Amy breaks up another of Dib and Zim's fights, but not before the two get connected by one of Zim's devices. Now, the next morning, Dib's feeling a little…alienated while Zim is looking a little pale, and fuzzy. What's going on? Set after the Birthday fic, again XD

Zim pinned Dib to the wall with the use of his metallic legs and fired his device, sending a dart into Db's skin. A wire was fixed at the end, trailing back into the machine itself. The Irken smirked and passed it between his hands.

"Well, Dib-worm, what shall I shoot next?"

I rolled my eyes, "Getting a bit trigger-happy, aren't you Zimmers?"

He turned to glare at me, "How did you get in here, Amy-beast?"

I pointed my thumb over my shoulder, "Front door was open. And do you mind keeping it down, I can hear you two from next door, people are going to get the wrong idea if it keeps up." I winked.

He shook with anger and aimed the device at me, "You'll do."

I ducked to the side before he side just as he pulled the trigger. The second dart flew through the air and bounced off of the metal wall. The force of it caused it to ricochet straight back towards him. The dart embedded into his neck. I watched in both horror and intrigue as the wire connecting the boy and the Irken sparked with violent flashed of static. They both collapsed to the ground and convulsed from the shock. Finally, they both went still.

For a moment, it looked like they weren't breathing. I jumped forward and grabbed the wire and ripped it from them, the darts falling to the ground. I shook their shoulders desperately, please wake up! Wow, where the darts had bee, the little marks were starting to swell rapidly. Dib was the first to wake up.

"That stupid lizard!" he snapped.

He jumped to his feet and charged towards the unconscious alien. My arms wrapped around his legs, making him trip and fall to the floor.

"Come on, let's go before he wakes up and this starts all over again." I grunted through his struggles.

Finally, he gave in and stormed towards the elevator. He paused and turned around to see what was taking me so long. I was lifting Zim up by wrapping my arms around his waist and dragging him across the room towards the elevator.

"What are you doing?" Dib asked, arching his brow.

"Well, I'm not going to just let him lay on the floor, am I?" I shrugged as the lift starting to move, "I'm just putting him on the sofa so he's more comfy is all."

He rolled his eyes, "You're seriously helping him?"

"He's a friend, in some sense."

The elevator brought us up to the living room where GIR was sitting on the floor, making his toy piggy zoom in the air gleefully. I dragged Zim over to the sofa and lay him on his side, pushing his drooped antenna out of his face. Dib folded his arms in impatience.

"You done?"

I smirked as I turned to him and took his hand, "Jealous?"

He flushed, "What? Pfft, no! I just, you know, it's -"

I cut him off my pecking his lips quickly before dragging him behind me out of the door. As we made out way back towards his house, I couldn't help but notice how short of breath he was getting. His cheeks were red and a sweat was beading on his brow. My teeth clenched in shock at the sight of the mark on his neck.

"Are you sure you're okay? That bump looks pretty bad." I muttered.

Dib prodded the lump that was starting to pulsate, "Yeah, it's not the first time Zim got a good hit."

"Don't have to tell me twice. But, you know… it's turning green."

"It's fine, his was worse." He smirked.

I couldn't really argue with that. By the time we'd been tossed out of Zim's base, there was a peach coloured lump on his neck the size of, well, a peach. Dib tugged at his collar and panted.

"Is it me or is it really hot all of a sudden?"

It really wasn't. In fact it was pretty windy, my coat was fastened to the top! My hand reached up to his forehead and was just as quickly snatched away. The heat coming off of him was unreal! The iris' of his eyes were unusually wide, almost taking up most of his eyes. I swallowed, not wanting to worry him but at the same time worrying like hell internally.

"Uh… okay, here's what we're gonna do." I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "I'm taking you home and keeping an eye on you overnight, okay?"

He arched his brow, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, just…" oh wow his voice was getting raspy too, "Just to be on the safe side."

