A/N: Well, so much for trying to stick to a semi-regular update schedule. After that last update though, I fell majorly behind on the schedule I had set up for this story. XD Ah wells. Since I'm pretty certain I won't be able to catch up with all the updates I had planned out a year in advance for before the end of this year, guess I'll just post like normal until the start of 2017 now. Sorry, you guys. I really did try to keep on top of this story as much as I could, and I'm honestly surprised I kept up with it for as long as I did. But I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to completely keep up after the summer ended and we started heading into the holiday season. Regardless, here's the update I was supposed to upload way back in August. Lol. Not that it really matters. This story is shit anyways (I say that with love), and I'm fairly certain there aren't too many people who continue to read this garbage, what with my spotty updatage and all over the years. Lol.

Here's for the people who continue to stick it out with me though. XD I'm one step closer to finally putting this story to rest. And while it's true there's still a lot to update for this story, I've actually reached a milestone with the posting of this chapter. This chapter concludes the last of what myself and NGD had written on DA. The rest of this story has been saved to my email, and beyond that, I'll be working on the story's final ending. So yeah. I guess in a way we are finally drawing to an end, though I doubt I'll be posting that ending for a while yet. Posting seems to be the problem with me. So much ficafying that still needs to be done and so little time in the day to do so. Regardless, I'll try to work harder on this story in the coming months.

Good news is, I finally got myself a new job after 3 years of hell at my old job. Perhaps that will afford me a little more time for writing, though I can't guarantee my writing will actually get any better. This chapter itself was pretty rushed and not very well put together. But ah well. I've kept you guys waiting long enough for this update. Enjoy the horribleness and I'll try not to make any future stories posted in the Invader Zim fandom as mind-numbingly awful as this story is. XD Seriously, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around why some of you guys like this story so much. There are so many flaws in it. I mean, it was fun to write and all, but looking back on old chapters always makes my eyes bleed. Lol!

Regardless, hope you guys enjoy this quick update! :) ...I guess? XD

ZADR Orange Chapter 191

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

Pouting rather moodily as Rose once again tried to convince him to reschedule Dib's therapy appointment for another day, Zim could only eye the kitchen wall intensely in an all too futile attempt to keep his aggravation at bay.

Sensing the other's irritation in that moment, Dib finally spoke up after several minutes more of watching Rose try to convince Zim to postpone their outing. "...I don't want to go..." he interrupted them in a rather timid voice.

"Wha?! Buh, Dehb! Ee ave tah O!" What?! But, Dib! We have to go!

Pulling back with a cringe, Dib's antennae fell limp at the sides of his head as he shook his head. "I-I don't want to go..." he repeated a second time, though a little more firmly this time as he attempted once again to get out of this.

"Doh, Debh…Ee Eel O!" Oh, Dib...We will go!

Dib winced at how much harder it was getting to make out what Zim was saying. He didn't want to go, didn't want to be called crazy, and didn't want to fight with the other about it again. He began backing away from the table, on the verge of just running out of there.

A bit shocked that Dib was moving away from him, Zim blinked at him dumbfounded for a moment. "Debh? Wash ong?" Dib? What's wrong? he tried to placate the other's nerves by addressing him in a softer tone now.

"...Please don't make me go..." Dib trembled slightly in his seat. "Please..." he then looked at the Irken pleadingly, his eyes glinting with tears.

"Dib, you're going to be fine." Rose moved in slowly, reaching out a hesitant hand to take him by the arm before he could bolt out of there. "We'll be there the entire time with you." she then cooed in a voice deep-seated with compassion.

Situating himself right beside Dib on his other side, Zim nodded his head in agreement. "An Ahh Ee arr Oo." And I'll be there too. he offered the hybrid a faint smile.

Really not wanting to go despite what Rose and Zim were saying to him, Dib felt like breaking down and crying in that moment, their sudden closeness causing him to jerk back uncomfortably. He then felt one of the smeets beginning to kick, as though as uncomfortable with the situation as he was. It made him want to sink to the ground and curl up from the pain of it all.

