As the title said. Surprise! I'm not dead!

Words- Regular speech

Words- Thoughts

Words- Chapters and changes

(Words)- Bez speech

Chapter 10 - "Surprise!" "Screw you and your Surprises!"

Curtis' P.O.V....

Several Kakes later....

"It seems, I'm getting more and more time on the bridge," I muttered resting my head on my fist as it was propped on the arm of the chair. "This is ridiculous, I do have other duties besides bridge work. I have back logged appointments that need to be handled and everything else that needs doing. I haven't had time with Rachel either!"

"Then go spend time with your tiny terror," Someone said from behind me.

I turned to see Zim smirking at me. "Doesn't Wren need you though?"

He shook his head no. "She threw me out. She said one hovering being was all she could handle at the moment. Bez is doing a very good job of making sure she doesn't strain herself more than she already is. So I left her in capable claws. You on the other hand need a small break. So go find your girlfriend and cuddle to your heart's content you stupid human."

"Are you sure?" I frowned.

"Curtis, I'm pulling rank and commanding you go do something else for this evening. I don't care what it is and you are not to come back onto this bridge until someone comes to get you for service again," Zim grinned.

I laughed, standing and stretching. "Thanks Zim. I owe you one." I slapped his shoulder and he shook head head at me with a smile.

"We're even Curt. You've done a helluva lot behind the scenes here the past couple of weeks. Your turn for getting something you want for once. Now, go on before something comes up that prevents you from going to see your girlfriend!"

"Is that an order?" I asked with a grin.

"Damn right it is. Oh, and there is a gardener who has picked several flowers and has set up a small cart at the entrance of the greenhouse."

My grin widened. "Rachel would love a few flowers. Thanks Zim!"

"Go on you idiot,, out of my sight now!"

I saluted and dashed out the door, skidding around corners when the lift stopped. I took Zim's advice and made a quick stop at the flower cart he mentioned.

Sliding through the door quietly. Rachel took no notice of me as her back was turned to the door. Coming up from behind her I brought the flowers into view.

She gasped as she took them from my hands. "These are beautiful Curtis!"

"I'm glad you like them," I smiled looking down at her. "And we have a table on the officer's mess hall floor for the evening. And I'm all yours tonight."

"Yay!" she squealed somehow leaping up and hugging me.

"Go, get ready," I laughed giving her a squeeze. "I hear they have mashed potatoes tonight in the officer's hall."

"Double yay!" Rachel squealed again, scrambling to her closet to grab some clothes and dashing for the bathroom.

I went to the kitchen to grab a tall glass to put the flowers in. I didn't have to wait long for Rachel to emerge from the bathroom. She came over to me practically bouncing with happiness.

I offered her my arm and smiled at her. "Shall we?"

"We shall," she smiled back.

We made our way to the officer's hall without any problems.

Kakes later....

Rachel and I stumbled into our rooms amid our own laughter. She was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face.

"I can't believe he did that," she gasped.

"And when she..." I laughed harder.

"And then they..."

We started laughing harder than before if that were possible and collapsed onto the couch. It took several minutes before either of us could stop long enough to catch our breaths. We calmed down slowly and Rachel cuddled into my side, wiping the tears from her face.

"Thank you Curtis."

"For what?" I asked a little confused, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into my side more firmly.

"For taking me out tonight."

"You should be thanking Zim, he let me off tonight."

"I just missed you is all."

"I missed you too Rachel. It's been a hellish few weeks."

She only nodded and looked up at me. "I love you Curtis."

"I love you too Rachel," I murmured back as I caught her lips in a kiss.

It only took a few moments for it to deepen and blossom into something more. Next either of us knew, our clothes were gone, leaving a trail to the bed. I caught her lips again as I made her finally mine.

*

I woke slowly the next morning, unsure why exactly I was so content. I tightened my arm around Rachel, who was curled into my side, her head resting on my shoulder and tucked under my chin. I noticed that we weren't exactly clothed and the memory of last night came to me. She slept still, peacefully tucked against me. A few strands of hair in her face made her look that much more beautiful and peaceful. Carefully, I brushed them behind her ear and traced the gentle curve of her jaw with my fingertips.

