Lost

Chapter 16- Lecturing on Fatherhood

"Ilk-smeet!"

"Ilkieeee!"

"Raaaaaaaawwr!"

At first, it wasn't that hard to follow her track, they just had to follow her footprints, but it seemed she had caught on and the trail ended a few meters ahead. So now the trio resorted to calling out. It was cold and dark out there, so they better find her fast before anything else did.

"Okay, if I were an emotionally wrecked smeetager* where would I go?" Zim asked no one in particular. He was just thinking out loud. Again.

"How about under her bed?" GIR suggested. Zim noted he wasn't acting erratically for once, though the suggestion was stupid, and he wasn't even in duty mode. Guess he really was concerned about Ilk.

Fury was holding up his head and looking around. "What's up, Fury-beast?" Zim asked him. Judging by how he was tilting his head to the sides, he guessed the indokuro had heard something and tried to see where it was coming from. "Did you find Ilk-smeet? Take us to her at once!" He didn't even need to ask for permission to get unto Fury's back, dragging GIR along just as Fury darted off through the trees until he came into a clearing with a particular rock formation.

Ilk had curled up under it, hugging her knees and hiding her face in her arms. "Ilk-smeet, there you are!" Zim cried, hopping off Fury.

"If you're going to defend him… or try to justify what he did, save it." Ilk muttered hoarsely before he could get any closer. "I don't want to hear it."

Zim was speechless. She hadn't called the Tallest 'dad'. It was even worse than he thought. "Aww, don't be sad, Ilkie." GIR was the first to go close and give Ilk a hug. She didn't push him away, prompting Fury to approach and rub his head against her body, purring. Zim wanted to go close, but he wasn't sure if she'd want him to touch her.

Zim was aware of his… egomaniac tendencies. He was Zim, after greatest Invader the Empire ever had, of course, he'd be proud of all his achievements and rub it into everyone's faces. Nobody could ever hope to beat him. The Almighty Tallest themselves had sent him on a secret mission because of this.

None of his fellow Irkens seemed to notice, though. He was always left out of big events, tossed aside while they did everything they could to embarrass him in front of his Tallest, particularly Larb. Damn you, Larb! Then there were the others who avoided him and tried to pretend he didn't exist at all, feeling threatened and overshadow by Zim's awesomeness. Irk, even the Sobr-beasts, one of the Empire's most notable enemies, were more aware of Zim's incredible skill and talent and treated him with the admiration and respect he deserved.

Ilk was a different matter. She was nice, she looked up to him and she stood up for him in front of his leaders. Zim seldom cared about anyone, Invaders needed no one, after all, but Ilk (and begrudgingly, GIR and Minimoose) held a special place in his squeedly-spooch for being the only true friend he had amongst his own kind. So naturally, he hated whenever she was sad.

"I'm not going to defend what Tallest Red did, Ilk-smeet," Zim spoke with an uncharacteristic seriousness and lack of reverence as he spoke of the Tallest. "Even if I actually wanted to, there's just nothing I can say that will justify it."

"How could he…?" Ilk's voice became shaky again. Zim noted she was trembling. "I never thought he'd… All because I wouldn't…! He said I was a disappointment, it's just like I imagined it...!"

Zim contained the urge to point out his Tallest hadn't meant it. Ilk just said she didn't want to hear any words that defended him. "You're not a disappointment, Ilk. You don't want to be an Invader, so what? You'll be the best at anything else!"

"He won't let me try anything else! I don't understand, just...!" Ilk finally lifted her gaze. The corners of her eyes were dark and her cheeks were stained with her own tears.

Zim tentatively took some steps forward to sit down next to Ilk. He froze when she leaned in against him, going into yet another heap of sobbing. It wasn't out of disgust for someone daring to touch the amazing Zim, but rather because he sucked at comforting people, partly because he had never comforted anyone. It seemed easy enough, all he had to do was offer a 'hug', right? With this in mind, Zim wrapped an arm around Ilk's trembling shoulders to pull her closer, prompting the smeetager to further snuggle against the hold.

Fury lifted his head in alarm, his pupils gone to slits. Zim noticed he was tilting his head to the sides, just like a while ago when he heard Ilk's sobbing. This time, however, his spines bristled and he gave a low growl. "Ilk-smeet, I think something's wrong."