I started pulling him down the sidewalk with more urgency. By the time we'd gotten back to his house, he was vastly out of breath and burning up badly. He collapsed onto his bed and started tugging at his clothes desperately. Clearly the heat was getting to him, sweat was trickling down the sides of his face.

"D-do you mind if…" he pulled at his shirt, "You know…"

I nodded, "No! For gods sake take it off you look like you're going to pass out!"

That was all the invitation he needed. Dib threw his trench coat to the floor and lifted his shirt over his head and dropped it to the side. I couldn't help but stare, he was really fit! Although the fact that he was coated in a layer of sweat was a little gross. He coughed, snapping my attention back to his eyes. He lay on his back and looked pleading at me, then to the window. I nodded and leaned over him to open it, letting in the chilly air.

"Why don't you go have a shower or something to cool down and I'll make something to eat?" I offered.

He breathed deeply and nodded, "Sure… sounds like a plan…"

Dib allowed himself to get pulled to is feet and lead to the bathroom where I left him to it. Downstairs in the kitchen, I started rummaging through the cupboards and fridge for anything that is good for sick people. I was really starting to worry about him, I'd never seen Dib in such a state. What was that thing that Zim hit him with? Was Zim going through the same thing? I hoped not, he only had GIR to take care of him and that wasn't going to end well. Well, Zim knew what that device did so he'd be able to sort himself out. Dib however, well both him and I were clueless about what was going on. Well, this was my plan, I'd keep an eye on Dib tonight, then if he wasn't getting better by the morning, I'd go to Zim's and find out how to cure him.

"AGH!"

My heart jumped into my mouth at the blood curdling cry coming from upstairs. I ran up the steps two at a time and hammered my fist against the bathroom door and demanded to be let in. There was a click as the door unlocked and I pushed my way inside. Dib was leaning against the wall, towel wrapped around him as he shuddered from agony.

"It b-burns!" he gasped.

I rolled my eyes, "Then turn down the temperature, idiot!"

My hand gingerly reached out to let the water rush over me. I winced and retracted in shock. It wasn't hot, in fact it wasn't even warm, it was freezing! How was this burning him? I adjusted the water so that it was of normal bathing temperature and sidestepped sarcastically.

"Think you can manage now?"

Dib narrowed his eyes at me and tilted his head at the falling water. He reached out but the moment the liquid touched his skin we groaned and hastily dried himself on the towel. He looked down at his hand which was now dotted with little pink burns. I swallowed thickly at the sight of it.

"Why don't you leave the shower till the morning?"

He looked at me with sarcasm, "Great idea."

"What do you want to eat?" I ignored his tone, "Think you can stomach anything?"

He licked his lips and tilted his head in confusion, "Actually, I've got a weird craving for… sugar. I'm sure there's some cookies or doughnuts downstairs."

I arched an eyebrow, "Uh, okay."

Minutes later, Dib was fully dressed and sitting a the table in the kitchen, shovelling snacks and sugary stuffs into his mouth at a rapid pace. I leant back in my chair to avoid the crumbs that were flying in all directions. What had brought on this sudden desperation for sugar? Then again, he had been pretty weak before, maybe he needed a little energy. But if he kept this up, he'd be throwing up at any minute. I reached over and took the pack of cookies away from him. He glared at me with a sudden glint in his wide eyes and a low grunt sounded from his throat.

I blinked, "Did you just growl at me?"

He froze and felt nervously at his throat, "I-I'm not sure… I'm sorry I don't know what's going on with me!"

"It's fine, so I take it you're still not feeling too good?"

Dib breathed slowly, "I th-think I'm gonna try and sleep it off. I'll be fine in the morning. Man, my back is killing me!"