"I'm too damned lucky to have her," I thought to myself. " I don't think I could live without her now. I never want to let her go."

Slowly, Rachel shifted awake. Blinking tiredly and yawning she stretched out just minutely. "Morning."

"Morning beautiful," I smiled, kissing her forehead lightly.

She was blushing as I pulled away. "Oh, don't tell me you're all shy now. Especially after last night," I teased.

"Curt!" she whined, hiding her face into my shoulder. "Don't tease me!"

"But you're adorable when you blush!" I grinned. "Especially in the heat of the moment."

"I'm going to bite you," she growled warningly.

"I'm sorry love."

"You are not," she huffed.

"Yes, I am."

"Nu uh."

"Yes."

"Nu uh."

"Marry me?"

"Nu.... what?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Curtis, I...."

"I know it's not the usual way to ask seeing that we're both naked and I don't have a ring at the moment. But I'm serious Rachel, will you marry me?"

Her eyes grew wide at my babbled explanation and she had sat up, taking the blanket with her.

"Rachel, please, talk to me," I pleaded sitting up myself.

"Is this just because of last night?" she asked sharply, a withering stare my way.

"You mean before or after we slept together?" I frowned.

"Is it because we slept together last night and you feel like you have to ask me?" she practically snapped.

"Fuck! No Rachel! I wouldn't have even slept with you if I weren't sure I wanted to spend my life with you. I've been thinking of asking you for a while now I'm not playing with you at all, I really want you to marry me!"

She looked at me with a scowl before her gaze went watery. Then the tears came.

"Rachel. Oh Rachel, I"m so sorry. Please don't cry."

"For what? I'm crying because I'm happy you idiot!"

"Does this mean yes? Will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes it does. I will marry you Curtis!"

I grinned and pulled her into a hug as she complained that she was crying over nothing. That she felt ridiculous at bawling her eyes out. I only reminded her that its not everyday that you get asked for her hand in marriage. Which that only caused her to cry even more.

And through all her tears I kissed her over and over.

Zim's P.O.V....

I yawned as I started down the officer's hall. Rachel suddenly burst out of her room in some hastily thrown on clothes. I stopped and watched as she barged into our room without knocking. I knew I must have held a puzzled look on my face as I stood there for a moment longer.

Raising a brow I frowned slightly, confused, before knocking on Rachel and Curtis' door. It opened to reveal Curtis just pulling a shirt over his head.

"Hey Zim, how was your shift?" he asked with a smile.

"Long and uneventful," I replied as I leaned against the door frame. I crossed my arms over my chest. "That was until I saw Rachel run into Wren's room in a frenzy. Any idea why?"

"I asked her to marry me," he grinned wider than I'd every seen before. "She said yes!"

I blinked. "Of course she'd have said yes. What else would she have said other wise?"

"She almost didn't to be truthful," he frowned suddenly. "She thought for a moment that I only asked her because I slept with her last night."

"Well then," I smiled. "Congratulations then on the engagement. And her not ripping your head off for that."

"Thanks," he grinned again, frown completely erased. "Do you think you'll ever ask Wren?"

It was my turn to frown. "Irkens really don't do that actively."

"You're kidding!"

I shook my head, frown still in place. "We really haven't stuck to one partner since we gained the birthing tubes. The first smeets to be born naturally have been on Bez along with the first solid relationship any Irken really ever has had. We really didn't need any intercourse and we were too busy before to even think about those things."

"Damn," Curtis muttered. "You know, that's pretty unbelievable."

I just shrugged off the comment as I stifled a yawn behind my hand.

"Would you ask her though?"

Pausing only slightly to think about the question, I looked back at the time I'd spent with Wren. Our meeting, our escape, the way she blushed and smiled and teased. I'd never been as happy as I was now until Wren came into my life, though I didn't act like it when I first met her. "If it would make her happy. I'd try to give her the universe," I finally said, hoping to placate him.

"That's not the same Zim. Would you ask her to marry you? To be bound to only you?"

"I-"

"Congratulations!" Wren squealed as she tackled Curtis in a hug. She pulled away quickly and snarled. "Hurt her and I'll decapitate you in the most painful way possible."

