Well, sorry for the wait. I unfortunately had a run in with a dentist and had to get my wisdom teeth removed the 3rd. Let's just say I've been way out of it. Lol But I'm back and hopefully I'll get this all down. On with the story!

You know how I write by now. If you don't then look back about 2 chaps ago and get it down.

Chapter 28—Taunts, Truths, and more of those Nightmares We All Hate—

Narrator…

Just a few moments later….

"What the hell do you mean?" Wren roared echoing through the large room that was void of all but her, Zim and the Tallests.

She stood in the middle of the room with a table in front of her. Zim sat behind her only a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed. A smirk graced his face as he watched the scene before him. Never before had he seen his at one time leaders cower like they were now.

"We should destroy you now and be done with it!" She slammed her fist down onto the table that was in front of her. A snapping sound echoed through the quiet room causing one of the cowering forms to yelp.

The Tallests both winced and curled away in fear on the floor near the far wall. "Please don't," they both whimpered covering their heads.

"Give me a bloody damned good reason why not," she snarled glaring at the cowering figures. "You tried to kill one of my crew! One of my friends! A girl who's practically my sister! And now you don't expect me not to do a bloody thing about it? What do you see wrong with this picture?"

Red hid his head in his hands more if possible. "We were scared that you'd hurt us anyway," he whimpered. "So we wanted to protect ourselves."

"Just like our ship," Wren hissed, "I would not harm anyone unless provoked. And your asses just provoked me! I should slit your throats right here, right now. Blood for blood!"

Red and Purple cringed again. It was Purple's turn to whimper. "Please don't hurt us. We're sorry!"

"I would hurt you but I'm second in line, unfortunately. If James wasn't so stubborn not to leave Rachel's side he'd have killed you long ago, when she first got sick."

"We're sorry!" they cried.

Wren practically bellowed, "Sorry does not cut it!" She slammed her fist onto the table again.

This time a splintering sound echoed around the room. And right before everyone's eyes the table snapped right down the middle. The halves caved in the middle, falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

Red yelped as his eyes grew huge at the sight. Purple fainted.

Zim's P.O.V….

I smirked as my former leaders cowered in fear against the wall. It was a very good thing that I wasn't on the receiving end of Wren's anger. I would have been cowering like they were regardless. She was terrifying when angry.

"And yet she is also somewhat adorable when she's pissed though," I thought and then winced. With a mental slap to myself I chided, "I need to stop thinking like that. It's never going to work."

I glanced back at Wren and noticed just how pissed she really was. Her tail was bristled out till it looked twice as big as it should have. Her ears were so flat that they disappeared into her hair. Her hair seemed to have bristled out too. She slammed her fist onto the table a second time and it broke in half. My eyes widened slightly as I watched Red yelp and Purple faint.

"Wren," I said finally standing and came up behind her slowly. Quietly I rested my hands lightly on her hips to try and distract her and said. "Calm down, I think you've scared them enough. Right now Red looks like he wet himself and Purple looks like he did both while fainting."

Wren just snarled still looking at Red who was whimpering and still aware. That in itself was amazing.

"Morons," she hissed out.

I slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her toward me and murmured in her ear, "I know that." I started to pet her head trying to distract her, "Now, let's calm down."

"Can't," she replied letting out a hissing breath. She continued to glare at the two Irkens. "Don't want to either. They deserve it."

I sighed and slid my other arm around her waist. I smiled into her hair as I pulled her against me closer. "I believe you need to eat something."

She relaxed visibly against me and I saw all her fur and hair slicked down almost instantly. "You're trying to distract me," she muttered.

"What ever do you mean?" I asked in a voice full of fake innocence. "I would never do that."

I could almost see the glare she was giving me as she sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I get the point."

"Good," I said and turned her around in my arms. I kissed the top of her head, savoring the feel of her against me. "You do need to eat something though and you need to take a break from yelling at them or you'll go hoarse." I said motioning to Red who was still cowering and Purple who was still out cold. "We don't need you hoarse do we? You won't be able to yell at them anymore if you do."

She looked up at me through her lashes and blinked at me slowly. "You may have a point there…."

"See," I smiled. "Now, let's go find ourselves something to eat and get you something to drink so your throat isn't sore later."

I then turned her to lead her out the door. She stopped only to look over her shoulder at the Tallests, "If you're gone or anything is done that I don't like, you'll pay for it. Understand?"

Red whimpered and nodded, "Yes Ma`am."

"And clean yourself up along with your brother," she added making a face, wrinkling her nose in a cute way. "I don't want to talk to you any more until the smell is gone from both of you."

"Y-yes ma`am."

"Good boy," she purred and allowed me to pull her out the door and into the hall.

James' P.O.V….

Rachel's face contorted in a flash but soon relaxed again just as quickly. I squeezed her hand and rested my chin on top of it. Something was wrong with her and I knew it. I just couldn't help her and it was killing me inside.

"Rachel, you're going to be fine. Just stay with me," I whispered kissing her knuckles.

