Author's Notes/Warning: Character Death. You have been warned. Things are getting more serious... I do not own Invader Zim. Be glad I don't.

The Unforgivable Crime

Purple didn't bring up Grahl after that day. Lard Nar tried to ask him many times what happened to the spare Irken guard, but the Tallest wouldn't answer this question. After a while, the former Captain of the Resisty allowed the matter to drop. Grahl was dead. There was nothing he could do about it now.

The nightmares of his crew's horrible deaths plagued him every night after Grahl's disappearance.

Purple complained that he was being too loud, but the Tallest didn't shock him for this. Instead, Purple seemed anxious, and he would often wake Lard Nar in the middle of these nightmares.

"If you want me to wipe your memory of that incident..." Purple began, sounding unsure. He was crouching next to the desk having woken his slave from another fitful sleep.

"It's not me I'm bloody dreaming about!" Lard Nar snapped, wincing when the throbbing in his head worsened. "I'm... my crew... I'm dreaming about my freaken crew!" He sat up and grasped his head. Focusing on the pain would keep him from crying about their deaths.

"Ok..." Purple's antennae fell back. "Then... why don't you tell me about your crew?"

"Like you'd bloody care."

"I don't, but if it will help you get over their deaths, I'll care enough to at least pretend to be interested."

The Tallest sat down on the floor and turned so he could lean a bit against the desk.

"I don't understand... why do you do this?" Lard Nar murmured quietly.

"Because I can," Purple responded shrugging his shoulders. "I don't understand why aliens get so emotional over someone dying."

"Don't you ever miss those who are gone?"

Purple thought about this for a little while. "Yes," he responded, letting out a sigh. "I miss Tallest Miyuki. But she's dead. There is no reason to get upset over her death. We're made to fight, kill, then die. It's the natural order of things."

"I guess you'd have to be insensitive to death then... because you surround yourselves with it."

"I know it's there and I recognize it for what it is, but the dead should not affect the life of the living. What would the point in their deaths be then? Wouldn't it just be pointless? Our soldiers died doing their duty. They fought for the betterment of the Empire. They did not fight for us to be sad or upset by their deaths."

Lard Nar paused. "You know..." he began staring at the Tallest, a bit surprised. "Even though you sounded pretty insensitive... you were kind of philosophical there for a minute."

"Shocking, I know," Purple chuckled. He stopped and turned his head a bit so he could look at Lard Nar, a smile on his face. "... I haven't really spoken like this to anyone before... not even Red."

"Well... I never thought I'd get the chance to speak to you like this... I mean, I never imagined you were anything other than an evil tyrant."

"Yes, well, as fun as it is being nice every once and a while, I don't think I'd be able to do it all the time," Purple admitted. "It just isn't me."

"Are you saying you're naturally bad-tempered?"

"No, that's Red's department."

"It's not that difficult to be nice."

"It's not how I was raised," Purple's smile turned into a smirk. "Just like how you weren't raised to be a heartless killing machine."

Lard Nar scowled. "Anyone can become a killer, but a killer can never become a non-killer. Once you kill someone, your hands are stained forever."

"Yeah," Purple agreed. "I guess I'll always be a killer."

"And I'll always have the potential to become one until I kill something."

"Or until you die. You can't kill anyone when you're dead."

"You are the last person I want to talk about my death, thank you very much."

Purple snickered.

"It's not funny."

"You make me laugh," Purple brushed his antennae back. "Do you really think I'd kill you now? After everything I've gone through to keep you alive? If you up and died all of a sudden I'd be pretty ticked off actually."

"Well you do have pretty terrible mood-swings," Lard Nar pointed out.

"I've never killed anyone when I was moody."

"How about that badly injured technician you kicked into the hallway?"

"He would have died regardless."

"Really?" Lard Nar questioned raising an invisible brow. He wasn't entirely convinced.

"Yes really. There are no medics remember? All we have are ship repair drones, technicians, janitorial drones, and food service drones... and sometimes invaders that have done their jobs and are waiting to be reassigned."

"Why don't you have medics?"

"This is your sixth question tonight," Purple remarked breathing a sigh.

"You don't have to count."

"Red got sick once..." Purple began. "The medics tried to help him, but he ended up getting angry. Most of them were just demoted, but none of them are here on the Massive anymore."