"Wren, You shouldn't be out of your room!" I scolded, regaining my tongue after Curtis' question.

"Room, shroom. I had to congratulate them. And I caved and took a pain pill so I"m good for now!" she exclaimed with excitement.

She moved over to me and cuddled into my side quite content to be there.

"She definitely shouldn't have any of those pain pills after she's healed," Rachel said squeezing in past Wren and I. "She gets very cheerful and excitable. I hope her crash won't be horrendous when she comes off those pills."

Wren pouted while looking at Rachel. "You're a meany head."

"And you shouldn't be out of your room," Rachel countered. "You're high on some pain pill that makes you incredibly happy. Which is a little scary...."

"So? It was only one and it only lasts about four kakes. I think... And then I'm back to my usual self!"

"And you'll most likely crash and be a bitch after wards."

"If you say so," Wren rolled her eyes, snuggling closer to me. She sighed. "I need to go back to my room. A nurse is supposed to be in today to check up on my side. But I don't wanna."

"Any why not?" I asked pulling her gently closer, kissing her temple.

"Don't like being poked and prodded," she grumbled. "It sucks."

The three of us rolled our eyes at her but smiled anyway. She had been poked and prodded more than the rest of us.

"Back to your room Wren," Rachel pushed. "We'll celebrate properly when you're allowed out of your room more."

"But I was out for the funeral!" Wren protested still pouting.

" And you got reamed out for several minutes for it," I added moving my arm from around her waist to around her shoulders leading her from Rachel and Curt's doorway.

"But I needed to do it and I didn't do any lifting while doing it either," Wren countered.

"Yes, but I promised Uuna that I'd lock you in your room after you got out of the hospital," I smiled, amused by all of this little banter.

"Soooo?"

"Sooo you need to be locked in your room anyway now indefinitely as soon as Uune learns you launched yourself at Curt in a tackle/hug."

Wren gasped dramatically. "No! You wouldn't let her do that!"

Rachel and Curtis were trying not to laugh as I led Wren back to our room. They watched from the doorway and only snickered louder as I seriously told her that I would probably have to since I did break my vow to the head nurse.

Wren eeped and gasped out a sharp, "No!"

"Yes."

"But Zim!" she whined. "I don't want to be locked in my room all the time."

"Then we better head back to the room before a nurse comes down to check on you and finds you missing."

Wren darted out of my grasp and into the room and Rachel and Curtis fell out of theirs laughing. I stood in the hall chuckling as she peeked around the door wide eyed before darting back quickly.

"She definitely shouldn't take those painkillers too often," Curtis said helping Rachel up from the floor where she was doubled over in stitches laughing.

"She's really odd on them, isn't she?" I asked looking over my shoulder at them. "I've never seen her like this. It's-it's..."

"Childish?" Rachel supplied. "Wishy-washy also works or perky."

"Odd comes to mind," Curtis said.

I laughed again before cutting off a yawn. "Maybe I can convince the drugged one to calm down enough to take a nap with me."

"Totally jealous of that," Rachel said. "A couple of hours and you're ready to go. I have to have at least six hours or I'm no good at all."

"We humans are just not that awesome of a species," Curtis sighed dramatically. "We try to be though. We should get points for that at least."

"And you do bet points for that," I laughed. "Again, congratulations you two."

"Thanks Zim," Rachel smiled at me.

I gave a final wave before walking into our room. I entered into the suite wondering if I was going to be attacked. Being the Irken I was, I was on edge until I knew what Wren was going to do.

To my surprise, Wren was sitting at the counter in the kitchen with a drink in her hand. She was scowling at a vid that was in front of her and had a hand on her side. It was shocking to see such a dramatic change in her personality in such a sort time.

"Are you ok?" I asked coming up behind her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she smiled at me, barely moving at the waist. She had looked over her shoulder. "Though, I'm sticking to my teas and mixes at this rate. I haven't had a pain pill like that in quite a while. Hell, I've never had a pain pill like that ever. It screwed with me and now I'm exhausted."

"Well that's odd. I was wondering if you wanted to take a nap with me," I smiled. "What a turn of luck, hm?"

She perked up. "Nap! I like that idea. Though a nurse is to be here in a few moments." Her face fell.