I nodded in agreement, "If you say so, but I'm marching you straight to Zim's tomorrow just to be sure."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine by be, as soon as I get my hands on that alien I'm gonna -"

I cut him off by bouncing a cookie off of his head. He deflated and looked at me with a tone that cold only be labelled as unamused. He stood up and followed me back up the steps and into his bedroom. I left him alone to get changed into his pyjamas while I changed in the bathroom. By the time I'd returned, Dib was sitting in his night clothes, gripping his bed with a strange look in his eye. His pupils had shrank into mere specks whereas the coffee coloured iris has swollen rapidly. I placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He flinched but relaxed when he saw it was just me. Whatever Zim had done to him, it was working really well… He smiled softly to reassure me and clambered under the covers. Knowing that there wasn't anywhere else for me to sleep as I'd left my sleeping bag at home, he shifted over to make room for me. I made myself comfortable and grabbed his hand that was starting to scratch at the lump of his neck.

"Sleep now, you'll feel better in the morning." I hushed.

He sighed in defeat and closed his eyes. Sweat was starting to bead of his forehead again. I dabbed at him with a tissue that had been stuffed into my pockets. This fever needed to break if he was going to get better. There wasn't much that I could do for him at that moment. And I'd be no help to him if I was as tired as he was. So I curled up against him and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

As, memories from the day before fixing themselves together. By the feel of things, his temperature had gone back to normal. In the haze of semi-sleep, my eyes still refused to open. Next to me, Dib shifted and placed a finger under my chin, pressing his lips to mine. I smiled, only once before had he woken me up like this, and it was great to experience it again.

"Feeling better, then." I muttered as he kissed me again.

His hands cupped my cheeks, but something felt a little off, his fingers were very sharp and there seemed to be less of them somehow. But what took me by surprise the most was his next move. With his lips, he prised mine open. He'd never tried this before… No, something wasn't right here. It was too forceful, to misshapen. All of a sudden, a thin, worm-like tongue slithered into my mouth. My eyes snapped open in horror. Pressing its face against mine, was a large green figure. I shrieked and pushed it away with a quick punch to the chin, rolling over so that I fell out of the bed. I jumped to my feet and picked up the digital alarm clock and lifted it over my head in defence.

"Zim? What the hell!" I cried, "How'd you get in here? Where's Dib?"

The Irken blinked at me in shock, rubbing at it's sore chin. Wait, this ones eyes were a glimmering amber, not maroon. And instead of just two antenna, his were poking out from its bald scalp. I swallowed, there were more Irkens? And why was it wearing Dib's nightclothes? It stared at me in horror.

"Zim?" it stammered, "Why the hell would you call me that?"

"Well, he's the only other Irken I know!" I snapped, gripping my poor choice of weapon tighter, "Now who are you and what've you done with Dib?"

He arched his brow, "Irken? Amy what're you talking about?"

In the shock if it knowing my name, I threw the alarm clock at him. He ducked and flattened against the bed, revealing his grey and blue PAK fixed to his back. He eyed me in terror.

"Amy it's me! Dib! What's gotten into you?"

He got to his feet and held out his palms in an act of calming me, but he paused, catching sight of them. He counted his fingers, all six of them. The two amber orbs widened in horror at the lime-green digits. The reached up to his head where he felt along the two antenna and a whimper escaped him. Finally, he poked out his tongue and pinched the worm-like strand anxiously. He ran past me and into the bathroom, I followed, clenching my fists preparing for any attack. I found him staring at the mirror in horror. For a moment, he didn't move, and then; he screamed.

"I'm Irken! I look just like that space-monster! Amy I swear it's me, Dib!"

I swallowed, "Okay, if you are Dib, then what's your sisters name?"

"Gaz."

"Full name."

"Gazlene."

"What's your worst fear?"

"Moose eating walnuts because their teeth make that crunching noise that sounds just like bones snapping!"

I shuddered, "Graphic… But, what did you get me for my birthday?"

"A coat and 'Alice in Wonderland' book." He pointed for effect as he started rambling, "And at the time I was only a few inches tall after Zim hit me with a shrink ray and gave me to you as a birthday present and after you fixed me we went back to the skool and you kissed me and then that He Is We song came on and we were dancing and then I had a fit when I saw Zim and Gaz dancing together and then a week later I asked you on a date outside Zim's house!"