Antennas wilting at that reaction, Zim pulled the other in close to try and comfort him.

His antennae twitching the more the smeets continued to kick inside of him, Dib found the other's chest to hide his face away in as he broke down completely. He felt his bulgy belly press slightly up against Zim's own body, the kicking inside him calming considerably at the close contact. "...They don't want to go either..." his voice came out as a quiet whisper.

"Doh, Dehb. Ey aww us urked uph aye Oo aw." Oh, Dib. They are just worked up like you are.

"Perhaps we should get going now and get this over with already for Dib's sake. After all, the meeting is only about an hour long. And if he really hates it, we'll never make him go again." Rose gave in, certain now that if they didn't do this today, there would be no chance they'd be able to convince Dib to go through with it another day.

Already hating the idea despite not having gone yet, Dib merely attempted to bury himself farther into Zim's chest.

Holding Dib close, Zim just nodded, tired of trying to speak words as opposed to mere vowel sounds.

"Alright. Go ahead and get the car ready, Jack." Rose turned to face him before looking back at Zim and Dib. "And if you two have got everything you need already, go on and get in the car. I'll be right out." she said before strolling out of the kitchen to grab a few things.

Holding onto Dib loosely as they bypassed the front door to head out through the garage with Jack, Zim lead Dib out to the car, which sat parked right in the middle of the driveway, ready and waiting to take them to their designated destination.

Joining them just a few minutes later, Rose climbed into the seat up front next to Jack's before glancing back at Zim and Dib, who were already strapped into the back seats.

Pressing himself close to Zim, Dib rested his head in the other's lap, hoping the medicine Zim had taken would still work despite the adverse effects it seemed to be having on the Irken.

Petting Dib for comfort, Zim sat rigid in his seat, his stomach already giving an odd lurch as though anticipating the worst.

Trying to distract Zim from the car ride to come, Dib reached up to take the alien by one of his hands before bringing said appendage down to rub his belly gently, the petting soothing both him and the smeets considerably. He then closed his eyes tiredly, sleep starting to take hold of him as Jack pulled out of the driveway and began the long drive into the city.

Closing his eyes with a remote gulp, Zim focused on Dib and only Dib for the entire rest of the car ride, a part of him mesmerized by how much calmer he felt just for occupying himself with the smeets' movements inside the other's belly.

Hardly noticing the car ride himself, it wasn't until the sound of voices calling his name had Dib rousing from his sleep to find they had already arrived.

"Dib...Dib..." Rose's voice echoed in his ear as she shook the sleeping hybrid awake in Zim's lap. "We're here already." she then smiled when he finally blinked his eyes open slowly.

"Hmmm?" Dib lifted his head from where it was resting in Zim's lap and rubbed at one of his eyes sleepily.

Staring at Dib as he came to little by little, Zim grinned at him a bit when he sat up in place, his teeth remaining fastened shut as his mouth felt stuffed full of peanuts and his tongue had become completely numb.

Glancing up at Zim, Dib couldn't help but wince slightly at how swollen the Irken's face looked now. Of course, it could have been worse, but his cheeks looked to be puffed out quite a bit now and he shuddered at the thought of what the other must sound like were he to attempt speaking. "Sorry..." he uttered out a quiet apology, his antennae shuddering before falling to hang limply at the sides of his face.

"Ahhooaah." It's okay. Zim murmured out a string of ambiguous vowel sounds before then trying to hide the fact that he had spoken, knowing it would only upset Dib more.

Antennae drooping at Zim's momentary attempt to speak, Dib could only nuzzle himself even more into Zim apologetically, not wanting to get out of the car at all now.

"Come on, Dib. I promise this won't be nearly as bad as you think it will be. And the sooner you get it over with, the sooner we can leave." Rose tried to coax him out of the back seat with a gentle arm rub.

Nodding his head in agreement, Zim tried to offer him another small smile, this time holding his tongue despite how badly he wanted to comfort his hybrid with soft words and that usual air in his voice that always managed to put Dib back at ease.