I ruffled her hair as I started toward the bathroom. "I need a shower anyway before my nap. So that will take up some time while she's here."

"I hate getting poked and prodded," Wren muttered.

"But thank Irk you're alive or you wouldn't be here to complain about it."

"You have a point there Zimmy. I shouldn't complain as much as I have been. I'm just used to doing a lot more than what I have been doing lately though."

"I now, Grashe. You always have to have your hands in something."

She smiled at me and the look in her eyes took my breath away. I would do anything for her just for that look of love. I kissed her forehead before I ruffled her hair again. She grinned at me and playfully pushed me away.

"Go for your shower you. Sooner you get that done, the sooner we can nap."

I grinned as I grabbed a set of sleep clothes and headed for the bathroom. I took my time to relax under the warm spray and just let my muscles release their tension from the night shift. When I finally came out of the bathroom I stopped in my tracks and my mouth went dry.

Wren was sitting on one of our backless kitchen stools and all I could see was all of her bare back. I hadn't really paid too much attention to her stripes until now. Pale stripes ran along her ribs as a darker set of stripes ran down her spine. I now could see where they gradually darkened to where her tail connected to her spine. When she was in her battle outfit I didn't have time to pay attention to these small details. That and I could also see the well of her chest from the angle I was at. I'd never seen so much skin as I had now.

My eyes though went to her left side now where the spot of where she was wounded. It looked a little angry, red around the mix of adhesive and stitching that closed it. My guess was that the wound on her stomach looked about the same. That and the very light scarring on her shoulder were the only things that marred her skin.

'Wow,' I thought and knew she knew I was there because she had immediately twitched an ear in my direction.

The nurse looking at Wren's side hummed as she ran a finger along the wound. She was human, much older than Wren by far. By the look of it, she may have been forty or so from what I understood of how humans aged. And at the moment she had a quizzical look on her face.

"You've only been taking quick showers, right?"

"Yep." A twitch of her tail and tightening of a few muscles along her back gave signs that the nurse had hit a tender spot with her fingers only moments before she answered.

"Other than the funeral, have you been out of the room?"

Wren hesitated, ears flicking forward then to lay back.

"Don't lie to me, ma'am. I had two daughters your age before the abduction. I can tell when someone your age is trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

Wren heaved a sigh and lashed her tail one, twice. "I left to congratulate Curtis for his engagement with Rachel. I kind of tackled him."

"And why ever did you feel you could do that at this moment?"

"Those damned pills Uuna gave me. I caved and took only one and they screwed with me," she grumbled.

"No more of those for you then. Back to the basic human drugs for you. It's not an uncommon thing for that to happen with Irken medications and us. You're still part human after all. A hybrid, so where some things work for both, others don't work at all. So human meds, though not as potent, will work perfectly.

Now, there also doesn't seem to be any sign of infections. We were really worried about those seeing as the legs of the Irken paks are not as sanitary as many think. We weren't sure if you would get anything nasty from it. Good for you that the Delaline and human race are quite resilient to several infections. And that the human form can adapt very quickly."

"Good to know," Wren said blinking at the nurse.

"You're fit as anyone I've seen," the nurse added after prodding for a second more. "At least with this injury. Uuna said you were permitted to do a little light bridge duty if there were no infections or that sort of thing."

Wren's ears perked up at that. "Really! When?"

"Yes, and it was going to be tomorrow. But with your irritating the area today with a tackle to Curtis, don't even think of trying to deny it now either. I'm pushing it to two days," the nurse scolded, cleaning her hands in the sink in the kitchen.

"But!"

"No buts, this will teach you to be fore careful," huffed the nurse. "Now, continue with the quick showers and everything you've been doing so far. In two days you can go back to the bridge for light duty. Only a third or half the time of your usual time frame for duty. If you wanted to be more useful and stay in your office then that would be a full duty. In a few days I want you back down in med bay for another check up to see if the wound can be uncovered. Let's say five days. Got me?"

"Yep."

"Good," the nurse smiled as she picked up her back. "Take care Captain and no more tackling people till your fully healed."

"Yes ma'am," Wren grinned cheekily.

The nurse left and Wren looked over her shoulder at me with a smile.