I heard a soft click of the door and the soft whoosh of it sliding open. The click of boots and the soft sound of paws entered the room. I looked up and saw my fellow ship mates standing there looking worried in the doorway.

"Anything yet?" Wren asked looking at me with worry in her eyes.

I shook my head, "No change."

Wren looked down to the floor, scuffing it with her foot. "You'll let us know if she wakes up, won't you?"

"Yes, of course I will. Why wouldn't I?" I asked offering her a weak smile. "I was planning on moving her to Bez though. I trust him more than I trust them here."

Wren nodded, "Go ahead. You might have to take a few med techs with you though to make sure she doesn't get any worse."

"If it keeps my Rachel alive, I will," I said looking down at the girl I loved. "I will not lose her."

"None of us will," Wren said quietly. "She's a fighter. Both of us come from a state that doesn't give up no matter what. We kicked ass in so many wars it's not funny. It's in our blood."

I looked up at her and gave her another weak smile. She was right. They did come from a state that fought like the devil.

"We are going to get something to eat. You want us to bring you anything?" Zim asked after the moment of silence.

I shook my head no.

"James," Wren said with a frown. "We are getting you something and you will eat it. Or at least get something on Bez. If Rachel ever found out that you didn't eat anything while she was sick, she'd yell at you and then try to kill me for not making you eat anything."

"Fine, do whatever," I said with a shrug.

Wren shot a glare at me before Zim wrapped an arm around her waist. He turned and walked with her out of the room. I sighed and started to plan on how I was getting Rachel out of here and onto Bez.

Rachel's P.O.V….

Dream Realm….

I was standing in a pitch black void. The air was cold and pressing in around me. For a moment I wondered if this was what Wren had nightmares about. I shivered and tried to find anything in the darkness regardless.

I heard nothing except myself breathing and my heart racing. That alone seemed to be deafening to my ears as my pulse seemed to race faster.

Then, as if I was sky diving, a forest rushed up from beneath me. Leaves, branches, bark; all rushed up around me and I could feel the breeze come from them rushing past. It whipped my hair around my face and caused me to wince away; afraid that I was going to get hit by one of those branches that were rushing past. The trees stopped suddenly and I cracked an eye open to see how things had ended.

Needless to say the trees were huge! So big that six of me, touching fingers, couldn't reach around it. A mist rolled along among the trees as they reached toward the sky. And by now, I was looking around me and wondering what the hell this was.

A howl broke through the silence and my thoughts. Several limbs crunched around me. The underbrush that I could see rustled around me. Several golden eyes surrounded the clearing I was in. A single set of ice blue eyes peered from a thorn bush from directly in front of me.

I froze like a deer in headlights as the creature stepped out of the brush. What seemed to be a coyote as large as a horse and eyes with the intelligence of a human snarled at me as it paced forward.

"So little pup," it yipped and stepped toward me. "You got in the way again."

"What are you talking about?" I questioned hesitantly while taking a step backwards. I didn't want this beast any closer to me than it was.

The coyote continued forward, "If you wouldn't have been there, Wren would have gone without a cause or problem." It changed form from a coyote, to a snake, and finally into a human. Pausing and closing his eyes he shook his head and rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck in the process before looking at me again. "There wouldn't be any problems on the ship either, you know." He said continuing toward me.

"There aren't any though," I said quietly pausing in my steps backward.

He tsked at me, "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. There are problems. James should have become Captain of the ship and you know it."

"He told me he didn't care."

"Oh, he does care though."

"You're lying!" I shouted challenging him. "He doesn't care that Wren's the Captain. She hasn't made any mistakes so far."

"You're wrong kiddo. Look where you are. Wren wanted you, James, and Zim to come with her. She only wanted you there as body guards to take the bullet for her if something did happen."

"Stop it," I hissed, "Just stop it! She did not know this was going to happen at all. We went on our own free will and we weren't expecting anything like this to happen either."

The dark person cackled. "A wonderful imagination you have little one, a wonderful imagination. She was expecting this to happen. You were just a human shield."

I glared at him, "You're wrong."

"I'm right," he hissed back to me caressing my cheek with a hand. I jerked my head back as he added, "And you know I'm right."

I frowned and snapped at his hand with my teeth. "No. You. Are. Not."

Waking Realm….

James' P.O.V….

Rachel hissed in her sleep and my senses went on high alert. My eyes scanned the room quickly for anything but my scan revealed only shadows. I frowned as I looked back at Rachel. Her face had contorted into a frown and she hissed again in her sleep.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" I murmured brushing her hair out of her face.

"I can't help you if you aren't wake," I thought as I brushed my lips across her fingers.

Wren's P.O.V….

I started to push food around on my plate forlornly. My chin was on the heel of my palm. I knew they were looking and watching me. I didn't need this today. I really didn't need this today.

"You better eat," Zim said after taking a bite of his meal.

I looked up at him. "I'm not really hungry," I replied and try to smile at him. "I guess I'm just too worried about Rachel right now to even try and eat."

"I'm worried about her too but you should really eat," he said. He seemed to search my face for a moment with a frown until I looked down. "You're just not worried about Rachel are you?"

