A/N: Mmmm...Sorry for the wait, you guys. I fell onto a very weird sleeping schedule and so didn't get this updated yesterday like I had wanted to. But here's Chapter 4 now for those of you who have been waiting. =3 Much love to all of you reading/sending in reviews. And, as always, feedback is very much appreciated. ^^ As are faves/story alert list adds/etc. So enjoy. ^^

Through the Fire and Flames: Chapter 4

Zim: Me (For a change. XD)

Dib: LinnechaRose

Beta: CattGregory

Warnings: I hesitate to say extreme OOCness in this story because to be perfectly honest, we're trying to keep them in character this time around. I will say, however, that there might be a few minor scenes in which OOCness comes across. So yeah. Don't expect them to be perfectly in character. Just assume that we're doing our best to TRY and keep them in character.

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.

Dib, on the other hand, remained staring wide-eyed at the two figures, the lights from the ship still obstructing his view. As the ship began to lift higher and higher, the grass beneath them rattled before blowing up in clumps with the force of some high-pitched sound emitting from the leaving ship. It was a temporary precaution. Every living being within a certain radius of the surrounding area would be knocked out temporarily by the force of the sound wave. Every being, that is, except for the two left standing, one a tall man with dark black hair and the other a young boy with light brown hair. Had the force of the sound wave not been so close to Dib, he would have sworn the man was Dwicky, his past school counselor.

Rising up a hand to remove two pieces of cotton he had used to plug up his ears, the man looked about the place. It was good to be home, though it felt strange referring to this planet as his home after such a long trip in space. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a few hundred dollar bills and sighed. He was lucky nowhere else in the universe accepted Earth money. This was all he had on him for now. Left over from at least 6 years ago, the money he had would have to hold them over until he could pick up a temporary job somewhere. He looked down at the boy in his arms. "Well, I guess we better find ourselves a cheap hotel to stay in for now. I'll find us some food to eat in the morning and then go out and look for a job in the surrounding school district." he said before looking in the direction of the lit up town and heading out that way.

He wondered how much had changed in his absence. Surely, some things must have remained the same. But he guessed it didn't matter. He'd find out soon enough, once morning had come.

Having been knocked out cold by the space ship's powerful sound wave, Dib rested unconscious on the cool forest ground to sleep for a few hours. When he came to, he blinked his eyes a few times, glancing around in confusion. What had just happened? Why was he in this wooded area at night? He figured either he was still dreaming, or Zim was undergoing a way to ambush him. Either way, he didn't want to stick around to find out.

He slowly stood up, his legs feeling weak and started to shake, making his entire body wobble. He brought a hand to his aching head, attempting to soothe the pain, but with hardly any luck. He slowly began walking back the way he vaguely remembered coming, still somewhat in a daze. He didn't know what was going on, but he had to get back home. Then it all started coming back to him.

The events of the day before flooded into his mind like a very bad realization. He remembered his conversations with the counselor, his sudden lashing out at Zim, the terrible neglect of his sister and father. He just wanted it all to stop.

He made his way back to his neighborhood, thankful he didn't run into Zim at all the entire way. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of Zim trying to catch him off guard at night, in a dark wooded area. The Irken was anger-provoking, sure, but some of his attempts were just too crazy not to laugh at sometimes. They've had their normal bouts throughout the years; Zim trying to take over the world, and Dib trying to stop him from going through with it. His smile got a little bit wider as all the memories flashed through his mind.

He decided he was going to apologize to the alien at school tomorrow for the way he snapped at him. The slight guilt he felt about the whole thing never once left his gut. He imagined it would make everyone feel better if he apologized. He even figured he'd say sorry to the poor counselor who didn't even deserve his attitude. He was only trying to help.

With a sigh, he rounded his house's electric field fence and made his way to the front door. Yawning, he opened it tiredly, figuring since Gaz was the only one home that his return would go unnoticed.

Finally making it back to his room, he shut his door behind him and sunk to the floor. He didn't deserve his bed. Not tonight. His mind was swimming with too much guilt. A silent tear fell from his eye. Curling up in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest, he fell asleep within a matter of minutes.

The next day at school, Dib was pretty much silent. His only objective was to apologize to the counselor and to Zim. It wouldn't be too difficult, right?

As he made his way down the hallway towards the counselor's office, he wondered how Zim would take his apology. He knew right away the counselor would happily forgive him, since he was only trying to help Dib. But he wasn't too sure about Zim. He would either gloat proudly, exclaiming that nobody could stay angry at the "Almighty Zim" for too long, or he would simply tell him to leave him alone in the same ignorant manner he was oh-so used to. Either way, he knew something negative was going to spring out of it.

He stood outside the door of the counselor's office now. He nervously ran a hand through his scythe-lock of hair before he reached out to knock on the door. Right before he could make a sound, he heard two voices from inside the office. Deciding not to intrude on their conversation, he pulled his hand away and began listening carefully to what was being said on the other side of the door.

"I'm so glad you've returned from vacation, Mr. Dwicky! We've all missed you VERY much! That was quite the vacation, though. Where did you say you went again?"

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 4. Who here is interested in finding out the identity of that light-haired boy we keep mentioning? o3o Anyone? Anyone? Well, for those of you curious, let's just say he's NOT an OC. But you'll all find out more about him in later chapters to come. XD Now Linnecha will respond to our reviewers from last chapter. ^^

To Pilpols:

Linnecha: OMG what? :D

To xxxCARxCRASHxHEARTxxx:

Linnecha: Why yes, it IS DADR! But keep your eyes peeled for the later chapters. (That is, if you're mature enough to read it. XD) There's going to be some incredibly smexy DADR. ^^

To MockingVenus (For both reviews you sent into us):

Linnecha: We'll be uploading a lot more chapters in the future, and we're sure if you enjoyed chapter 1, you'll love the later chapters just as much. ^^ As for your question concerning finding love in space, you'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens! Can't give too much away too early. Let's just say, you should be satisfied, if anything. XD

That said, we leave you people with this new chapter. Hope you all enjoy, and we look forward to hearing back from some of you really soon. 8D