"Master, as you hearing that?" GIR asked in his tiny, frightened little voice. Zim felt his grip on his arm.

"If it's dad, tell him I don't want to see him." Ilk said without moving from her spot.

"Ilk-smeet, I'm serious, I think we should-"

It happened too fast. Fury picked the three of them and leaped away just as something whizzed through the air and exploded on the spot they had been on a mere seconds ago. The force caused Fury to lose his balance and land headfirst unto the snow, still holding his charges in his front legs protectively.

"What the…?!" After recovering from the shock, and the painful head bump, Zim traces the smoke trail back to its source. "You have to be flirking kidding me."

Ilk distinguished the shape of a big, overweight creature clad in red and white robes with matching legs sticking out from its sides. "What is that thing, another animal?!"

Zim gulped nervously. "Actually, it's one of Zim's… failed plans."

"Hi, Santa*!" GIR waved enthusiastically at it.

"And how did he end up all the way here?!"

"Talk later!" Zim barely had time to push Ilk out of the way as another projectile launched from one of Santa suit's legs to exploded. Fury shrieked and lunged at the Santa suit. Both wrestled for a few seconds before Fury tore one of the candy-cane-colored limbs, causing the Santa suit to shoot unknown ammunition at him, sending him flying against a tree.

"Big black iguana, nooo!" GIR cried as he ran over to Fury. Contrary to Zim's expectations, though, GIR didn't check up on the indokuro. Instead, he picked up the brick-like object thrown at him. "FRUITCAKE!

Ilk panicked when the monster's attention turned to them. "And how do we kill that thing?! Is there a way to turn it off?!" She screamed when one of the legs aimed at them. Zim grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along as he ran away from the scene with his PAK-legs.

"I don't know!"

"You built that thing and you don't know how it works?!"

"I never said that! I said I don't know how to turn it off! It was supposed to be a suit made out of vortian liquid substance controlled by brain strip interface!"

"Vortian?!" Flirk. They were doomed. Both she and Zim screamed in fright when the leg stomped in front of them. "Why is he attacking us!"

"Wish I knew!"

Two long white tendrils of the dozens that made up the creature's long, messy beard wrapped around them, lifting them into the air and close to its face. Where is Fury when you need him?! "PUT ZIM DOWN, YOU SANTA ABOMINATION!" Santa suit blinked. It brought Zim closer to its non-existent nose (at least it didn't look like he had one) and started sniffing him. "As your creator, I order you to-!" Zim couldn't finish as Santa suit's tongue came into contact with his face.

Ilk stared at Zim, then at the Santa-creature, then back at Zim again. "What just happened?"

"He's going to eat me! GIR, save your master!"

"FRUITCAKE!"

"It doesn't look hostile anymore…" Ilk pointed out. On the contrary, it seemed to get… affectionate with Zim, judging by how it was now rubbing him against its large head.

"ILK! ILK, ARE YOU-!"

Ilk froze when the last person she wanted to see at the moment emerged from the bushes.

It definitely wasn't his day.

In between Ilk being wooed by an overgrown lizard, narrowly avoiding being eaten by a mutant shark, being life-indebted to Captain of all people, hurting Lena's feelings, and the worst of all, laying a hand on his beloved smeet, now he comes and finds both her and Zim in the clutches of yet another monster.

"What is that thing?!" he heard Blue ask from beside him.

"It's a long story, Blue-beast!" Zim growled in-between the creature's licking. "STOP STAINING ZIM'S FACE WITH GERMS!"

Red couldn't care less about Zim. Ilk was in that monster's grasp. "Ilk, are you alright?!" No reply. "ILK!" If this creature seemed to like Zim, though, perhaps it would listen to him? "Zim, tell your… pet to put her down!"

"Don't, Zim."

Red stared at Ilk in utter shock before glaring at Zim. "Zim, as your Tallest I order you to have this thing put Ilk down!"

