Chapter 22 – Discussing the Future –

Narrator...

"Either I'm going insane, or there's something fishy going on,' Wren said as she walked into her room.

Zim looked up from his notes as he sat in the kitchen at the island. He had a fork in one hand and a pen in the other.

"And I hate you, you and your ambidextrous ways," She added when she spotted him. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Irkens are just far more superior that way," he laughed. "Now, back to your probably insanity."

She stole his forkful of food with a hum of appreciation at the sweet noodle concoction. "Probably insanity or something fishy," she corrected as she turned to dish herself up some of the food that was on the stove.

"Alright then," he smiled. "Probable insanity or something fishy. So, what is it?"

"I dunno, but I could have sworn that I saw Thurin on my way here."

Zim raised an eyebrow at that.

"Exactly! I know everyone on board by sight, with Bez's help of course in many cases, and I could swear that it was him!"

"We Irkens tend to look alike love."

"I know that," Wren said rolling her eyes as she sat down with a fork across from him. "But it was him. The same grin, the cocky little salute he'd give me when he'd visit the bridge. It was him Zim."

"Maybe it's the stress?"

She frowned in thought. "Maybe. I just don't know anymore though. I have a feeling about this. But I know it's just insane that I saw a dead man."

She blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face before taking a bite of her dinner. "And maybe I should let this go. I don't feel this is dangerous of bad. It just bugs me."

Zim looked at her for a few moments more and smiled. "It's going to continue to bug you too. But don't let it eat at you Grashi. Things will work out in the end."

She sighed almost dramatically. "I know, I know. And aren't I the one who usually says that?"

"Sometimes you just need reminding," Zim smiled.

She smiled back at him. "What would I do without you?"

"Be driven mad by shear boredom," he answered with a wide grin. But his eyes gave a whole different answer.

She was grateful for him and all that he was to her. He may never understand it, but she was beyond grateful for him, everything he stood for in her life. Everything that she'd fought for to get here and survive.

The two of them sat quietly and dug into their meals. Zim working on his notes and Wren just mulling over things.

"Maybe there would be more to be grateful for after finding home," she thought to herself as she watched Zim eat and work. He was switching back and froth between his hands with his fork and the vid in front of him. "If I could have any kids, would they take after either of us? Who would they look more like? Would they be ambidextrous like him? A klutz like me?"

She smiled at the though of a little one with Zim's eyes and height and maybe her hair. A little boy or girl, it didn't matter. They would get into so much trouble regardless. With both of their habits of trouble finding them, it was inevitable.

"What are you smiling about Grashi?" Zim asked looking up to see her smiling.

She blinked back to the present. "Oh! Sorry, a little of this and a little of that," she answered.

"Uh, huh..."

She wrinkled her nose at him and stuck her tongue out. "I was thinking about the future if you much know."

"Anything in specific to bring that sort of wistful smile to your lips?"

"What we'd do after this whole mess was taken care of mostly," she answered truthfully looking him in the eye.

"You're sure we're going to win this?"

"I'm positive. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be day dreaming about having kids at some point, would I?"

Zim froze mid sip of his drink and started coughing. Wren rushed to his side and started patting him on the back. "Zim, are you ok?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a moment..." he said trying to catch his breath.

She looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure? Was it something I said?"

"I'm sure. And it was nothing you said. You just took me by surprise. What made you start thinking about children though?"

She gave a one shouldered shrug. "Not sure really. Most people do at some point in the human race I guess. I don't want any now of course!" she exclaimed. "I'm not even in my twenties yet! I'm the Captain of a living ship and we're pretty much in the middle of an all out war. No time for children until at least the war is done with or it's a little safer and I feel more confident with myself."

There was an uneasiness in Zim's eyes and form that made Wren flinch a little on the inside. It was a look of hope yet at the same point a fear that lead to something akin to depression.

"I'm sorry Zimmy. I didn't mean to bring this up. We haven't been together that long and I know most guys stay away from this subject for a while," Wren said quickly, slightly upset that she had made Zim upset about this. "I won't bring it up again if you don't want me to."

"I... no... It's not that Wren. It's just that..."

"Just what Zimmy?"

"It's just that there were whispers of me in the past being a defective soldier. An Irken who was not fit to survive because I caused so much damage. I-I'm just not sure why you would want to have a child with a defective soldier," he whispered looking down at his hands, not able to meet her eyes.

