A/N: so sorry for the wait! I hit a writer's block, then I got busy with life things, and then I got sick ;; but I'm back now with chapter two!

enjoy!

Zim tapped his foot impatiently. He wasn't the kind of person that gave out favors willy-nilly. Actually, he never really did favors at all, not unless he knew it would benefit him to do so. So the fact that Atra was demanding a favor from him was honestly kind of laughable. She should know better than to ask for something from him unless she had something to offer.

The person that answered was most definitely not Atra. He wasn't even Irken. Rather, he was Vortian, but he wasn't wearing the uniform assigned to the Vortians by the Irken Empire. Was he a rebel? He had rumors of small rebellions popping up all over Vort, but he hadn't imagined that any of them had actually succeeded...

"This is Lard Nar, captain of the Resisty. I presume you are Zim?"

"Yes, I am Zim, I wish to speak to- waaaaiiiit." Zim paused, making a sound akin to a snort as he struggled to hold back laughter. "The Resisty?! You mean that rag-tag group of morons that foolishly challenged the Massive?"

Lard Nar narrowed his eyes at Zim. "Atra, are you sure this is the same Irken?"

Zim could hear the faint sound of shuffling and a door being closed. A feminine voice sighed heavily. "Yes, you will have to excuse Zim's behavior. As I've discovered, he… doesn't appear to have much of a filter…"

"I heard that! Now you listen here! I don't know what you're talking about- Zim doesn't owe you anything! So-"

"I'll take it from here, captain." She urged Lard Nar out of the room and took his seat, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable. "Now, where's the other one? The human boy?"

"What, you mean Dib?"

"Yes. I was assuming he'd be present when we met again."

Zim waved a dismissive hand, as if the matter were of no concern. "The stupid Dib-beast is off doing… silly human-things."

Atra looked down at her feet, antennae twitching as if she were uncomfortable. "…Right. Well, I was hoping to talk to him as well…"

"Whatever you have to say to the Dib, you can say to me, got that?!"

Atra blinked. "Wow. A-Ahem… anyway… um… you probably don't remember most of this, but back on the Massive-"

"You were the female responsible for nearly killing me with that cursed device of yours! Zim remembers."

"It was a fake!" Atra argued. "I… ditched that plan at the last second. Um… it's a long story. Didn't Dib already explain this to you? I didn't kill you, I saved you."

"Whatever," Zim scoffed, folding his tiny arms across his chest. "According to what the Dib says, you helped us escape, and he destroyed that stupid device you and your servants created. What more do you want?"

"Straight to the point, then. Well, simply put, the Resisty is looking for recruits. And I think you and Dib would fit in nicely."

"Zim?! And the Dib?! Joining you?!"

"…Zim, please call Dib over here. It seems that between the two of you, he's the only one capable of rational thought."

"Why you..! Filthy..!" Zim seethed, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. The audacity of this... creature! After nearly killing him, she wanted him to join that very same pathetic group of rebels?

"Master Zim, there's someone at the door."

Zim heaved a heavy sigh. Of course. Of fucking course.

"I'm busy! Tell Gir to answer it or something."

"It's Dib, master. Do you want me to bring him down here?"

"No!"

"Bringing Dib to the laboratory."

"Computer, how dare you disobey your master?! I told you-"

Before long Dib came tumbling down the elevator, groaning as he-yet again- landed square on his backside. "Zim, would you tell your computer or whatever to be a little bit more careful?!" Dib grumbled, rubbing his sore backside. "Oh. Looks like you're busy."

"Dib! You're not allowed down here! Get out! Computer, security breach!"

"No threat detected."

"Urghh!" Zim huffed, slumping into his computer chair in defeat. "Go away, Dib-beast."

Dib grinned teasingly, reaching down to poke at Zim's cheek. "Sounds like your computer doesn't mind me being here~"

"Do not touch Zim with your filthy human hands."

Atra suddenly cleared her throat to get their attention. Dib turned towards the screen and his eyes widened with recognition. "Oh hey, it's you. Long time no see!"