I blinked, dropping my fists as his green cheeks darkened and he gasped for breath. That was surprisingly detailed… He looked at me pleadingly. I had to admit, there was only one person who could give me that look, as well as have a head that size. I stepped forward and gripped his shoulders in panic.

"What happened to you?"

"You tell me!" he snapped.

"Well at least you're feeling better!" I smiled sheepishly.

He slumped his shoulders, "Really not the time!"

As he slumped, the lump on his neck became visible. It had shrunken slightly in the night, but it still looked sore. I arched my brow in suspicion, that device that had zapped Dib and Zim must have had something to do with this! But wait… if it had turned Dib Irken, then Zim must be…

"We're going to Zim's right now." I commanded.

Within fifteen minutes, I was pounding my fist against the front door of Zim's house. Dib stood behind me, sunglasses covering his eyes and his trench coat draped over his head to cover his face. The moment the door opened, a peach toned hand shot out and grabbed me. Out of reflex I grabbed at Dib with my free hand. The unknown force hoisted the pair of us indoors. We stumbled and nearly collided with the sofa. I turned around and felt my jaw drop.

Standing before us was a vaguely familiar figure. Its large eyes looked human, and had a thin maroon iris. Where there had once been antenna, was now a thick mop of raven hair. It pointed at us, but still not used to it's extra fingers, ended up aiming two fingers at us instead. If he wasn't standing right before me, I would never have believed it.

"See what happens when you interfere, vile human!" he snapped.

"Uh, you're the human now, Zim." I pointed out, smirking and receiving a glare.

"What did you do, Zim!" Dib cried, removing his disguise, "Change us back right now!"

"You think I like this? This human disfigurement is just disgusting!"

"Awe, don't be too hard on yourself, you don't look too bad." I grinned, punching his arm playfully.

"Well what about me!" Dib cried, pulling on his antenna, "I look just like some movie monster!"

"Still got pretty eyes though." I muttered, giving him a wink.

Said eyes narrowed in frustration, "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

I shrugged, "A little. Why were you using that gun thing anyway?"

Zim waved his arm passively, "I was only going to swap the stink-beasts DNA with a chicken! But then you had to interfere."

"Don't blame me for that! You tried to shoot me, I wasn't going to just stand still was I?"

He ignored me and turned to point at Dib, "Well Dib-worm you won't have to worry about disgracing the Irken form much longer, the device is nearly fully charged and ready for use again soon." He waved his hand passively.

It wasn't sure if it was just me, but there was something about Zim's voice that sounded a little different. As he and Dib started to argue about how soon 'soon' was going to be, my ears strained to get a better grasp on it. Then, it hit me. Zim was talking with a slight lisp. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Zim, why are you talking like that?"

He paused in mid threat and glared at me. He straightened up and poked his human tongue out at me. At first I thought he was just being childish, I mean all I did was ask a question. But then he started pointing at it with annoyance and crossing his eyes to get a better view of it.

"This inferior human tongue!" he cursed, "It's so flat and pudgy! How do you speak with such a nuisance!"

"Well what about these!" Dib cried, pointing to his feelers, "I mean, do they even serve a purpose?"

"You'll get no answers from Zim!" the human snapped.

There was a heavy knock on the door. Zim huffed and turned to answer it. I looked at Dib who had discovered how to control his antenna. He pointed them upwards to the ceiling and then made them flatten against his head before repeating the progress. I giggled and reached up to stroke them. Like a puppy, he flinched before getting used to the sensation and pushing his head further into my palm. Suddenly he collected himself and ducked away.

"No, I shouldn't be liking that!" he stammered, shaking the feeling away from him, "It's too weird!"

I chuckled, "If you say so. Space-boy."

That gained me a glare and a soft punch in the arm. We turned at the sound of Zim giving a disturbed grunt at the door. He was frozen in shock as the visitor eyed him suspiciously. He backed away as she stepped forward into the house. The violet haired girl studied Zim inventively with her amber eyes, a cruel smirk on her face. I mirrored her smirk, I'd seen that look on her face before. It was rare and usually resulted in her making a comment before returning to her observing and sombre self.