"Oh Zim!" she sighed. "You are not defective! How could you be! You've done so much. And why wouldn't I want children with the man I love. Honestly! Regardless of what they say, I wouldn't have it any other way." She took his face into her hands as she said this bringing his eyes up to meet her's.

He took her hands in his, not moving them but caressing the back of those small hands with his thumbs. "But what if I can't ever give you children because I am defective? I may not be able to do so because of something physical. I don't want to hurt you by not being able to give you something you'd want so badly," those ruby eyes shone with pain at the thought.

"Love, if that happens, you just let me adopt any orphan that we come across no matter the age," she smiled at him and jokingly said. "Or we'll figure something else out. We don't have to worry about this now because I don't even want kids at the moment! We have too much on our plates now to even worry about kids right now. Thought when we do I hope they have you're height. But heaven help the ship when we do have children. They're going to get into so much trouble! With our habit of trouble finding us and getting into mischief those children are going to be hellions!"

He finally laughed at that. "Would you think them to be anything else but trouble?"

She giggled and grinned. "If they weren't, I'd be worried!"

Later...

Weeks later found Zim and Curtis watching a feed on a video game competition that had started to replace television shows at the moment. The girls had shooed them both out for some guy time. Which was them sitting in one of the bars, watching what they were now, while eating the normal sort of barrish food and drink.

"Think the girls kicked us out for a reason other than guy time?" Curis asked as he ate another fry.

Zim brought his attention back to Curtis, away from the game. "Doubt it. More than likely they kicked us out to scarf cookie dough and watch some movies or something."

"Damn, do I miss regular TV sometimes," Curtis sighted. "There may have not been a lot on at times but it helps to have something to focus on instead of a war constantly."

"I dunno, the game feeds are pretty interesting sometimes," Zim grinned. "What if they kicked us out so they could game?"

Curtis just blinked at Zim for a moment then grinned. "Why didn't I think of that? That would be the perfect reason to kick us out. Who would have guessed?"

Zim gave a one shoulder shrug as he took a gulp of his soda. "Just a though because I don't see either of them doing really girly things."

"Definitely not. Wren and Rachel would try to take someone out if they suggested it," Curtis laughed as he grabbed his drink. "I can't see either of them getting their nails done or their hair done either."

Zim frowned as he tried to imagine that as well. Oddly enough, he couldn't either. Wren took the longest on her hair but that's because there was so much of it now that it was past her bottom and had so many waves and curls it almost drove her to madness. She braided it often to keep it out of the way but that was about it. The closest those two got to anything really girly was soaking in the spas. Wren enjoyed bubble bathes often to relax but they weren't floral scented or anything really girly. It was often a musk scent, vanilla or a menthol to ease aches.

"You're right. It's like trying to come up with a word that's on the tip of your tongue. It's there but it's just not come out. I can't imagine them at all acting like some of the other girls on board."

"Totally," Curtis laughed after he took a drink. "Have to say I'm thankful though that they don't mess so much with their looks. Rachel is adorable when she first gets up. Hair all mussed and everything. What about Wren?"

Zim took a swallow from his drink as a wistful smile played across his lips. "I may be biased but she's beautiful. She usually sleeps with her hair braided so it doesn't tangle in her sleep. She sorta purrs in pleasure when CADIE undoes it to brush it out and GIR puts a cup of hot chocolate mixed with coffee in front of her. And when she catches your eye over her mug and she smiles just a bit, it gets your heart beating faster."

"And those small smiles promise something more in the near future," Curtis added with a far away look in his eye. He took a swig of his drink thinking.

"Damn, we have it bad," Zim muttered causing Curtis to choke on his drink as he successfully stopped it from spewing all over the table when he started to laugh at Zim's comment.

Zim grinned as he smacked his friend on the back to try and get his breathing back to normal.

Elsewhere...

"Rachel! He's flanking you! Take him down!"

"Booyah!" Rachel cackled as she took out one of their opponents as he tried to take her out.

They both burst into a fit of giggles as their opponent cussed severely before congratulating them on defeating him.

"Do you think the guys know we're doing this?" Wren asked Rachel as they headed for their next goal.

"Psshh... I don't think so. They may think we're painting each others toes or something."