"Going for a new look?" I asked, motioning to her without her shirt.

She smirked as she stood from the chair, hands still covering her chest. She began toward me with a small sway in her hips and I swallowed thickly.

"And what if I am?" she asked sweetly.

"It looks quite nice then," I answered, barely able to string the sentence together because of how close she was.

"You know.... you have your answer about my stripes completely. And guess what...."

"What?" I asked, mouth dry.

"You have to wait for the rest of me," she purred leaning up to kiss my chin.

I was highly aware of just how close she actually was by the heat her body was radiating. I could just feel a blush rising on my cheeks.

She then turned away from me and walked towards the bathroom, picking a shirt up along the way. Before she entered the bathroom she gave me a look that sent my blood warming. She slipped into the bathroom and the door slid shut behind her.

It was several seconds before I could even form a proper thought. "Damn tease," I growled deeply to myself. "She'll be the death of me sooner or later just by being a damned tease!"

I made my way over to the bed, muttering to myself about Wren being such a tease until she finally came out of the bathroom with a wide yawn. She smiled at me before climbing into bed as well, curling up beside me with a content sigh.

"I love you Zim," she murmured, yawning again and wrapping her tail around one of my arms.

"I love you too you damned little tease," I playfully growled at her.

She buried her face into my chest while giggling. I couldn't help but smile widely at her and chuckled while burying my face into her hair and wrapping my fingers within the fur on her tail.

Narrator....

Days later....

"So there are absolutely no records of maintenance for the space station, at all," Wren deadpanned after listening to the reports of a few of the crew who had searched the station's records.

"None, anything maintenance related was corrupted or lost ages ago unfortunately."

"Fan-freaking-tastic," Wren muttered, running a hand across her face. "In essence we need to recreate the whole station from scratch with no directions or hints that we even have things right."

"It seems that way," Zim said himself.

"Bloody hell," the Captain groaned covering her face with her hands. "Anything else I need to know that deals with bad news while we're on a roll here?"

There was silence around the room, that is until a crew member from the bridge popped into the room.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes?" she looked at him, hoping for some good news.

"A few scouting craft have relayed through the belt that several massive Irken ships have arrived on the outer edge of the belt."

"You're kidding..."

"No, I'm not ma'am."

"They got here faster than Tonu did!"

"Well... they are war craft. The refugee craft and Carriers are coming weeks later because they are slightly slower."

"Great... we have nothing done, at all. Anyone have anything else to add to the mix?" Wren asked looking about the room.

Grace the stormed past the crew member in the doorway and into the room holding GIR at arm's length. "He ate an explosive," she said deceptively calm, eye twitching.

"Surprise!" GIR squealed giggling madly.

"Gah!" Wren shouted. "Screw you and your surprises! What the hell do we have besides and explosive SIR unit, no repair plans, and several Irken vessels already here and a damn hole in my side?"

"We have a working model for the gateway through the asteroid belt," the Irken and Sharshan team said. "We've done several sized models and each is better than the last."

"We have also found out a possible gene therapy to help some of the Delalines who have genetic defects. We've also been trying an embryonic splicing technique to use human contributions to combine Delaline and Human DNA because we now know that it is possible for a hybrid to come of it. So far the tests and models have worked well beyond expectations. We are very close to accepting Delaline females for the possibility of accepting fertile embryos," a medical worker said, clearly excited about the information he was giving.

A maintenance worker slid a vid across the table. "We may not have found any usable records of repair logs, but we have found and classified the sections of the station that can be safely removed and replaced. There is a very high possibility that we can do exactly what we did with the Raroduen and just copy the layout to make changes before construction. We've already started creating the scans of the layouts and are about forty-five percent done with some sections.

There are also some very talented Delalines who know how to use and create their technology to combine with ours to create a stronger structure. Not only that, but quite a few crew members are trying to learn the language and mechanical techniques safely so we don't have to keep bothering the Delalines with questions."

A civilian of the ship rose a hand. "The civilians of Bez have actually built a few items that aren't as sophisticated as the technology on Bez but could save space and function from anything from hydroponic shelves, looms to make fabrics, to items that serve as seating and storage. I know this isn't very huge or as big as everything else, but if we taught some of what we know to them, it could help keep those busy and out of the way until the important things are done.