Atra merely waved back, smiling slightly. "Zim, would you mind filling Dib in on the proposition I've offered?"

Zim shot her a wary glare before turning his back to the monitor. "The science drone wishes for us to join the Resisty," Zim told him, jerking his thumb back towards the screen.

"Resisty? What's that? The name sounds a little…"

"Yes, we know the name is... er, misleading. We're working on it," she snapped.

Zim grinned, clearing his throat. "Allow me to explain. The Resisty is a group of pitiful rebels who foolishly opposed the Irken Empire-"

"Enough, Zim," Atra interrupted, effectively silencing him. "The Resisty has grown since then. We are now an organization, and we are in alliance with several powerful forces in the universe."

"Like?" Zim prompted.

"The Meekrob Republic, for instance?"

Zim gasped, taken aback. "The M-Meekrob? You… you dared to ally yourself with such a powerful enemy of the Irken Empire?"

"We had to," she replied. "The Meekrob has resources that we could really use. Not to mention that with the Meekrob joining us, we also are automatically partnered with all of the planets that are part of or affiliated with the Meekrob Republic."

"B-But-"

"You were right, Zim. Before, the Resisty was pathetic. But with the Meekrob at our side… we might just stand a chance…"

Zim couldn't help but notice that she wasn't speaking like a scientist. If there was one thing he knew about her, it was that she always spoke analytically, always with some sort of logic behind her words, but this... this was spoken with the passion of a soldier. He knew that feeling better than anyone.

"What exactly are you aiming for?" Dib asked. "I mean, are you talking full-scale intergalactic war here?"

"That's a possibility that we have to be prepared for," she answered coolly. "But no. That's not the primary objective. The captain would like for us to reach an agreement."

Dib snorted, rolling his eyes. "An agreement? With the Irken Empire? Not likely."

"And just what is that supposed to mean, Dib?!" Zim retorted, his eyes narrowing into heated slits.

Atra cleared her throat again to prevent a fight from breaking out between them. The last thing she needed was the two of them getting into another one of their famous arguments. "Anyhow, we can't give you all the details quite yet. But if you come onboard, we can-"

"The answer is no," Zim declared, looking the scientist directly in the eye with a ferocity he rarely showed. "Neither me nor Dib will be accompanying you on your suicide mission."

"Hold on a minute Zim, you can't just decide that for me!"

Zim turned to face him, his face drawn into an incredulous expression. "You mean you're actually considering this?!"

Dib shrugged. "Well, I mean… yeah, kind of? She saved our asses, Zim."

"She did not!" Zim argued. "We helped ourselves. That insolent female has only been a distraction!"

"She could've killed you and she chose not to. Don't you think we at least owe her this?"

"Oh, so she spared Zim! Big deal, Dib! We owe her nothing!" He stood from his seat, ruby eyes clashing with amber. "I don't expect you to understand, but it would be suicidal to take on the Irken Empire. If they wish to go be fools, then let them! But you and I… we will not be a part of it."

Dib's hands clenched into fists. "You know, there aren't many people in this universe that would spare you. A long time ago, I was one of those people. And who says you get to speak for me, Zim? If you wanna stay then fine, but I think… I think I should consider going."

Dib was suddenly eye-to-eye with Zim. He stepped back to put some space between them and found the backs of his legs flush with one of the metal tables. "Foolish Dib-beast! Must I spell it out for you?!"

"Spell what out?"

The realization hit him then, about why Zim could possibly be so hesitant about this. "Zim… are you… are you seriously still loyal to the Empire? After… after everything they did to you..?"

Zim's eyes abruptly widened. His jaw worked, as if he were struggling with what to say. "Yes! Er, I mean- no! I'm…" The look of alarm faded. "Zim doesn't know what he is. But that's not what I-"

"Zim is programmed to be loyal, Dib," Atra cut in after a few moments of silence, watching the two of them argue back and forth. It was rather amusing. "Even if he is defective, loyalty is something that's been ingrained into his very being, ever since he was a smeet. It's not easy to break free of it. So even if Zim is feeling like he wants to rebel…"

Zim pointed a gloved finger up at the screen. He couldn't help but notice that she chose to cut in at the worst possible times. "Make silence now!"