Blushing at all the eyes that were suddenly on him, Dib cast them all a short-lived glance before finally nodding his head in defeat and relinquishing his control of the situation to Zim, who sat him up so they could exit the car.

Nuzzling him as they slid out of the car and advanced towards the building, Zim couldn't help but dot a handful of kisses against the other's brow before leading him by one hand to the entrance of what looked to be a rather large superstructure.

Clinging to Zim as they made their way towards the entryway, Dib's eyes then began darting all about the place, as though captivated by the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city environment. It wasn't often he went into this part of the city, and he couldn't help but notice how much busier it was than everywhere else.

Not the biggest fan of the city himself, Zim rubbed at Dib's side almost restlessly, as though trying to keep both himself and his hybrid calm.

Entering the building, the group then headed for one of its elevators to take them up just a few floors higher. Not really paying much attention to where he was going, Dib merely allowed Zim to lead him until they had reached the threshold to the elevators. They waited a few moments, one of the doors finally opening and allowing them to enter. That's when Dib collided with somebody exiting said elevator and hidden behind a high stack of papers. "AHH!" he let out a short-live yelp as the stack of papers scattered all over the place, littering the floor right outside the elevator door.

"Oh! S-Sorry!" Dib apologized quickly, kneeling down to help gather them back up before looking to see who it was he had bumped into. He then stopped dead in his tracks, eyes growing wide at the sight of several fliers containing his and Gaz's faces on them.

"Eebh?" Dib? Zim looked at him concerned for a moment before then glancing up at the man they had collided with and gasping.

"I-I'm terribly sorry." spoke the man in an all too familiar voice. Standing before them was none other than the most renowned man in the field of science, the Professor himself, and Dib's father. He leaned down to gather up some of the papers himself. Piling them together, he then looked at the girl- disguised boy he had run into, having to do a double-take to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "H-Hey...You look very familiar. Have we met?" he asked, eyeing Dib up and down before glancing over at Zim, who was posted at his side. His eyes then grew wide. "Hey, wait a minute. I know you." he pointed at the disguised Irken. "You're my son's little foreign friend! Tell me, have you seen him around at all lately?!" he exclaimed, looking up at Zim almost pleadingly, what the alien could see of his face looking rather tired.

"Guuh, Ouuuh." Uhh, nooo. Zim tried to answer convincingly.

His face falling a bit at that answer, Membrane sighed heavily and gathered up the rest of his papers. "Oh, I see...Well, if you do see him, do you think you could give me a call on this number?" he asked, handing Zim one of the papers. He had just been dropping off a few of them in the building, having figured that if he was going to find Dib, it would no doubt be somewhere with a therapist in house, given his son's history of supposed 'insanity.' "Oh! And same goes for my daughter, Gaz." he handed him another one of the fliers only with Gaz's picture on it instead. "Please, I'm desperate to find them." he then spoke in what was obviously a sleep-deprived voice.

Taking the papers being handed to him, Zim then sent the professor and all too suspicious look, something about his efforts to locate them seeming sketchy to him.

"Umm, what happened, Professor? Why are they missing?" Rose then interjected, all the while glancing down at Dib rather nervously.

The professor lifted his gaze to look up at Rose now. "If only I knew..." he shook his head in disgrace, having completely forgotten about the fact that he had been the one to kick them out, courtesy of Zim wiping his memory a while back. "I came home from work one day and they were just gone. I honestly don't know what happened. It's not like them to disappear for extended periods of time like this. At first, I figured maybe they had just gone out for a bite to eat or something, but when they didn't come home after a few days, I called in the police." he sighed, recalling his panic when he'd contacted the school only to discover they hadn't been attending classes either.

Both Rose and Jack glanced over at Zim and Dib. "Well that's just terrible." Rose stated in an all too cryptic tone of voice.

Dib didn't look up from where he had tucked his head down, even when Rose and Jack glanced at him. Instead, he had become a rather pale white at this point as he was afraid to look up and let the professor see his face fully. He didn't want to be caught as his body had become completely stiff and he prayed that they would be allowed to leave soon.