Before Zim could respond a familiar shriek came from within the woods at the same time as its tall, emaciated-looking owner. This one was even larger than the last one, however. Santa suit responded with a roar of its own, provoking the mendigo into screaming again. Zim and Ilk were safely placed on top of a nearby rock before Santa suit attacked the monster to defend its creator. At least that's what Ilk assumed it was doing.

"ILK!" She froze at the familiar, suffocating arms around her frame. "Ilk, are you-?" She didn't let him finish before roughly getting free of the hold. "I'm fine." Ilk said curtly, not bothering to give her dad a glance.

"Hitorken-Zim, where is Fury?!"

"Well, let's say he and the Santa suit had a… rocky start."

As the fight got more violent, the Santa suit inadvertently shot an explosive fruit cake towards the group while trying to aim at the mendigo. It hit at the base of a tree, sending snow and splinters everywhere. The sound of creaking wood told Blue what was going to happen. "TIMBER!"

The tree crashed down. A scream of pain pierced the air, intermingling with Santa suit's shrieks and the mendigo's snarls.

"Ilk-smeet!"

Red whipped his head around towards the tree and sat two small, short legs sticking out from underneath it. "ILK!" She hadn't been able to jump out of the way in time. The weight of the entire lof was pressing unto her legs, rendering her immobile. "I'm stuck!" she cried with tears rolling down her cheeks. Red was instantly by her side. He didn't care if she'd reject him again, she needed him.

"Ilk, don't move!" he said, grabbing her hand tightly. This time she didn't pull it away.

"I will get you out, Ilk-smeet!"

Blue gave a long whistle. At first, nothing happened other than the mendigo noticing them. Then Fury and GIR appeared from the tree line. "ILKIE!" The latter went to help Zim in trying to lift the log with their bare hands.

"Fury, up!" At his master's command, Fury dug into the ground and somehow managed to fit his head and back beneath the log. "Everyone, on the count of three, lift it! One, two, three!" The log was only lifted a bit, but it was enough for Red to pull Ilk out from under it. Her legs didn't seem broken, but they were severely bruised.

Another shriek from the mendigo. The Santa suit had wrapped his limbs around it, immobilizing it, but it was apparent it was at its limit. Perhaps it had been here for so long that it was running out of power? Anyhow, it seemed to be making time for something. Zim felt a shiver down his spine when it looked at him with a solemn look. Zim's eyes opened wide; he had installed a self-destruct device in the suit in case it was compromised.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!"

BOOM!

Lena jumped to her feet when suddenly the ground trembled. Her antenna perked up, catching the loud explosion that came from the outside. It must have been a very powerful one if she could feel it from here.

Part of her nearly took her outside towards the source and make sure Red and Ilk were okay, but she planted her feet on the ground. They would be fine, he was the Tallest and was more than capable of protecting Ilk. Besides, he had made it very clear he didn't need her. What a fool she had been to think he liked her. She should have gone with her instinct from the beginning; a Tallest would never show interest in a lowly medical drone.

It didn't mean it didn't hurt, however. The way he had just referred to her as such after what they went through. After she saved his life and Ilk's. After she sacrificed her favorite skirt to wash the wounds on his ungrateful body! Lena blinked the tears away from her eyes before they could roll down her cheeks. It wasn't worth it. She went back to rubbing Captain to give as much warmth as possible.

Lena quickly removed her hands when she felt a movement. Then she heard a low growl. "Captain?" Her answer came in the manner of yet another low growl as the Sobrekt started moving little by little. "Captain, can you hear me?"

He blinked a few times before glancing back at her. His pupils were almost two perfect ovals, probably from his deeply relaxed state. "What… Doc…?" He shifted around a bit. Lena heard a few bones snapping. "Where are we?"

"In a cave. We brought you here after you entered… amok or something."

A look of realization flickered unto Captain's features. "Fuck," he looked at Lena. "Guess Blue already explained it, didn't he?" Lena nodded. "Wonderful. I bet your Tallest is going to take advantage of that information." She winced at the mention of Tallest Red. "What?"

"What do you mean with 'what'?"

"You flinched when I mentioned your leader. What happened while I was out? Did you two have a fight or…? No, don't answer, your face says it all."

Lena looked away. "Are all Sobrekt so good at reading people or is it just you?"