"God! I hope not! I'd hope they know us better than that!" Wren exclaimed, horrified by the thought of polish on her nails.

"A very neon polish would match your fur perfectly!" Rachel laughed.

"Lemon with orange stripes for you!" Wren giggled madly.

Both girls just continued to giggle as they blasted their way through another set of opponents. Their giggling worrying their other opponents to an exponential level across the board.

Later...

The Massive...

"Shit," Red growled as their sensors on another planet disappeared right before their eyes. "How many does that make now?"

"You don't want to know sir..."

Red groaned as he buried his face in his hands. Purple looked over at his brother, worry evident on his face. All this stress was definitely not helping at all and with each planet they lost, they felt the crunch of time as the other aliens closed in on them. If they didn't figure out what to do about or with this total genocide of not only their people but the other planets that were out there, they were looking at total chaos within months.

Yeah, they took over planets, but at least those planets with people still on them mostly survived. These beings were destroying everything. The planets were, by all looks and what scans they could conduct, dead. Nothing would probably survive planet side for years or the planet healed itself completely, if it healed at all...

Purple watched his brother lean forward and grown at the screen now showing the worlds that had been taken over. They passed by one-by-one and he knew Red was going to try and shoulder all this on his own shoulders. That was just how Red was.

"Red, we should take a break from the bridge for a bit," Purple said quietly as he placed a hand on his brother's arm.

"Can't Pur, not now," Red mumbled as he shrugged it off.

"Red, we won't change anything just sitting here. We've given our orders. The Bridge can get a hold of us via our personal communicators if they need answers. Staring at those dead worlds isn't going to help us."

"And sitting in our rooms will?" Red asked, glaring at Purple.

"No... But..."

"I'm not moving..."

"Red..."

"No."

Purple sighed as he watched his brother look back to the screen. "What now?" Purple thought to himself slightly defeated. When Red was in this sort of mood, it was hard to get his mind off of what was bothering him.

"I'm back!" someone practically sang as they walked through the doors causing every head to turn toward the sound.

Wren came traipsing onto the bridge like she owned the place. One hand resting on the arm of Captain Tonu, who was blushing like mad as he kept step with the other Captain.

"I wanted to surprise you guys so I bought your bridge's silence!" she grinned at their surprised expressions. "So, your guys' doughnuts are on the way with the guys I'm sending over. I kidnapped the Captain because I saw him and I could."

"Wren! What are you doing here?" Purple asked as he stood to greet her.

"War, famine, galactic domination. I figured I'd know what to do if I get close to the front lines," she said as she laughed when Purple pulled her into a hug, easily lifting her off the floor. As her feet settled back down she added, "And I always find it's easier to handle some discussions face to face."

She glanced over at Red, who looked a bit worse for wear in her opinion, "And maybe give you guys a shot at talking to Curt? I've been doing it a lot more lately." She pouted at Red, "No hug Red?"

He finally gave a weak grin as he stood and gave her a hug. She returned it and smiled at him as they pulled away. "Now, I'm kidnapping the both of you and leaving a couple of people in charge for the evening. Hourly reports are going to come through to Bez and we'll review them all together."

"But!" Red started to protest but stopped as the shorter female put a finger to his lips stopping him.

"But nothing!" she said as she poked him in the chest. "I will drag you along if I have to by your lekku. And you know I will good sirs!"

He gave a smile, though it was more like a quirk of his lips as he was repeatedly poked in the chest. "Fine. But only a few hours. No more."

"Good!" she smiled back at him.

Purple gave a smile at her success. Thankful that someone could get Red off the bridge. She was the miracle that he had asked for.

"And I'm stealing Tonu to come with us!" she giggled wrapping and arm around said Captain's arm.

"What?! But ma'am!"

"No buts! You've been working too much too! Back and forth. Back and forth! I've been keeping an eye on you sir and you have been working yourself to the bone! I can see it!"

"But..."

She shot him a scowl as well that stopped his protest midway and caused him to blush and look at his boots.

"Yes ma'am..."

"Wise choice boyoh. It's not wise to challenge me when I have my mind set," she smiled and patted his arm in comfort. "You'll learn that soon enough. I had to scare the crap out of your Tallests before they learned that!"

"I think I'm getting there," he murmured, blowing a puff of air out in a sigh.