Dib felt all of the rage that was consuming him earlier slowly start to fade. "Zim, is that true?"

Zim didn't meet his eyes. "Do you need to ask?"

Dib couldn't blame him if that was the case. He forgot sometimes that Zim was sort of part computer.

"Zim… like I said, you don't have to go anywhere. And I know… that maybe compared to you I'm a kid, but… here, on Earth, I'm an adult. So at least let me think about this, okay?"

"Zim… does not view the Dib as a smeet," he murmured, his voice so soft that Dib almost didn't hear him. "I never have."

"Then… why…"

Dib didn't miss the way Zim's cheeks flushed. "You'll get yourself killed if you go! You're a mere human! You're all… fragile and soft! You wouldn't last one minute out there. You have zero combat experience- how would you expect to survive?!"

"Zim," Dib said, a teasing smile playing at his lips, "come on. Have a little more faith in me."

"This is not about faith! This is about you risking your stupid, ridiculously short life! This is about you running right into a death trap and leaving me here-" He abruptly slapped a hand over his mouth. He had said too much. Damn it. Damn it all. Abort abort abort-

Dib opened his mouth to argue. Zim had no room to talk when it came to obvious death traps. But something about the way he had abruptly placed his hand over his mouth to prevent more words from spilling out stopped him.

"Zim." He placed a hand on the alien's shoulder. "If you're so scared of me leaving you, then come with me."

"But… I…"

"Come on. Wouldn't be the same without you, ya know."

"…That is true…"

"Exactly."

"But… if we both go, then we'll both die! There's no sense in both of us dying."

Ah, Zim. Always the optimist. "Maybe, but at least we'll go down together, right? There's no sense in just one of us dying either. So... let's make plans to live."

"…How about this? I'll give you guys approximately three days to think about it, and when that time is up, I'll call you again." Atra proposed.

"Okay," Dib agreed.

"Whatever," Zim huffed before slamming the "end call" button.

A tense, uncomfortable silence fell between them. He didn't want to bring it up, but in his experience with Zim, he's learned that the whole repression tactic just wasn't going to work. And with Zim especially- it was almost like he feared that if he didn't keep Zim talking, he would eventually revert back to his old self, and that was the last thing he needed right now. He needed to keep Zim on his side- and he could lie and say that it was for the sake of the world, but it really, truly wasn't. For the first time since meeting him, Dib wanted him on his side simply because he wanted him on his side.

Dib awkwardly shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. "So… are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"What you just said- about me leaving. Are we gonna talk about it, or just ignore it like everything else?"

Zim waved him off. "…There's nothing to talk about. If you want to go into space on a suicide mission, then fine. Unlike you, Zim is not weak. I won't come chasing after you in the middle of space."

"I know you won't," Dib replied softly. "I wouldn't expect you to."

That took Zim aback. Humans, always so greedy and selfish and expectant, but... "You… wouldn't?"

"No. Even if you wanted to, your pride wouldn't let you. Unless there was something you'd get out of it, you'd never save me of your own volition."

That wasn't entirely true, and Dib knew that. There had been plenty of occasions where Zim had saved Dib for (mostly) unselfish reasons. But Zim would never want to hear about an instance where he had been nice to Dib. He would vehemently deny it. So Dib kept quiet.

"I'll leave you alone to think," Dib said, making his way towards the elevator. "But Zim, just so you know… while you were gone… I did miss you. That's part of the reason I came for you. It's okay to... miss someone, you know."

"…Just get out already, Earth-smell."

"Right. See ya."

"Hey, listen, I know you probably wouldn't really care, but… I got an offer to go into space today."

Gaz paused abruptly, glaring at Dib over the top screen of her GameSlave. "You what now?"

"It's okay if you don't believe me, but I'm 100% serious. Zim and I, we were both offered to go into space and join this resistance against the Irkens."