Captain chuckled. "You could say it's a whole race thing, but I'm particularly good at it." He took a quick look around. "Hey, where is everybody?"

Almost on cue, a loud cry resounded within the cave. "LENA!" The irkenette whipped her head around to the entrance of the cave just as the rest of the group returned. Her eyes went wide and her hands went straight to cover her mouth to contain a horrified gasp.

Ilk was in her father's arms, unconscious. Her clothing was stained in her own pink blood, pouring out of her abdomen right where a long, sharp branch had somehow gone through her.

What stunned her the most was the state Red was in. "L-Lena, Ilk is…! Please do something! Tell me you can save her, please!" he begged. The Almighty Tallest was begging. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he gave her a pleading look. He was desperate. Lena's nurturing instinct overcame whatever anger she felt at him for the earlier treatment. Ilk needed her.

But as she took a look at the wounded area, a cold shiver ran down her spine. "... Oh, Irk." It didn't look good. She had evidently lost tons of blood; even if she pulled the stick out she wouldn't be able to stitch it closed. Plus there was a risk of collateral damage to tissue, bones, etcétera.

"Will she be okay?!" Blue asked. There was notable despair in his voice.

Lena closed her eyes shut when they started getting humid."The branch pierced right through her squeedly-spooch," Her hand covered her mouth again. "In our current situation and without any tools there's nothing I can do."

Nothing I can do.

Those words echoed in his head numerous times. He didn't hear the argument between Lena and Blue, something about what would happen if she removed the stick. He didn't even hear Zim and GIR's hysterical wailing as they embraced each other. All his attention was focused on the bleeding smeet in his arms. Though she was unconscious there was a pained grimace on her face. His grip on Ilk became stronger as he held her little body close, staining his armor with her pink blood.

No. No, no, no! NO! He couldn't lose her, not after the last thing he said to her was that she was a disappointment! He didn't want her to die thinking he didn't love her anymore! He didn't want her to die AT ALL! Not when he promised her he'd always protect her!

Then he remembered. "T-The flower!" Red cried, hopeful. "She has the self-regeneration, doesn't she? She'll heal by herself, right?"

"It doesn't work like that, Irken." For the first time, Captain spoke, half-startling Red. Since when had he been standing here? He stepped forward and grimly looked down at Ilk. "Major injuries such as this one requires a particular process-"

"What do you mean a particular process?!"

Captain growled, took a deep breath and continued. "Mild wounds such as cuts and scratches will heal on their own, but major lesions and limb losses are other issues. They require a complete regeneration, and that takes time and lots of cells; in order for our bodies to produce it we need help.

"For those cases, there are special regenerative clinics in Sobr. We get inside healing capsules that first sends us into amok, then fills with a gel that stimulates the body to release blastema cells into the limb stub or injured tissue to start the healing and regeneration."

"Go straight to the point, Captain!" Red snapped impatiently and at the verge of breaking down. "What are you saying, that there's nothing to do?!"

A sigh. "Not unless you got a bathtub with warm water in your PAK."

"Bathtub?" GIR perked up his single antenna. "There's a rock bathtub over there!" He vaguely pointed further into the cave.

"Rock bathtub?" Blue repeated.

"Yeah. I found it a while ago, wanna see?"

Frankly, Red was so desperate he was willing to cling to any hope to save his daughter. He followed GIR into the cavern with only the SIR's flashlights integrated into its eyes to illuminate their way, with the rest following soon after with some torches taken from the bonfire. Hang on, Ilk, you're going to be okay. That's what he wanted to believe.

The 'rocky bathtubs' turned to be thermal water pools. If it weren't for the current predicament perhaps he would have enjoyed the rise in temperature. He looked at Blue and Captain with bloodshot eyes. "Will this suffice?!" He grew impatient when he got no immediate reply. "Captain?!"

"I'm not sure…"

"Captain, it's warm and thermal waters have healing properties*! It might not be reggel, but it should trigger the blastema cells!"

"The issue is she's an Irken, not a Sobrekt or even a Kryvtor. We don't know if it will work the same with her-"

"I'm willing to take the risk, Captain! I'm not going to let my daughter die if there's something I can do to save her! Tell me what to do!"