"Welcome earthling," she raised her hand in the classic star-trek sign, "take me to your leader." She glanced at Dib, "Oh, there he is."

I snorted with laughter as Zim reddened and Dib clenched his fists in rage. As quickly as it had appeared, her smirk faded and she returned to her fixed scowl. She glared at her brother and folded her arms.

"You ate all of the cookies, you will buy more or else," she grabbed his arm and twisted it so that his three fingers arched from the strain in muscle, "this will be the last of your problems."

He gulped and nodded, his feelers flattening against his head in terror. She released him and plonked herself down on the sofa.

"How'd you know we were here?" I asked, recovering from laughter.

She looked at me with sarcasm, "You have met Dib right? Plus I could hear you two outside my room this morning."

"Sorry, it was a bit of a shock." I shrugged.

"So is his head on a normal day."

"Zim agrees." Zim nodded, regaining his motor skills.

I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows at him. No winners for guessing why we agreed with her of all people. He glared at me warningly so I shrugged in defeat. Zim wrinkled his nose and crossed his eyes to look at it in disgust, hands tugging at his ears in repulsion.

"Computer, take us to the labs… if I spend one more minute in this state Zim shall surely regurgitate his insides."

"It's called throwing up, space-monster!" Dib snapped, "But… yeah… we should go."

I rolled my eyes. But my amusement was cut shot by the ground suddenly started to shake. A large circle that stretched from the sofa to the TV raised slightly out of the ground. Zim stepped onto it, tapping his foot and crossing his arms in impatience. The rest of us joined him on the platform before it gave another jolt and started lowering down again. The living room vanished from view above us and we were dropped to the labs. Dib widened his golden eyes, his antenna quirking in intrigue.

"There's another way down here! Man, I gotta remember this one!"

"Don't get any idea's stink-beast!"

"What like you're amazing ideas?" he retorted, puling Zim's new mop of hair.

Zim glared at him and tried to take a swipe at him with his hand but missed by centimetres. In retaliation, Dib threw himself at the alien, or rather, at the human, wow this was confusing. The two started scrapping on the floor, throwing punches and pulling at each others hair/feelers. Gaz and I exchanged a glance, it was best just to let them to it. After all, it was just an average day for us. The lift came to a sudden stop, jarring us and sending the two rolling along the tilled floor of the labs. I casually stepped over them and felt the air get knocked from me as something solid collided with me.

"Hi GIR." I gasped.

"Hi Amy-Cakes!" he grinned, "You gonna shoot Masta now?"

I swallowed at his choice in words, "Uh, possibly….?"

Gaz smirked, "I'll do it."

Something about the excited glint in her eyes made me on edge. Without hesitation, she removed the device from what I presumed was the charger, ironically enough it looked like a regular phone charger. Without even taking aim, she span around and pulled the trigger, embedding one dart into the back of Dib's head. He cried out in pain and tumbled away from his nemesis. Zim looked up with his humanoid eyes and locked them on Gaz. For a moment, she hesitated, but she quickly composed herself and fired. The dart hit him directly between the eyes. The wire connecting the two exploded with electricity, sending them convulsing rabidly from the shock. Finally, it stopped, allowing me to pull the darts away. Gaz released a slow breath.

"That was pretty cool actually."

I let out a dry laugh, "That's one word for it…"

GIR poked his unconscious master, "He still pink!" he tousled his hair, "And fuzzy!"

"Well, it took overnight to transform them in the first place, so it'll probably be a few hours before it changes them back."

"Good, this is just disturbing me." Gaz muttered.

"At least you didn't wake up to a worm-tongue in your mouth!" I sniggered.

She eyed me with a look that said 'too much info' and folded her arms grudgingly, "That would be a surprise to some, I guess."

My eyebrows vanished under my bangs, "Not to you then?"