I mean, several of us who do have small lap looms sometimes get together and just converse for a couple of kakes sometimes. We've even finished several projects, though we just use the time to relax and talk. It's a wonderful time to just catch up on everything that's happened and possibly what could happen.

There are also a few Yoga, Tai chi, and a dance teacher on board to help with the releaving of stress in none working style. I know I've watched a few of each class and some of the youngest of the crew members on board enjoy it as much as the older."

Wren blinked a few times. "Well, that does make up for a few things. More than I thought we had."

"What's good now though is we have several mechanics who are here to help with the creation of the station layouts. So we could possibly cut that time down by half."

"I should be complaining then," the Captain sighed. "Now comes the problem of figuring out whether or not there is enough space for the ships that are coming to stay within the asteroid field.. It'd be easier to keep passerby's from being suspicious."

"That could easily be found out. I just need to get the numbers and ships from the ones that just arrived and tally stuff up," Zim said.

"And the gateway?"

The scientists looked a little sheepish. "We've already started on the actual sized model. We were that enthusiastic about the project we started before we realized what we had actually done."

Wren laughed. "Continue to be enthusiastic. I wouldn't mind seeing this thing as soon as the meeting is done. Now, anything else?"

There were various heads shaking no, and several voiced confirmation.

"Good, now go do whatever you do. And throw GIR out an air lock or something. Though I'm sure his body would contain the explosion if it happened to go off."

"Do you really want him outside? Where there are very fragile and more dangerous things?" Grace asked. "Wonderful. Just what we need Captain."

Wren sucked a breath through her teeth. "You have a point there. More dangerous out there, especially with how fragile the space station is now."

"Exactly."

"Just let him run around then. If he really wants to blow up he will."

"With our luck, he'll just belch flames or something," Grace muttered.

As if on cue, he burped and flames shot out of his mouth. Grace dropped him, startled by the act and then kicked him into the wall across the room causing Wren to duck so not to get hit by the airborne SIR unit. He hit with enough force that he stopped belching and a puff of smoke came out of his mouth.

"Now more! I am not SIR sitting anymore!" Grace swore before swinging around and storming out the door. "SIRs are going to drive me to the point of wanting to jump out a fucking air lock! I"ll stick with KIA. At lease he's semi sane!"

Wren blinked as well as the whole of the staff at the meeting. Their attention went to GIR who stood and brushed himself off. He then proceeded to belch the alphabet as he walked out the door.

"Mad, fucking mad..." Rachel muttered.

"A-a-and on a more interesting and less insane topic," Wren stated after the pause that GIR had caused. "Before we conclude our meeting, I'd like to announce that Rachel and Curtis are going to be married!"

"Wren!" Rachel hissed as her friend cackled madly.

There was a cacophony of noise as people congratulated them left and right. Questions on when and how it had happened. Rachel was blushing by the end and Wren thought she was going to pass out.

"I'll get you back Wren. I swear I will," Rachel growled lowly, glaring at her friend.

Wren grinned. "Enjoy it! We haven't gotten to celebrate anything like this and anyway, it was either this or a ship wide announcement."

"I don't think I could handle that," Rachel muttered.

"Then don't complain about this," Wren grinned.

*x-rated scene has been clipped because of writer's lack of experience with those scenes. May, in the future, link to the added scene if I never get around to it. Just don't hold your breath.

So.... yeah.... no real excuse as why this is late. I'm lazy and that's the full of it. But I guess I am delaying this more and more because I want to have at least a chapter or two written before typing up the next next chapter. And I have been writing the side story along with coming up with an idea for another side story. These, hopefully won't be as long as as Abduction or Finding a Way but will try to be just as entertaining.

In other news. I am looking back over Thoughts of Destiny and I will probably start reposting chapters because I have revamped them a bit more. But I want to go over a good bit more before doing that. But Dib's character and Ravwrin's character are more defined in this story and probably will get to be understood if you reread that story before or even after. Of course it's not done and probably won't be for a while, but I actually still like it.

Warning that the next chapter is much shorter than this one and of a different style. Won't give it way of course, but hopefully you'll like it.