Captain didn't look very convinced, but finally, he nodded. First, they had to carefully remove the stick from Ilk's abdomen; Lena did most of the job in this part. If she took her job seriously before, now she applied every single medical knowledge in both her organic and PAK brains. Zim and GIR proved to be surprisingly useful. There were no yells, complaints or self-gratification praises from Zim nor temper tantrums or hyperactivity from GIR. Both knew Ilk's life depended on this.

Once the stick was gone Ilk's clothing had to be removed. Red almost kicked Blue out for this one, but his priority was saving Ilk's life, so he instead focused on her as they carefully placed her into one of the pools, submerging the injured part of her body underneath the warm waters, unintentionally tinting it pink with Ilk's blood. Lena sacrificed the rest of her skirt to wrap around Ilk's waist and stop any further bleeding.

"What now?" Zim asked with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"We wait." Captain said. "For either option. The rest depends on her. Still, someone should stay to keep an eye on her."

"I will." Blue and Red said simultaneously. The latter glared at the former. "You stay out of this, lizard."

"I care about her as much as you do, Irken."

"Don't even try to compare yourself to me. I am her father, you're nothing more than a-"

"I will stay with her." Lena interrupted. She had already entered the pool to gently grab Ilk's body in her arms. "She's my patient. Take your quarrels somewhere else if you don't mind."

Red wanted to protest, but the look in Lena's eyes gave him the willies. She was serious this time. She had proven that she was more than capable to keep his child alive on more than one occasion. "I'm entrusting you with her life, Lena." He was about to place a hand on her shoulder but she shifted away from him.

"I only do my job, My Tallest."

Tallest. She had called him Tallest, not Red. Her voice was devoid of that friendly, lovely warmth which had up to now been present in all of their interactions. He momentarily wondered why until he remembered what he had said to her not long ago. Flirk. "Lena…"

"You should all go rest."

"Zim needs no rest, Lena-doc. I will make sure the Ilk-smeet recovers along with you."

"Me too!" GIR chirped, popping out a bunch of flowerless stems with strips of bacon from his empty head compartment. "Besides, she'll need something to cheer her up when she wakes up!"

He might hate the garbage SIR unit, but sometimes he envied him. He was so naive that he never let grief or guilt consume him if he felt any. With him, it was hard to tell.

Reluctantly and with a heavy squeedly-spooch Red turned around and went back the way they came. Captain and Blue walked up ahead of him. He heard whispering coming from the latter, he was probably catching Captain up with what had happened during his… nap. Once they were back at the entrance he sat down near a corner to hide his face in his hands. The last thing he wanted was Captain noticing he was still weeping. He'd probably mock him.

Oh, Ilk. His poor smeet… If he hadn't been so hard, if he hadn't… the memory of the indokuro's attack on the Massive four years ago came back to haunt him. This time there were no medics nor superior Irken technology to save her, however. It would all depend on luck. If this method didn't work...

And Lena. How could he tell her those horrible things? She saved both his life and Ilk's, she had shown she cared for them both and he repaid her by treating her with undue contempt. He'd be fortunate if she spoke to him again after this.

For the first time in his life, Red felt… lost.

"The Almighty Tallest weeping? Now I've seen everything."

Red tensed up. "I'm not in the mood for that, Captain. Leave me be." He growled, gripping his forearms and turning his face away.

A snort. "Crying like a big hatchling is not going to change things, you're just wasting precious body fluids, even for an Irken."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but my daughter could die!"

"She's not going to die. She's a warrior, she'll pull it through."

In later years Red would brag about this to whoever listened, often exaggerating or omitting a few details, such as his emotional state at the time. At that moment, however, he merely got himself carried away by the turmoil of negative emotions.

Red lunged at Blue with a wrathful yell and brought him down. He didn't care if his hands broke again or if Blue retaliated. All he wanted was to vent out all this frustration, anger and pain unto the main source. He was so drawn into the outburst he didn't realize he had been pulled off the kryvtor until he found himself violently squirming in Captain's hold while Fury pulled Blue back by the tail with his jaws.

