himself. "No! No, it's a trick! I saw him die! They killed him!" he cried to himself, not willing to believe it at first.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 162. =3 Until next time~