"How did he get sick?"

Purple shrugged his shoulders. "He's just weird like that."

"I didn't think your kind could get sick."

"We make it much more difficult for ourselves to become sick, but that doesn't mean we're completely immune to everything," Purple explained. "Dying from an illness is unheard of, just so you don't get any ideas."

"Purple... do you really think I still want to kill you?"

The Tallest sighed. "I don't know... Red and I ordered your ship to be shot down, and your crew to be killed, and some of them were tortured to death. We also tortured you. If I was in your place, I'd want me dead."

Lard Nar smirked. "Am I detecting a hint of empathy?"

"And you smile? Aliens really are confusing. I thought the memories of your dying crew gave you nightmares and made you freak out."

"This isn't a smile," Lard Nar said. Purple gave him a questioning look.

"Ok you're right... it is, but it's a sly smile. There is a difference..." his smile vanished completely as his eyes fell to the floor. "You know I could never be happy about this... my crew was... they were good people. It's hard for me to picture you as you are right now watching them die like that... I mean Givian... he was screaming and..."

"It would be easy for me to put that all on Red, but the truth was, I went along with it. I watched everything from the start."

"Why did you save me?" Lard Nar asked, fighting back his tears. "Why did you only save me? Why couldn't you have helped Givian or Shloonktapooxis?"

"They weren't former allies Lard Nar. You being a Vortian pretty much saved your life. Even then, I wouldn't have helped you if you hadn't mentioned Tallest Miyuki."

"She told me to... a long time ago she told me that mentioning her name, or a past Tallest's name, might help... I wonder how she knew."

The Tallest noted the conflicted expression on the Vortian's face. A part of him wished to reveal everything that was supposed to be kept secret, but instead he simply changed the subject. "I sometimes wonder what life would be like without this wonderful arrangement of emotions constantly hounding us..."

"I don't know..." Lard Nar sighed. "Why don't you tell me?"

"I have emotions just as much as you do."

"Irken's have emotions?" Lard Nar asked, although Purple assumed from the tone of his voice that the Vortian wasn't being entirely serious. "Really?"

"Oh, ha ha... You really are a rude alien. Maybe I let you get away with too much."

"I've been told I'm a rather nice guy actually," Lard Nar defended himself.

"I'm sure you are when you aren't being forced into slavery," Purple consented as he slowly stood up off the ground. "If it makes you feel any better, I've decided to let you go."

Lard Nar froze, and he stared at the Tallest unable to speak for a moment. This was too unbelievable. The Tallest had to be lying. "When did you decide...?"

"You're acting like I planned your execution date instead of your release," Purple remarked sounding a little disappointed. "I thought you would be thrilled."

"You're serious?"

"Of course."

"When can I leave?"

"How does tomorrow morning sound? I'll get Grahl to escort you to the escape pods. From there you can fly anywhere you want."

Lard Nar could hardly breathe. The Tallest was letting him leave! He could go and... and... start another resistance? Try to kill the Tallests? Stupid moral dilemmas! Oh well it didn't matter. He would be free at the very least.

And Grahl was alive... The Irken guard had survived after all. Why did Purple allow him to believe the Irken guard was dead? It was a relief anyway.

"Thanks Purple," Lard Nar said.

"Can't you call me the Tallest at least once?" Purple questioned.

"Never in your life."

"Oh fine..."

The Tallest slowly got to his feet, and he stretched a bit. "I'm going to sleep, so don't wake me up before morning or I might change my mind and keep you here forever."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to be quiet for one night."

"Good," Purple spoke as he hovered over to his bed. "I'll see you in the morning then."

Lard Nar yawned and curled up under his make shift blanket. He was excited about the idea of gaining his freedom, but he was also feeling tired. Maybe he should stay up, he thought to himself. If he drifted off to sleep and had a nightmare, Purple might wake up and decide not to let him go.

It wasn't long before fatigue won out and he fell asleep.

Lard Nar stirred from his sleep. His body felt heavy and he didn't really want to open his eyes, but when he remembered the conversation he had with Purple the night before, he became fully awake. Blinking, he turned his head a little so he could see if the Tallest was still in bed, and he was.

Of course Purple was going to sleep in on the day he promised to give him freedom. The whole thing was probably some kind of sick joke… but still, he had to try.

