A/N: Welp, it would seem I've once again fallen behind on my own update schedule. XD Sorry about that, you guys. I meant to have this chapter out last Wednesday but got a little caught up working on a commission for somebody. That being said however, here's Chapter 188 to hold you all over until my next update, which should be coming out sometime around May 24, 2016. Hope you all enjoy this quick update in the meantime. :) And as always, thanks for all your continued support!~3

ZADR Orange Chapter 188

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

Hesitating for a moment before continuing on with his story, Zim breathed in a shaky sigh before exhaling slowly and considering how to go about retelling his journey back to Earth. He remembered bits and pieces of the experience in question but knew his recollection of those events to be hazy at best. Regardless, he continued as best he could to recall as much as he could from the time he had managed to locate the hangar on his leaders' ship.

Having just about managed to pilot one of the ships he had stolen back to that little blue planet down below, Zim landed the ship in a fairly secluded area of town near the park before stumbling his way out of the cockpit and slowly beginning to drag himself through a number of bushes and trees. He had no idea where he was or where he was going, but he just knew he had to keep walking. Walking for a good several hours at least, he then finally saw an opening in the forest he had crash landed in. He was in the park now, near a virtually empty playground. The sky was gray though and nobody seemed to be wandering about in what was sure to be very bad weather pretty soon. Of course, he had no knowledge of what pain such an event would bring to him.

Glancing around at all the new things as he passed them, not sure why they seemed so familiar to him, Zim shook it off and kept walking until a loud, rumbling crash came from the sky above him. He jumped in surprise then in shock something began to fall, slowly at first and then increasingly faster and with more force. What shocked him most of all though was that these small liquid particles seemed to HURT. It felt like they were burning his flesh right off and little did he know that was actually what was happening.

Looking around for some sort of cover, Zim limped his way towards a small building he saw in the distance as fast as his legs would carry him. It hurt so badly though and there were a few times he just wanted to stop and curl up on the ground. But he wouldn't let that stop him, not after everything he had already been through. He had come this far and he'd be damned if he let whatever was falling from the sky stop him from finding that safe place he kept referring to as 'home.' Finally managing to pull himself the rest of the way across the playground, he was relieved to find shelter under an overhang of the small building he had been heading for. But there was still the loud, booming crash to worry about as he jumped every time it sounded. It wasn't enough shelter. He needed somewhere safe to hide out and recover in. Looking about the place, he then noticed an entrance into the building and hurried his way into it, jumping again when the sky lit up outside. Losing what little feeling he had left in his legs, Zim then collapsed to the floor of what looked to be a bathroom. But something was off. Lifting his hand to stare at, his eyes grew wide as he could see it was covered in some sticky substance that seemed to have stained the floor in there. He smelt it, the strong scent of blood overwhelming him. Perhaps it was his own blood, but it seemed different somehow. Shifting his gaze from his hand to the floor, he could see that the blood seemed to trail off into the corner and underneath one of the bathroom sinks. It made his heart hurt for some reason as he felt himself losing consciousness from a lack of blood. "D-Dib..." the boy's supposed name slipped past his lips one last time before he blacked out in the middle of the bathroom floor.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he came to again. He was still bleeding profusely, but he couldn't stay resting any longer. He knew his body wouldn't heal without the thing that usually rested on his back. He had to get up, had to find the one named Dib. Staggering to his feet, he glanced at the blood stain on the floor of the bathroom once more before whimpering and forcing himself out of the shelter. Thankfully, the rain had calmed down but was still falling in small amounts. He didn't care though. One step and then another, he continued walking forward, trusting his legs to lead him to his destination, wherever that might be.

Making his way down a number of empty streets, Zim stopped when he finally came across one that almost seemed familiar to him. Something told him it wasn't the one that would take him home, but it would at least take him to somewhere safe. His legs began carrying him down the street, a new flood of memories coming to him as he passed familiar landmarks. He had walked this street before, though it left him with both good and bad memories. He had walked it with the raven-haired boy, but he had also walked it alone at one time. He clutched at his chest, the physical pain beginning to get to him again, and he wondered whether he was going to make it. Everything was beginning to grow dark again and the cold atmosphere wasn't helping him at all. But just when it seemed he was about to give up all hope of finding the place he was looking for, the safe place he knew had to be there, a certain house caught his attention, fairly small-looking but more welcoming than the rest on that block. He made his way towards it, body breaking into shivers all up and down his spine. He was freezing at this point, his body becoming numb. He wanted somewhere safe and warm and soft to curl up in. He wanted to go inside that house. But he seemed hesitant to knock on the door, his gaze shifting to a window on the second floor of the house. It was the only window he could see that was lit from where he was standing, and it looked to be the warmest room that house had to offer.