She narrowed her eyes at me warningly, but I was positive that there was a hint of a blush. She swiftly composed herself and looked away. A shiver went down my spine and I really should have left it there, but I couldn't help but press the matter. If I died, people would no longer be warning kids about the cat who was killed by curiosity, it would be me.

"If you like him, then go for it, you might be surprised."

She aimed the device at me, it was out of charge and there were no more darts, but it was still pretty threatening to look down the barrel of a weapon. As if she suddenly noticed what she was doing, she dropped her arm and tossed it to the side.

"Whatever…" she muttered.

"What happened? Where am I? I'm not an alien!"

"Woah! Dib calm down!" I swear to god that boy made me jump out of my skin, "You're home, and no, you're not an alien."

It had been a good few hours since he'd been zapped again, and most of the time had been spent with me and Gaz dragging him home. He had regained a fever and had been writhing in his sleep as the DNA was altering. I had to say, it had been fascinating watching his skin fade back to its pale tone, and his hear grow back into its permanent spike. Seeing his nose, ears and fingers regenerate though… that had just been disturbing. He admired them with a goofy grin on his face and jumped off of his bed, reaching to feel his PAK-less back.

"Yeah!" he cried, pumping his fist in the air.

I laughed, "For some reason the reaction was faster in Zim, he woke up a while before you did."

His smile dropped, "Zim's here?"

"No, Gaz went back to check on him, I got a call from her a while ago saying he was back to normal."

"And she hasn't come back yet?"

I shrugged innocently, "So, ten fingers, that's gotta be awesome to have back!"

He could tell that I was changing the subject, but it still didn't stop him waving them in front of his eyes in glee. His eyes, returning to their human state were bright behind his glasses. I let him wrap his arms around my waist and lift me up to spin me.

"Man it's great to be human!" he cried.

I laughed and pushed him away, but he held on so that our chests were pressed together. He blushed.

"You know, there's one good thing about what happened?"

"What's that?" I asked, arching my brow.

He smirked, "That I know you'll give Zim what for if he ever made a move on you."

I remembered when Dib had kissed me in Irken form, his snake-like tongue taking me by surprise and his green face so close to mine. Admittedly, it had been a shock to the system, hence why I threw a punch as well as an alarm clock. But that's not why I was reddening at that moment. It was because of what I knew. And how clueless Dib was.

"Don't worry about that, he'd never make a move on me." I smiled knowingly, "He's got his eyes on someone else."

He narrowed his eyes, "Who? There's more Irkens around here? Who?"

A giggle escaped me at his total cluelessness. To stop him from questioning me further, I kissed him, deliberately lingering. When I pulled away, my cheeks felt like they were on fire at the question that I wanted to ask.

"W-would you, you know, want to have… a-another go at that… thing this morning?"

Dib tilted his head in confusion. To give him a subtly hint, I looked at the floor and gave my bottom lip a small smooth of the tongue. He blushed as realisation set in. He tensed and started babbling.

"Oh, uh, well if you w-want to, I… Uh, okay…"

"You don't have to if you're that nervous about it." I reassured.

His lips, quivering, leaned in and pressed against mine. For a while, we stayed like that, no one daring to make the first move. Slowly, he started to open my lips with his. Slowly, and anxiously, I felt something soft and warm smooth across into my mouth. My first instinct, from past experience, was to pull away, but that soon passed. This was how I had originally expected, only, better. There was no sharp pinch of claws, no sudden snake-like thing invading my space, it just felt like… Dib. That's all I can say to explain it. It was me and Dib.

However, if I'd opened my eyes, the moment would have been, well, altered to say the least. For as we were exploring this new part of each other, there was a green and pink figure in the window, secured to the side of the house by metallic spider-like legs. In his hands was a note-pad and pen, and he was scribbling notes on our movements with detail. As we broke apart, so did the figures grip on the house, sending him back to his base to look over his research, wondering if the cause of his mind infection would have the same positive reaction to him as I had to Dib.

And how do I know of this? Well, they say dead people don't talk; but hyperactive robots do… especially when you give them cake…