The former captain of the Resisty crawled out from under the desk and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He had never gotten fully used to sleeping on the floor. Every morning he woke up feeling sore and stiff.

"So are you planning to sleep all day?" he asked Purple in a loud voice.

The Tallest didn't stir. That was odd. Purple wasn't really a heavy sleeper. Irkens didn't even need sleep from what he understood.

Lard Nar drew closer to the bed until he was almost touching it. Purple's face had turned a sickly pale colour. The Vortian poked the Tallest's arm. "Purple?" he questioned sounding unsure. He gave Purple's arm a shake, but the Tallest remained lifeless… almost as though he was really… dead. He leaned in a bit closer so he could listen for the sounds of breathing.

There were none.

It just wasn't possible. Lard Nar grabbed the blanket covering most of the Tallest and pulled it off. There were no visible stab wounds or laser marks. Purple always slept in his armour, which was kind of strange because it looked rather uncomfortable to sleep in.

"Ok. This joke isn't funny," he said, giving Purple's arm another shake. "Wake up."

There was only one other thing that could be wrong; it was the object all Irkens needed for living. He checked for Purple's pak, but it was gone. How could it be gone? Paks didn't just fall off!

Just in case his assumption was wrong, he checked under the bed. "Ok… this is ridiculous," he told himself, running a hand down his face. "Just calm down… think… what can I do? I need to get help." Maybe the other Tallest would know what to do.

As he turned towards the door, it suddenly opened. He stared wide-eyed as the red Tallest came in. Red paused when he saw his partner's lifeless body, and his eyes narrowed.

"What happened in here?!" he demanded, looking down at the Vortian. There was a dangerous quality in his voice. It made Lard Nar nervous, and he quaked a little when those accusing ruby eyes locked onto him.

"I don't know," Lard Nar said, too shocked to remember what was wrong. Then he remembered.. "It's his pak, it's gone."

"It's gone?" Red's antennae flattened against his head. "You mean my fellow Tallest is dead?! He's dead and you were the last one to see him alive!"

"He was fine before I fell asleep," Lard Nar was quick to defend himself. "He was like this when I woke up."

"Well isn't that convenient for you…" Red growled. "Do you want to know what I think, you arrogant piece of Vortian trash? I think you killed him! You killed him in the middle of the night, and you still have the audacity to lie to my face!" The Tallest tightened his hands into fists. "I knew you would be trouble. I tried to tell Purple, but he wouldn't listen. He thought you were harmless and just look at what happened!

"I didn't kill him!" Lard Nar snapped. He didn't even think when he blurted out, "I had no reason to kill him!" Red wouldn't have known about the conversation he and Purple had the night before. Even if the other Tallest had known, Lard Nar doubted it would matter much.

"You are a rebel! You hate both me and Purple, it's no big secret! You want us both dead!" Red hollered before turning to the open door. "Guards! Arrest this murderer!"

Lard Nar took a few uneasy steps backwards. He recognized that terrible look in the red Tallest's face, although he couldn't remember when he had seen it. Whatever had happened to him before was goingto happen again. He swallowed. His heartbeat quickened, he could hear it throbbing in his chest. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere he could go.

"Don't do this…" Lard Nar spoke through clenched teeth. "Purple wouldn't have wanted you to do this…"

"Purple is dead," Red reminded him with a frightening glare. "You killed him, so you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to make you beg for your life. You'll beg and beg until you can't breathe anymore. Then I'll kill you."

There was no escape. Lard Nar's eyes widened when the Irken guards trailed into the room with their shock sticks and sickles ready. He clenched his hands into tight fists to keep them from trembling. He couldn't show fear. He couldn't… what would his crew think of him? Oh Vort… was he crying?

Red smirked. "Take him to the torture chamber."

No! He wanted to scream, but no words came. Two of the guards came forward and grabbed him by the arms. He turned his head to look at Purple one last time. The Tallest was dead… this had to be a nightmare.

There was no one who could rescue him now.

More Notes: Um... yeah. Paks generally don't just fall off. Someone had to have done that deliberately. Still, when you're panicking, I mean a lot of stuff does end up under the bed. It couldn't hurt to look.

Apparently it does hurt to fail though. More pain, torture, and general unpleasantness in the next chapter. I'm warning you for serious.