Shifting himself closer to him, Zim held onto Dib tightly, as though that alone would protect the other's identity.

"Well, we'll be sure to call if we see them." Jack spoke in an equally noncommittal voice as he side-stepped the professor to position himself just in front of Zim and Dib so he wouldn't have the chance to clearly see Dib again.

"Thank you." the professor nodded his head at them before gathering up the last of his papers and continuing on his way out of the building to put up more fliers.

His body refusing to respond even after the professor had left and Zim tried to help him up, Dib remained kneeling down on the ground for several long moments, his gaze fixed on the reflection of himself he could see in the meticulously polished floors.

"Eebeh, eessh eeuuh…" Dib, please get up... Zim tugged at Dib's arm a little, trying to get him to stand.

After a few moments longer of stunned hesitation, Dib finally seemed to come back to reality at the other's tugging. Slowly getting back up onto his feet, he then stumbled into the Irken slightly as he was still feeling rather shaken by the encounter. He didn't say anything though as they entered the elevator, still just staring into space even after the doors had already shut and the lift had begun its labored ascent to the floor Membrane had no doubt just come from.

Studying Dib's features closely, even as he remained trapped within a trance of his own making, Zim stroked his hair carefully, doing his best not to mess it up while at the same time trying to offer him some further comfort.

"...I feel nauseous..." Dib then finally spoke upon exiting the elevator with Zim, Jack, and Rose, his knees shaking with every step he took.

Nuzzling Dib softly, Zim kissed him lightly on the cheek, his swollen tongue thwarting all previous desires he had to try and speak.

"Go ahead and take a seat then, Dib. Jack and I will get you signed in." Rose pointed to a handful of open chairs as she approached the receptionist's desk to fill out any necessary paperwork they might need.

Taking a seat in one of the semi-comfy chairs, Dib almost instantly curled up in his spot and leaned himself up against Zim for comfort.

Purring slightly when the other found his lap and took possession of it, Zim reached around to hold him close, happy that he could at least hold Dib like this in public without too many people paying them any mind now that Dib was properly disguised.

Returning with Jack to take a seat next to them in the waiting area, Rose eyed the three males warily. "Now, remember, you three. Dib's a female for today. Don't forget to refer to him as 'her' and 'she' pronouns." she reminded them in a hushed voice, not wanting this to blow up in their faces.

Dib glanced up at Rose momentarily before nodding his head slowly, having planned from the start not to say much anyways.

Both Zim and Jack nodded in agreement as well, however less concerned about blowing Dib's cover as opposed to how the therapy session itself would go.

Pressing himself back up against Zim after a moment or two, Dib's antennae shuddered as they waited restlessly for the receptionist to call Dib's name. It wasn't until a good fifteen minutes had passed that the receptionist finally stood to call them in, not a single word having passing between any of them in all that time.

"Would...umm...Deb Williams please come to the front desk now." the receptionist read off the fake name Rose and Jack had come up with for him.

Smiling at Dib when he glanced at her uncertainly for a moment, Rose nodded her head encouragingly for him to go on up.

Slowly pushing himself up from his chair, Dib clung to Zim tightly as the two of them approached the front desk.

Glancing at the pair oddly for a moment, the receptionist then just shrugged and went to open a door just to their left for them. "The therapist will be with you shortly." she stated, leading them to a back room with a couch and other homey pieces of furniture in it. "Make yourself at home." she gestured to the couch before leaving to return back to her post at the front desk.

Wishing he could talk to Dib in the moments preceding the now long-awaited therapy session, Zim rubbed Dib's side gently, for some reason feeling even less at ease than Dib was in that moment.