She suddenly shut her GameSlave and placed it on the table. For the first time in a while, she seemed genuinely interested in a conversation with her brother. "I thought Zim was Irken. Why fight his own race?"

"Cause they kinda fucked him over," Dib told her. The harsh words felt good coming from his mouth, for some odd reason. "But I don't know if he's going to do it or not."

"Why?"

"Cause he's Zim."

"Oh. That explains a lot. So what about you? Are you gonna go off into space and fight aliens and stuff?"

"…The way you said that kinda made my life sound like an action movie."

Gaz deadpanned. "Please. Your life is a soap opera at best."

Dib couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. You're probably right."

"Of course I am." She paused to take a sip of her soda. "Well, it's not like you haven't been to space before. But dad might not be too happy about it."

"Dad? Why would he care?"

"Cause he wants you to go to school and all that. If he hears that you're giving up school to go into space, he'll have a fit."

Dib rolled his eyes. "Please, dad only wants me to go to school so he can say his kids are 'educated like him'. Besides, I don't even know if I'm going yet."

"Well, one of us has to go to college, and it's not gonna be me."

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"I think I'm going to an art school," she said simply. She reached into her bookbag and pulled out her sketchbook, opening it and placing it on the table for Dib to see. "My studio art teacher said that I should submit these to the art school nearby."

Dib knew that Gaz was more into creative stuff, unlike him. But he never guessed that she was an artist. Her drawings, despite being dark, were well done and unique. Dib couldn't help but be a little proud of her.

"They're good, Gaz. I'm sure they'll accept you."

"They'd better. I worked my ass off on these."

Dib laughed. Here he was, yet again, about to ask for advice from his sister. "…What do you think I should do? Atra said that the Earth could be in danger, but… I've been protecting the Earth for years, right under everyone's noses… and they all just call me crazy…"

"If I were you, I would've left a long time ago. If people don't want to listen, then that's their problem, not mine. But you're not like that. You… care. No matter how much people talk down to you or call you insane, you'll still keep protecting them because it's the 'right thing to do'. But I wouldn't blame you if you stayed."

"You wouldn't?"

She shook her head. "No. You're Dib, so… do whatever my stupid older brother would really do. Cause this isn't you. By now, you'd be halfway across the galaxy or something. So what's holding you back?"

"Zim," he answered without hesitation. "Zim's holding me back. Gaz, it's like… somehow, every little thing I think of… it somehow always ends up coming back to him. It's like…"

"Like you're obsessed with him? That's kinda old news."

"Obse- no! God, Gaz, stop making it weird. He just… always finds a way to make it into my thoughts, like a… a song you can't get out of your head. A... really annoying song. I hate it. I hate him."

"That's an odd way to talk about someone you hate," she noted.

Dib groaned in defeat, shoulders slumping forward. "…Ugh, you're right… I don't hate him, I just hate how stupid and ridiculous he is… but… sometimes he's just so damn…"

"Dib, don't drool all over the table."

"Drool- Gaz! I'm not… I wasn't-!" …Was I?

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Dib muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "I should probably go talk to him, but talking to Zim is like talking to a brick wall. He's so sure of himself that he never bothers to listen to anyone else."

"Well, whatever you decide, just make sure you tell dad. He's been bugging me for weeks 'cause he hasn't heard from you."

Dib waved her off. "Yeah yeah, I'll give him a call tonight. He's away for a trip right now, isn't he?"

"Yeah, some big convention for scientists. He was really excited about it."

Dib remembered that 'convention' very well. One time Dib had begged his father to take him along since there was bound to be something there regarding paranormal science. But his father had told him that paranormal science wasn't strong enough to be regarded as a separate field of study.

"Besides," he'd said, "this is business. Boring adult things. You wouldn't like it."

Not that it mattered much. Dib had been attending ParaCon for the past two years now.

But Gaz was right. When had he lost his drive? His eleven year old self would've been elated at the opportunity to go into space and join a rebellion against the Irken Empire. Sure, he had been into space a couple times, but never for an extended period of time. In fact, he hadn't really gone beyond the galaxy before.