She started laughed which caused him to smile and blush. Really, that laugh of her's was infectious. You wouldn't believe how hard it was not to laugh when she was.

"So, let's get going! I've got a few things to show you since you were last on Bez. And Julie is making home made doughnuts tonight! She was a professional doughnut maker on Earth with her own shop that made a whole bunch of specialty doughnuts! When she heard how much Irkens loved doughnuts she just started making and trying out different types. They are freaking amazing! She has a small shop near the greenhouse so we can get some and sit in the greenhouse for a while. Tonight one of the groups made of teens who are wanting to keep up music is also putting a light show off this evening in there, so it's an extra perk. It's also a grade for the Set and Design students who are helping set up the laser lights, smoke machines and everything else the band needs," she rambled off.

Red and Purple perked up.

"Lasers?"

"Smoke machines?"

"Why didn't you say something before?" they asked together, excited now to leave.

Wren laughed as they started their age old squabble of which was better, smoke machines or lasers. Wren started toward the door with Captain Tonu in tow. Followed by the now two debating brothers.

Later...

The day was coming to an end and Red was surprised at how much more relaxed he was than when the day first started. The worry was still there, but he wasn't so severely focused as he was before. And he was still amused that he was on Bez right now, reclining on a blanket Wren had brought and they were snacking on a few doughnuts and doughnut holes along with various other things Rachel had brought so they weren't inhaling just sugar and dough.

They were waiting for the concert to start and he was oddly relaxed outside of his Irken Tallest robes. Wren had insisted on getting Red and Purple out of their 'official work suits' as she put it and into a well fitted pair of pants and a fitted shirt. His were of a red that he really like very well and they were so much more comfortable to recline in. He could get used to wearing these things more often when he was in his rooms.

He looked over to Purple, who had just burst into a fit of laughter over something a very pretty nurse had said and had to smile that his brother was laughing. Wren was lying on Zim as he reclined back onto a small amount of pillows they brought and had shared with the rest of the group. Rachel and Curtis had stolen one of the largest pillows and were already lounging at the edge of the blanket, throwing popcorn at each other.

"You seem more relaxed sir," Tonu said from his left, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just a bit," he smiled at the Captain, only just seeing how he had sat himself.

Tonu sat beside of him with his knees drawn up to his chest. It was obvious that he was slightly uncomfortable with the show of affection he was seeing between the members of Bez's crew. There were couples strewn all over the place in the greenhouse. Many Irkens still weren't used to the shows of affection if they hadn't been on Bez for a while.

(He is very uncomfortable.) came Bez's voice ringing through his mind. (He's always perplexed when it come down to Wren and the rest of the crew. And his own feelings lately.)

"Um...thanks..." Red thought toward the ship, not sure if he'd actually heard it or if it would hear him. He wasn't quite used to the ship either.

(Make the young Captain comfortable please. He's broadcasting a lot of anxiety,) Bez pushed.

"What do I do?I" this was a whole new level of interaction he wasn't sure of.

(Get him another snack of something. I don't care what. I'm antsy enough without him projecting. He's got a stronger mind gift than others of the Irkens so it is a bit more unnerving.)

"He does?" he asked a little shocked while standing, a small plan already forming in his mind. He signaled to Pur that he'd be back soon when shot a questioning look.

(Yes, and it's only getting stronger. You Irkens strived for the perfect army and you got a potential for an evolutionary time bomb! Be prepared for any generations born after Wren's inclusion into your history to have extraordinary abilities in the mental capacities and physical capabilities.)

"Thanks for the warning," he mumbled as he came to the doughnut shop. "Anything else I should be warned about?"

(He really likes the cinnamon ones,) Bez said amused.

Red resisted the urge to roll his eyes and grumbled, "I know, I was paying attention to that."

Bez only shot an amused thought his way before closing the link between them.

As Red started back to the blanket he thought about the ways he could get the Captain to relax. He came up behind Tonu and brought the treat in front of the tense Captain. He jumped a little in surprise before he looked up at the smirking Red.

"Thought you'd like something else besides the health food the other's brought," he said as he sat behind the small Irken, copying Zim's position hoping to help Tonu relax a bit more if the Irken wasn't just seeing Bez's crew interact that way. And of course, there was his ulterior motive of helping him finish the snack as well. These were growing on him.