"SHUT UP!" Red screamed. "SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE ACTING AS IF YOU CARED FOR HER JUST SHE BEAT YOU IN A STUPID FIGHT! SHE'S NOT YOURS, SHE'S MINE! I'M NOT LETTING A FUCKING, OVERGROWN LIZARD TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!" He would have continued, but a smack on the back of his head, strong enough to make him lose his footing, brought him back to his senses.

Captain had enough. "Calm down, Irken!" He took the Irken leader by the shoulders and snarled openly at him, his pupils turned into two thin lines. "Act like an adult, for the ancestors' sake! Stop blaming Blue for whatever happens to her, okay?! He was not the one who pushed her into running away into danger in the first place by slapping her!"

Red stared at him, agape. "How did you…? You were-!"*

"Your screams could be heard from three planets away," Captain said dryly. He finally released Red, his gaze somewhat cooling down as he glanced at Blue and Fury. "You two get out of here. We need to have a word." Blue looked like he wanted to protest, but Fury started pushing him away with the head. Eventually, he conceded and walked out of the cavern.

"Word about what?" Red frowned, crossing his arms. "What do you think you say will make me feel better?"

"My intention is not to make you feel better, Irken. On the contrary, what I'm going to tell you is probably going to piss you off even more, but you have to hear it or you'll never get over it."

Red scoffed. "Get over what?"

"Your possessiveness of your smeet."

"Possessiveness? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you remember what you just said when you attacked Blue? You said that she's not his, that she's yours, just like that as if she were an object of some sorts. What is she to you, anyway? An actual daughter or a trophy?"

Red's antenna flattened. "How dare you-?!" He was about to step forward, but Captain lifted a hand, signaling him to stop.

"Answer the question," he said.

"She's MY daughter!"

Captain frowned. "You did it again. You emphasized that she's yours as if she actually belonged to you."

"Technically she does! She's made from my DNA, that means she's mine to take care of and…" Red froze. He had just proved Captain right. He had referred to her as a possession instead of a daughter. "I…"

"See what I mean?"

"So what if you're right?!" Red turned away, averting his gaze. "I raised her! I bathed, and changed, and nursed her*! I held her as a smeet when she cried, I laughed with her!"

"So that does make her your property?"*

"I never said such a thing, Sobrekt! All I said was..." Red stopped himself, finding himself at a loss of words.

"Look, Irken, I know you're new to this fatherhood thing. Your kind isn't used to it, after all. You don't raise kids. Heck, your kids don't even need it, so it's normal you're pretty much confused about how you feel about your child," Captain's gaze softened. "Now that we're on it, why do you want her to become an Invader so desperately? She says no, but you keep insisting and you were willing to force her into being one. Why are you so obsessed with that? Do you really think it's the best for her or is it something else entirely?"

Red's Irken pride and arrogance wanted to argue, but the Sobrekt's words were sinking into him. Why do I want her to be an Invader? He had never asked himself that question. He had been an Invader before becoming Tallest, and was amongst the best of his generation, if not the best. He knew it was a prestigious position, if risky, but he had conquered world after world without a drop of sweat. It would only be natural that his smeet, his own flesh and blood, would be as good as him, maybe even better; he had always wished to see Ilk at the next Great Assigning as one of the top Irken Elite, receive transmissions to hear of her successful advances and watch as she fired the first cannon of the Organic Sweep, then he'd hear all the Irkens comment how alike she was to him, or how he had been a great teacher…

The realization came over him like a bucket of cold hydrochloric acid.

"Your silence says it all." Captain leaned against the wall with a deep snort. "Besides, from the way you've been making a ruckus whenever she fought or even got a mere scratch she wouldn't have lasted long on any planet."

Defeated, Red allowed himself to fall rear-first to the ground, his gaze downwards. "I promised her…"

"What?"

"After you sent that monster to the Massive for your flower, after it tore her leg apart right in front of me…" Red closed his eyes shut. He wouldn't give Captain the pleasure to see him cry. "I promised Ilk I would always protect her."

There was a long silence. Captain studied Red for a long moment, then said. "That's an… interesting promise."

Red stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Because if parents always 'protected' their kids, then the little ones would never experience anything," Captain gave Red a half-sympathetic, half-scolding glance."That's another aspect of fatherhood you have to understand, Irken. Children grow up eventually and they will leave to start lives of their own. All parents must deal with and accept it."