Catching sight of a sturdy-looking trellis on the side of the house, he then took to climbing in, intent on getting into that room. He sighed in relief when he reached the top and found the window not to be locked. Glancing in, he could see a small room with a decent-sized bed in the center of it and partially pressed against the wall where his window was located. Opening the last thing blocking him from his destination, he then flopped onto the floor in the room and crawled his way towards the bed.

He was safe, finally! Zim just knew it as he used the last of his strength to pull himself up onto the bed before collapsing in a heap onto the covers, the room spinning. He felt warmth all around him now and softness as he snuggled down underneath the blankets, shifting against something else soft in the bed with him. It felt nice, familiar, and warm. So unbelievably warm as he sighed out in relief. But the bed was shaking as he curled around the shaking form, temporarily quelling its trembling. "D-Dib..." that familiar name slipped past his lips one last time before he nearly passed out from the effort of staying awake in his current condition, the blood loss finally taking its toll on him.

QQQ~*~*~*QQQ END FLASHBACK QQQ~*~*~*QQQ

Zim sighed as he finished retelling what he could remember of what had happened to him.

"Wow..." Dib was speechless now as he stared back at the Irken with wide, disbelieving eyes. The other's ordeal had been much worse than he thought it had been. "You...You really went through all of that for us? H-How could you think I wouldn't have so much confidence in you? You're amazing...You...You really did come back to life for us...Y-You...You can do anything…You're the most amazing person I've ever met, Zim..." he stared up at Zim with almost a wonder about him.

Trying not to let his ego inflate too much at the praise, Zim blushed. "W-Well... You still put too much confidence in me." he said with a somewhat crooked smile.

Dib merely shook his head at that however. "No...In the past, I don't think I put ENOUGH confidence in you...But to know you went through all of that...for me and the smeets...It's just amazing. You're amazing. And nothing you could say would make me think otherwise." he leaned in to press his lips to Zim's, kissing him gently. "I owe you my life...Nobody has ever done anything like that for me in my entire life..." he kissed Zim again, not knowing how he could ever make it up to Zim.

Smiling a little once Dib had broken the kiss, Zim reached to rub Dib's swollen belly. "I couldn't let you go through this alone. I made a promise." he said, still remembering what he had told the other from back before he had been taken.

"I'm glad you kept this one..." Dib breathed out against the Irken's lips, smiling back at him as he rested his forehead against Zim's, one of his free hands making its way to the hand on his belly. "And the smeets are too…" he said when he felt them kicking against their intertwined hands.

Grinning when he felt the kicking against his hand, Zim kissed Dib lightly before turning to nuzzle his belly softly.

Dib smiled at the way Zim nuzzled his belly before feeling another hard kick to the gut. He winced, pulling away to retrieve his plate of food. "Heh...I think the smeets are still hungry." he said, returning to his food.

"Oh, sorry. Heh." Zim sat up again and returned to his own meal.

Rubbing his belly with one hand while feeding himself a forkful of mashed potatoes with his other, Dib leaned back against Zim once he had retrieved his food and made himself comfortable against the Irken. "Mmmm..." he licked his lips, feeling the smeets inside him beginning to calm again. "I think they like it…" he then said in an upbeat tone of voice before going to eat another bite, enjoying the creamy, buttery taste quite a lot himself.

Wrapping an arm around Dib when he leaned back against him, Zim smiled at the hybrid's sudden appetite. "Well, it's not too bad." he shrugged before eating some himself.

Dib smiled to himself. "It's at least better for them than just sweets." he laughed a bit before taking a bite out of one of the biscuits Rose had given him, really feeling hungry now. He looked back down at his plate, noting that she had also served him some kind of fish, which he cut into with his fork to taste.

Zim watched as he went to take a bite of the fish. "Any good?" he asked curiously, having never tried fish in all the time he'd been on Earth.

Chewing for a good few seconds before swallowing and smacking his lips together, Dib then smiled wide. "Yeah, really good." he said before going back for more. "I'm not sure whether you'd like it though. It's fish. You might be allergic to it if it's anything like meat is to you." he smiled apologetically back at the Irken, having always felt somewhat guilty that the alien had so few choices to choose from when it came to eating Earth food.

Zim merely shrugged however. "I can still try it." he said before leaning over with his fork and nabbing a bit of fish from Dib's plate.

Blinking down at the bit of fish Zim had nabbed from him, Dib then followed it with wide eyes, watching to see what Zim's reaction to eating it would be. He sat there rather silently for a moment, watching as Zim munched on the small bite of food, seemingly analyzing the taste. "Sooo...What do you think?" he asked after Zim had swallowed it. He really hoped the other didn't break out or anything from an allergic reaction like he did with other types of Earth foods.

"Hmmm..." Zim licked his lips and thought on it. "Well, it's okay, I guess…Not the best thing Zim has tasted though." he said before returning back to the mashed potatoes Dib had piled onto his plate earlier.

"Oh, really?" Dib smirked back at the Irken, a part of him rather relieved that the other hadn't become sick from trying the fish on his plate. "Then do tell, what IS the best thing you've tasted?" he then asked, leaning in to lick at Zim's lips almost seductively.