And even in the dim light he could see the blush across Tonu's cheeks as he reached for a cinnamon doughnut hole that was drizzled in a caramel and sugar glaze. The tense line of his shoulders eased and his knees fell into a lotus position.

"Thank you sir, these are my favorites! At least my new favorites."

"Red, please. At least while off the clock for now. Red. Okay?"

"O-okay, Red..." he smiled as he took a bite of the sweet. "And you should help yourself. I'm not going to finish all these on my own!"

Red grinned, "I was hoping you'd offer. I don't think I've had these yet and, honestly, I don't think I could have tried stopping myself from stealing one."

Tonu laughed, causing Red to feel pretty good about himself. He kind of wanted to hear the other laugh again.

And unbeknownst to the two sharing their treat, Wren had watched the interaction. She blinked in surprise at them and felt a small rush of explanation for it from Bez, whom liked to keep her informed of everything as much as possible. She smacked Zim lightly on the leg and motioned to the two who started laughing over something. Zim blinked a little dumbfounded at the scene.

Wren started to kick at Rachel to get her attention, resorting to swatting her with her tail, not daring to take her eyes off the two just in case she'd blink and it'd disappear. A growl alerted her that she got the other's attention and she pointed at Red.

Purple almost spit out his drink at the scene. No one expected this turn of events, especially with Red's prickly personality. And they almost missed the start of the concert because they were so distracted by the two chatting Irkens who were discussing strategy for a new set of war games that might be interesting.

Later that evening...

"You're a little scary when this happy," Rachel laughed as they walked down the hall toward their rooms.

"I think it's kind of cute," Curtis said. "She sort of reminds me of a bouncy puppy."

Wren turned around and stuck her tongue out at the two of them. "Not a puppy."

"Yes a puppy. A bouncy spaniel puppy because of your hair. It bounces exactly like a cocker spaniel's ears and fur does," Curtis chuckled.

Wren wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him again and blew a raspberry.

"Real mature," Rachel drawled to her best friend and rolled her eyes.

Wren giggled as she replied, "You know this is what a lot of sugar does to me! Now you get to suffer!" She cackled evilly.

"Nope, they don't. I do!" Zim laughed as he swept her over his shoulder. "They have the luck of being able to lock their doors. I'm the one who has to watch you bounce all over the room like a mad bunny."

He paused only for a second in thought, "Though watching you bounce around my not be such a bad thing..."

"Zim!" Wren exclaimed thwacking him with her hand on the shoulder. "Mind out of the gutter! You, sir, are spending way too much time with Curtis!"

"I don't' have to spend that much time with Curt to have my mind in the gutter!" he laughed. "I started being corrupted when I met you guys!"

"Lies!" she exclaimed then burst into a fit of giggles as Zim started to tickle her side. "Zimmy! Stop!" she giggled and squirmed in his grasp.

Zim turned toward Rachel and Curt. He gave a salute and a grin. "See you in the morning you two. Try not to tire yourselves out too much. We've got a bid day tomorrow."

Wren's tail lashed furiously. "Zim, let me down," she whined, pouting draped across his shoulder.

Rachel laughed as Curtis swept her off her feet as well and gave a wink to Zim. "We can't promise anything," he laughed.

"Zimmy!"

He only laughed as he brought her into the room. Making his way over to their bed, he threw her onto the sheets causing her to giggle madly once again.

"You, Grashe, are a handful when hyper. You know this, right?"

She only gave a grin that would make any Cheshire Cat nervous and envious at the same time. "Can't make it too easy on you Zimmy. What would be the fun of that?"

"You have a point Grashe, love," he smirked. "What would be the fun in that?"

Author's notes:

Finally! This is actually a lot longer than I thought it would be, which isn't bad. Right now I've got a little note book that's 7 by 5 inches that I'm writing in whenever I have a free moment. You guys are lucky too because I have a brand new set of neon pens that seem to be the only thing I can write with any more. Which sucks. And I honestly typed all this up while at my first job. I have the time, might as well put it to use when I'm not knitting. Go me! Hope you enjoy!

Remember, I do have art on deviant art. If you want a link, check out my bio. It should be there. If you want to see anyone specific, message me and I can see what I can do for you guys! I love requests! So, please, request something!