"And if I don't?"

Captain sighed and forlornly glanced to the outside. "All mothers and fathers have wished at some point that their kids don't grow up. That they will be able to keep watching over them and keep them close. But just like everything else in this universe, parents are not eternal. Sooner or later they will pass on, and when they do their children must already know how to live without them in order to survive."

"I don't mean to be mean, of course, not this time. But you have to face it, Irken; your PAK prolongs your life, but old age or sickness is not the only thing that can kill you considering your race lives off the wars you provoke. Something could happen to you; your flagship could blow up with you in it, an assassin could get past your guards and blow your head up or anything like that. Perhaps not today, tomorrow, even next week, but someday. If that happens, how is your beloved smeet going to face the universe without you holding her little hand?

"It's okay to worry about her wellbeing, but you shouldn't try to put her inside a crystal case. You should know better than anyone that in order to learn you must have experience, both good and bad. No one likes their kids having an awful time, but they learn from mistakes and grow from them. You became who you are because of the experiences you've had throughout your life. And it's your lack of experience in the… coping-with-your-kid-growing-up department that led to this."

Captain stared at Red intently, looking for any sign that he was actually listening. Judging by his stiff body language and how his antenna were twitching, he guessed he was. After a long moment of awkward silence, the Irken spoke again. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked without lifting his gaze. "Why would you want to help me if you hate me?"

Captain chuckled. "I don't hate you that much, Irken. Let's say I kind of sympathize with you… fathers should stick out for one another every now and then."

Red blinked and looked up at the Sobrekt in surprise, almost agape. Did this mean…?

Saving Ilk's life cost the lives of many others.

"You lost someone to Drilo's disease," Red concluded. Captain turned away, confirming his suspicion. He thought Captain would try to wiggle his way out of that topic, but surprisingly he didn't.

"My clutch of 24 eggs caught the disease. We had to smash them," Captain closed his eyes shut. Red noted his hands going into tight fists and the spines on his head bristling. "They didn't even get to hatch," he sighed and opened his eyes. "I hope you never go through the experience of losing your smeet, Irken. It kills you on the inside, you feel empty, almost like a part of you… died with them."

Whatever animosity the Irken leader felt for his scaly rival vanished, at least for the time being. He was sure he would regret this, but at the moment he just allowed the words to slip out. "I'm sorry." When he got a better look at Captain his eyes widened.

"What?" Captain asked curiously when he noted Red was staring at him as if he had seen a ghost.

"Captain, you're naked."

Blinking, he looked down and realized he wasn't wearing his armor. They probably took it off while he was in Amok. That kind of explained the cold. Rather than getting embarrassed, Captain merely laughed. "A good thing a Sobrekt's reproductive organs are internal."

Red went pale and covered his eyes. "Would you please put some clothes on?!" He didn't know if Captain was teasing him, but he didn't want the picture of a naked Sobrekt in either of his brains.

*I included Santa here because I wanted to do a Christmas chapter, but sadly I miscalculated the posting time. So a very late Christmas to you all XD.

*This one's a fact. Thermal water is known to have therapeutic effects on the skin and the richness and variety in minerals can hold medicinal properties that may relieve conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. In this case, it stimulates the body to create the cells involved in the limb regeneration, much like the reggel.

*Trivia: unconscious Sobrekt can actually tell what's going on around them. This is a defense mechanism in case they are ambushed in their sleep. Should this happen, their brain sends alarms through their body, causing them to jolt awake in a semi-savage state for a few seconds to react accordingly to the source of danger.

*Reference to the lyrics of Mother Knows Best song from Tangled. The 'nursed' part, though, would have a different meaning for Irkens, for obvious reasons.

*I think that in a way, Red unconsciously sees Irk as a sort of possession. You can't really blame him for this, though. Irkens are not used to parenting, so sometimes they don't know how to properly react to certain feelings evoked in them by natural-born smeets. In this case, Red got so attached to his child he started seeing her as property, even if he didn't realize it until now.

Next Chapter: Red must face the past to face the consequences of his actions. Meanwhile, the prisoners get into quite the predicament.