"I….no." I said quietly. I looked around the room quickly and spotted something. "Actually, I just had a bad feeling that something got out." I took a bite of food from my fork with a smirk.

"Wha?" he asked and looked around himself.

"Master!" a squealed pierced the mumbling in the room. A little shiny robot zoomed past everyone and clamped itself to Zim's head.

"GIR! What the hell are you doing here?" Zim growled trying to dislodge the SIR unit on his head.

"Tacos!" he squealed.

"Tacos?" we echoed a bit confused.

"Tacos? Where?" GIR shrieked and flew off.

I looked thoughtful for a moment, my fork tapping against my bottom lip. I placed down my fork and started to pout. "Now I want a taco." I whined.

Zim raised an eyebrow and shook his head at me. "You're hopeless."

"I am not!" I continued to whine. Without a pause I turned to the other Irkens in the room. "Listen, I know I'm different and I'm tired of getting stared at!" I shouted at them and glared. "If you have a problem with how I look or just with me in general, tell me and I'll make sure to put you out of your misery."

Zim sat there and started to laugh as all of the surrounding Irkens blinked and turned to the others at their table. One stood up and raised a trembling hand.

"Yes?" I asked acidly sweet.

"Uh… you really won't 'put us out of our misery' if we speak up, will you?" he asked.

I glared and frowned, "Depends on what your question is."

"Uh, ok… can we ask any question we want?" another asked standing.

"Eh, don't care." I replied with a shrug. I picked my fork up and started to pick a bit at my food again wondering just what they were going to ask.

There was a huge sigh within the room. I looked up at the people with a raised brow. "That many people want to ask a question?" I thought to myself with a slight frown.

The first Irken raised his hand warily again. "Did you really scare the Tallests?" he asked.

"Yes…" I replied wondering where this was going. Several murmurs were heard around the room. There were many giggles too.

Another Irken stood. "I have a question for the Irken beside you."

Zim's head shoot up and he swallowed what he had bee eating. "Hm?"

"Are you really Zim? Last time I saw him he was about half my size."

"Yeah I was half the size you were Zeek," Zim said with a smirk leaning back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "I had a bit of a growth spurt while I was, what, eight months in space. And of course that was because I was exiled from all communications from the Armada before being captured by slavers and being trapped on that ship till about five days ago."

Every Irken's eyes in the room grew wider. Another Irken was pushed into standing. He gulped nervously once and glared at his peers around him at his table. "Uh… my friends and I wanted to know if you, uh…. you and Zim…. Um…."

"Spit it out." I said. I picked up my drink and started to take a sip.

"Are you and Zim dating or anything?" he asked very quietly and quickly.

I had to take a second to analyze what he said and let that question sink in a bit. I suddenly realized what he asked and let's just say that the soda I was drinking made good distance coming out of my nose. Burned like all hell though.

Zim's P.O.V….

I started to choke on the food I was eating after the question was asked. Wren's drink made really good distance. Amazingly neither of us covered each other in what the other spat up. Then both of us gaped at each other after sputtering for a moment or two. Wren started to giggle and then busted out laughing. I started to chuckle as I watched her, amused that she was laughing at this.

"No, we're not actually," I answered his question while handing Wren a napkin.

"So you're both single?" he asked hopefully.

Wren blew her nose still laughing, "Yeah, well…sorta."

"Why?" I asked. "Because if you are planning to ask her out. She is mine." I thought glaring a little but not enough to have anyone notice it.

"Hm…. You see." Wren started glancing at me. She winked once and gave me a shy smile. "We both are single, for one reason. We had a fight a few days ago and broke up. We are still friends though. I'm still a bit edgy about any relationship and really can't move on yet." She smiled sadly at the one who asked the question.

I played along with her and smiled back. "This meal was actually a way for me to try and get her back actually."

There were dozens upon dozens of somewhat depressed faces in the room, both male and female.

"Any other questions?" Wren asked.

One somewhat smallish Irken stood as tall as she could, "Are you or could you become the Tallest?"

Wren blinked at the suddenly unexpected question. "Uh…." She started to say and looked toward me for an answer.

All I could think of was along the lines of what she had said. "Uh…"

"Could I become Tallest? Is that even allowed?"

"I'm honestly not sure," I frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think it's ever happened before. But weirder things have happened."

"Way too many weird things in the past flin!" Wren agreed. "Dunno if I'd want to be Tallest or not though."

"I think you'd make a good Tallest."

"Biased opinion," she said with a smile, sticking her tongue out at me a bit playfully.

"Honest opinion," I corrected as I took a bite of my almost forgotten meal.

She rolled her eyes before turning to the crowd. "We'll have to get back to you for that answer! Sorry!"

Finally! Sorry it took so long for this chapter. I've had lack of motivation. It sucks but oh well, at least I got it done!

Now…. For a little incentive. I was wondering if you guys had any questions about the future of this fic. I'm willing to answer them with the next chapter of the story! Yes, a little insight into what will happen within this fic. I'll take 3 questions and will answer them as well as I can.

Don't forget to review!