Blushing at the lick to his lips, Zim then grinned at the playful tone in Dib's voice. "In terms of food? Or everything I've tasted?" he asked in just as flirtatious a voice.

Dib smiled even wider at the question. "How about both?" he said, leaning in to catch Zim's lips yet again, this time in a kiss however.

Moaning a little at the attention, Zim kissed back deeply.

Sliding his own tongue into Zim's mouth, Dib explored it as he analyzed the taste of Zim's mouth. "Mmmm..." he broke the kiss after a few more moments or so. "You're delicious..." he then licked his lips yet again.

Blushing at those words, Zim grinned before a light cough interrupted them suddenly.

"How are things going in here?" Rose asked from her spot in the doorway.

Caught a bit off guard by the small interruption, Dib pulled away from Zim instantaneously, as did Zim from him. "U-Uh...W-Well, we..." he blushed himself, not knowing how much of that Rose had seen. "We're fine..." he then finally blurted out, all the while dropping his gaze down to the bed underneath them.

"O-Oh...Well, Jack and I were wondering whether the two of you wanted to come down for dessert with us or not. Jack's making milkshakes." Rose said temptingly and she smiled wide back at them.

Zim smiled a little at the offer. "We'd love some, right Dibbers?" he looked at Dib expectantly, all this savory food they were eating starting to make his natural sweet tooth kick in now.

Dib blushed even more at Zim's little nickname for him. "U-Uhm...Y-Yeah." he nodded, lifting his gaze back up to look at Rose.

Rose clapped her hands together happily. "Oh, good! You'll love Jack's milkshakes. They're the best and one of my favorite parts about being pregnant." she said, making her way into the room to help Zim and Dib with their plates. She then stopped when her foot brushed past something and looked down at what appeared to be several video disks piled together in a plastic bag. "Hmm? What are these?" she asked, kneeling down to pick up the plastic bag.

Dib stared at the bag with wide eyes for a moment before answering. "N-Nothing...Just some old videos I found lying around my room...I-I used to tape a lot of videos of Zim back when he first arrived on Earth...B-But I never got around to labeling them all, so I'm not exactly sure what's on them all." he said, having decided to take them back with him so he could properly label and organize them, figuring it'd be best he didn't just leave them laying around for his father or anybody else to find.

Zim grinned evilly at that bit of information. "Oh really~? Well maybe we should watch them then and see what IS on them." he suggested, wanting to see what footage of himself the other had taken of him all those years back.

Dib could only blush even more at that proposal though. "W-Well, they're not very good. I-I mean, most of them were probably just of me chasing you home after school, I'm sure. A-And...Maybe a few were recorded from when I...Uhm...hid a camera inside your base..." he said that last part rather quickly, recalling one camera in particular that he had managed to install inside Zim's base that Zim STILL had as of yet to find. He had taken a few recordings from it in the past but had stopped when very little actually happened on it. In fact, he had been watching the feeds on his laptop only a few months before he and Zim had actually gotten together.

"In my base? But how did you manage to get one inside my base?" Zim looked rather surprised now.

Not wanting to tell the other, Dib bit his lip and shook his head reluctantly. Really, he had just asked Gir to put it in there for him, but he wasn't about to rat out the little android to Zim. "Wh-What does it matter how I got it into your base? I-It's not like I'm still using it to spy on you or anything." he pulled his knees to his chest, just then realizing Zim might want to know where in his base it actually was. It was still there, of course. He had seen it several times during his stay at Zim's base. But it wasn't like he was still using it or anything. In fact, it wasn't in the best of spots anyways. Just in one of the hallways Zim often traveled down to get to his labs. He hadn't told Gir where specifically to put the thing, just to put it somewhere where he would be able to see Zim. And boy had he seen Zim quite a few times in rather ridiculous situations.

Zim pouted up at Dib when he refused to tell him how he'd gotten a camera past his security. "I know that. I just didn't know you had gotten one into my base." he said stubbornly, making a mental note to himself to up the security a bit more once they returned back home.

"M-Maybe we shouldn't watch these videos then." Dib said, reaching out to take the plastic bag from Rose and clutch it close to his chest. He didn't remember exactly what could possibly be on any of these tapes and was reluctant to watch them in case any of them contained anything on them that would be potentially embarrassing for Zim, especially considering half the time the feed had shown Zim going up and down the hallway in nothing but a towel, Gir having placed the camera right near the bathroom Zim used for his paste baths.

"Oh come on, I'm curious now! I must know what you've got on me."

Dib blushed a bright red at the other's continued prodding. "Y-You might not like what you see..." he warned, holding the bag of tapes even tighter. "S-Some of the things I caught on tape were kind of...unexpected..." he then lifted his eyes up to gaze at Zim almost guiltily, certain this most likely wouldn't end well if they did go through with actually watching these videos.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 188. Until next time~