After a moment of looking around at the all too familiar setup he'd grown accustomed to in his younger years, Dib allowed Zim to lead him over to the couch to take a seat. He sat down next to Zim, pressing himself close to the Irken again and pulling his legs up so he could curl around his belly, a behavior he'd recently picked up when placed into particularly stressful situations. He had no idea what to expect so far as the therapist was concerned. Normally, it was just some middle-aged man who gave him judgmental looks and spoke down to him as though he were diagnosing something obvious. It wasn't until they finally heard the door opening again that he looked up to see a woman of about 32 years or so enter instead. She smiled at them warmly before walking in to take a seat.

Zim looked up as the woman entered as well, rubbing at Dib's back all the while and gently ghosting his fingers over the other's antennas to try and calm him down a bit.

"Well, hello there. I'm Dr. Acres. You can call me Jade though." she smiled at the two boys, quickly identifying which of them was Dib, or in this case, "Deb." Her eyes then fell down to Dib's swollen belly and she quickly pieced together the two visitors' relationship to each other and jotted down a few things in her notes.

Merely nodding his head in acknowledgment of her introduction, Dib remained silent otherwise, wanting to avoid as much talking as possible.

Nodded his head as well, Zim reached a hand out to shake hers as he'd seen many humans do before in such social situations. "Ahho." Hello. he attempted to speak for the first time since running into Membrane on their way into the building.

Blinking at Zim's introduction, Jade reached out to take his hand anyways before sending them both a friendly smile. "Hello. I was told over the phone that you wanted to accompany Deb here. Might I ask what brings you here today?" she then asked, having only received a very brief explanation over the phone.

Looking away to one side stubbornly, Dib pouted and glared down at the floor moodily. "...Nothing..." he said as though to reiterate that point to Zim, reluctant to admit anything was wrong and already wanting to leave and go home.

Sighing a little at that response, Zim turned his attention away from Dib and tried to speak, doing his very best to enunciate his words so he could explain everything to her without having to repeat himself. "Eebh esh abbin aww inds ub wobble, un ee aww oowy eel oour ourellph." Deb is having all kinds of trouble here lately, and we're worried she'll hurt herself. he said before cringing a bit at how little of that he could actually understand himself.

"Oh?" Jade returned to her notepad, writing a few things down before setting it aside, having just barely managed to catch the word "trouble" amongst that jumble of words. "And can you give me some examples of the kinds of trouble you're having?" she then asked Dib directly, not wanting to only address Zim, given the appointment wasn't for him. When she received no answer from Dib however, she sighed, turning her attention back on Zim. "Has she physically attempted to harm herself since she first started having these 'troubles?'" she then asked him, deciding to stick with yes and no questions for the time being since Dib was refusing to answer any of her questions during this appointment.

Wishing Dib would say something for himself, Zim internally groaned at his reluctance to say anything on the matter. It was so hard for him to try and speak in that moment, but regardless, he attempted to answer the question currently being asked of him. "A bon fink ee ash." I don't think she has. he replied, at least thankful he could somewhat understand what he had said that time.

"Okay...Can you tell me when you started to notice anything different in her behavior? Was there perhaps anything that might have triggered it? Or is there anything you've noticed that continues to trigger her reactions?"

Entire body seeming to droop at all these questions, Dib steadfastly remained silent despite his desire to set the record straight once and for all that he was perfectly fine. He still didn't think there was anything wrong with him but knew that if he even attempted to argue that point, they'd find a reason to say otherwise.

Zim slouched a bit in his seat at the question as well before answering. "Aa agh ee eh obbum..." I might be the problem... he conceded, having not wanted to admit it himself but having come to notice Dib always reacted negatively to most of his actions.

Antennae perking at those words, Dib turned on Zim quickly. "NO, YOUR'E NOT!" he exclaimed before sending Zim an all too hurt look. Whatever the Irken thought was wrong with him, he didn't want the other thinking it was his fault.

"Well, Deb...What IS the problem then?" Jade leaned forward in her seat a bit, waiting for an answer from him now that he was actually acknowledging their current conversation.

Blushing at his own abrupt outburst, Dib stood up to leave the room. "Excuse me...I need to use the restroom..." he murmured, an arm currently wrapped around his stomach.