There was, of course, the obvious risk of death, but Dib had his fair share of near-death experiences. After years of chasing after Zim, there wasn't really much he feared anymore. Even the concept of dying in space didn't scare him as much as it should. He just didn't want Earth to become another Irken conquest. He would do whatever was necessary to keep that from happening.

With that, his mind was made up. With or without Zim, he was going to protect his family.

"Thanks, Gaz. I think I know what to do now."

"It's whatever, but if you do go into space… how long will you be gone?"

"That's the thing… I have no idea. Time works differently in space depending on where you are, so it could be ten minutes or ten years."

"…Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Dib grinned teasingly. "What's the matter? Gonna miss me?"

She glared icy daggers at him. "Shut up and eat."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Zim tugged on his antennae in frustration. "I can't believe I allowed myself to say something… like that to the Dib!"

If it had been up to Zim, he would've told Atra to take her stupid offer and shove it. Like hell he was going up against the Armada, not now that he was finally grounded and had somewhere to belong to. Earth would never be home, but it was nice to have a place that you could always return to. But it wasn't just up to him; it was up to him and Dib. And no matter how much he wished he could, he could not control the Dib. If he wanted to go up into space to fight against the Empire, then he would. Simple as that.

…Except it wasn't, because if Dib went, then that meant that he had to go too.

Because he would not let the Dib-beast go by himself. Because he had sworn to himself since day one that he wouldn't let anything kill Dib. If he was going to die, then he would die by Zim's hand.

Dib. Stupid, idiotic, foolish, Dib. Why couldn't he just let the idiot go and get himself killed? Why did he have to tag along? Why was it so hard for him to let him go?

Dib had mentioned something not too long ago, about being tired of him. At the time, he hadn't understood what those words did to him. It was almost like they had caused him a physical pain, but Dib had never attacked him. But now, now he understood. The idea of letting Dib go was preposterous to him. He didn't want him to move on. He didn't want him to do stupid human things, like getting married or going to college. If there was one thing Zim hated more than Dib, it was being ignored by him. Dib used to watch him obsessively as a kid, but now that he's an adult, Zim was finally realizing how much he'd gotten used to that feeling, to being the center of someone's world. Even if the reasoning was purely driven by hatred, it didn't matter. Because he had his worst enemy- no, his worthiest enemy's attention. And to have that feeling ripped away from him so suddenly caused a feeling unlike any other.

Dib was the only enemy he'd ever accept. No one else would ever match up to him- and that thought scared him. The fact that Dib had become irreplaceable to him… was more terrifying than anything. And Irkens were supposed to be fearless.

Perhaps that was why he was so afraid to let him go. If Dib died in space, he'd never find another human to replace him. No one was Dib Membrane.

The thought only made him hate Dib more.

He hated Dib for turning him into… this, a pathetic, pitiful excuse for an Irken. He hated him for ruining his life, always wrecking his plans. He hated him for infecting him with… emotions and making his squeedlyspooch feel all funny. But most of all, he hated Dib for crossing the line they'd both unknowingly created, for making things more complicated than they ever had to be. He brought his stupid hyuuuumann feelings into their relationship, and now things were all… messed up.

Oh, how he wished he could kill him. Perhaps someday he would. But right now… right now he couldn't. It wasn't the time, and the circumstances weren't right. So for now… he would refrain. He used to daydream about when he would finally kill Dib. He'd imagined all sorts of creative ways to put an end to his pathetic life. A slow, torturous death on an autopsy table, like Dib had threatened him with so many times before. Or perhaps, if he was feeling merciful, he'd throw him into the Asteroid belt. It used to bring him great pleasure. And he'd had the opportunity to do the very things he dreamed of, multiple times. But he'd always put it off in favor of something he knew deep down would never work. Perhaps that was because he hadn't wanted it to work.

He would follow Dib into space, and fight against the very thing he had sworn to serve. Sometimes he felt like he would follow Dib to the end of the universe, if he asked.