Wilting a little as Dib left the room, Zim then glanced at the therapist once more. Maybe this really WAS a bad idea...he considered to himself as he sat in relative discomfort now for having been left alone with her.

Waiting for Dib to leave the room completely, Jade then turned to Zim and spoke in a quieter voice. "Is that fairly normal for her? I mean, I can tell when a patient doesn't want to be here. And it's hard for me to do anything for them if they don't want to help themselves." she said, hoping she could get just a little more info out of Zim before Dib returned to the room.

Zim could only nod his head slightly. "Ee oshn aana ee ere..." She doesn't want to be here... he sighed in defeat, something having told him this wouldn't go over well despite how badly he just wanted to help Dib.

"Do YOU want her to be here though? If you could just tell me what you know about all this, I might be able to at least do something for her before she leaves. It's hard to do anything for a patient who doesn't want to help themselves, but it's not impossible if there are people here who want their loved ones to get better."

Sighing once more to himself, Zim contemplated on whether he should give her any more info regarding Dib before finally giving in and starting in on a whole rant about what they had been through, though a clearly edited version. The last thing he wanted was for this entire visit to be a waste of time and effort after all.

Taking down notes on everything Zim was willing to tell her, Jade nodded her head in satisfaction once she felt she had enough information to continue on with this session. "Oh, I see...I imagine that the root of her problem may be built up stress resulting from everything that's happened to her over the past few months. And coming here probably only added onto that stress. If she weren't already pregnant, I would probably recommend she be put on a low dosage anti-depressant to help calm her down a bit. But I fear that would only make her more stressed at this point. What I'd recommend for the time being is that you try to create as stress-free of an environment as possible. Stress can be a normal symptom in young, pregnant women, but if it continues even after the birth, then I'd recommend making another appointment with me to diagnose it further. Now...what I got out of what you told me is that talk about her mother, or more specifically mothers in general, seems to cause her the most stress overall. Would you say her pregnancy may have intensified her stress over that topic?" she asked once she had finished writing down the last of her notes.

Giving that question some thought, Zim then nodded. It HAD seemed to get worse the further his pregnancy progressed. "Oo on ink ees ooie, oo oo? Aaww eein a ouo?" You don't think she's worried, do you? About being a mother? he asked, having not even considered that before, given how much focus they had been putting towards just managing to pull off a safe delivery.

Jade smiled sadly at him. "It would seem to be the most logical explanation. After all, she is quite young to be becoming a mother already. Chances are she's probably just not ready for such a chapter in her life. Most teen mothers are afraid of messing up. But mistakes really can't be avoided. They're just things that new parents have to take in stride and learn from." she said before reaching over a hand to place on Zim's knee reassuringly.

Nodding his head at that information, as though he'd only just realized it himself, Zim looked away to one side sadly. "Ees mah auf…" It's my fault... he said, guilt slowly beginning to eat away at him once more.

"Oh, come on, now. Don't be so hard on yourself. After all, it takes two people to make a baby. It was a mistake. But you've stayed by her side this entire time and that's all that really matters at this point. The fact that you've stepped up and accepted responsibility for your actions is what's really going to make all the difference in this. She should really count herself lucky to have you. You have no idea how many single mothers I see come through here whose partners abandoned them the second they found out they were pregnant."

Looking up at her shocked for a moment, Zim couldn't speak for several long moments. "Aay oo eey oou aa?" Why would they do that? he asked, having a hard time comprehending what would compel anybody, human or otherwise, to just abandon their mate and offspring.

"Well...Some people are just selfish that way. They think it will ruin their lives and so they completely deny the babies altogether and leave the mother to deal with the consequences of it all. It's rather sad really, how often I see it happen."

Staring back at her with his mouth hanging wide open now, Zim could only shake his head in disgust at such information. How could humans be so cruel?! So terrible! It was virtually unheard of on his planet to do such a thing, seeing as how rare an occurrence a natural birth actually was. Most Irkens would be thrilled to raise offspring of their own that WEREN'T merely cloned like most other Irken smeets actually were.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 191. Until next time~