At Dib's orders people were going, buzzing, running from place to place because this was the final hour. The Massive has been spotted a day away from Earth and doomsday was half certain. Membrane and his son had been locked in a room talking for hours but, now the great professor was in the thick of it, putting finishing touches on things, making sure those orders were going through. People were being rounded up, put into underground shelters that could survive nuclear bombs. Dib figured if the Irkens used their cleansing laser as per usual then the humans should be safe.

When Dib emerged from the conference room he'd spent nearly ten hours in, it was with dark black circles under his eyes and rumpled clothes, hair disastrous but, he had a serious demeanor. One that was set in steel. He was going to save his planet or die trying. And that was at a worst case scenario because he would see Zim again. It was a promise.

There was plan A. One that rested deep in the content of his laptop and in the objects he would bring with him to the Massive. Plan B was to defend themselves with brute force and wait out the storm while people evacuated. Plan C relied on hiding beneath the surface of their planet for the end to come. Dib would rather die than let it come to that.

People gave him looks. They weren't the almost reverent respect that Membrane often garnered but, rather they were filled with need and hope. They wanted him to win. They needed him to win. And as Dib grabbed the weapons he would need, hooking them into his trench coat, his fingers brushed against the objects he'd taken from the Ladybug…

He would get to the Massive using their own ship. Granted it wasn't nearly as advanced as the Irken's cruisers but, it would suffice for the trip.

The lady bug was right where he left it, of course. But he would not need it, this time. While his 'spooch sank at the thought of leaving his makeshift home behind—all those memories and trinkets—he knew that this was much more important. For this he would need speed and accuracy. He would need…

"Ah, hello, old friend." Zim ran his gloves along the sleek surface of his Voot cruiser, tracing some of the scratches and dings from their past adventures together. "How I've missed you." He drawled as the cruiser popped open for him. "Time for one last go. Think you are up for it?" He hopped in, running his fingers over the familiar panel, his blood a dried stain of a memory of a thousand years ago along the metal. With a slight whine, the ship came to life, the lights illuminating the Irken's face. "Good."

Without looking back, he peeled out of the Massive, like he had done so few times before.

Once with a human companion, and now to save the very same. He couldn't allow himself to look back; he couldn't allow even a moment of hesitation. He couldn't think about how he was practically abandoning his Tallest, his mission, his people. He could only think of Dib.

Dib's backyard was still a mess from days ago when he had left the human here. It was disheartening, to say the least. Maybe he wasn't here? Then again, it's hard to think of the aesthetics of your home when your planet would soon be under siege. The cruiser was a more appropriate fit, though it didn't matter anymore.

Zim hoped out, shivering at the chill that the wind carried. Last time he had been on this planet, the sun was bearing down on him with no mercy, now it hid behind grey clouds. The leaves had lost their vigor, and the grass was crunchy under Zim's boots. It was as if the Earth was already surrendering.

Zim was at the door in a flash, his antennae pressed flat for warmth against his head. He expected the door to be locked, and was prepared to turn and shove at the metal handle with all his strength. He nearly fell on his face when the door gave in without a hitch, and Zim found himself in, what appeared to be, a kitchen. The first time he was in Dib's house. He hunched down low and peered around with wide, alert eyes, as if he expected the ceiling to come down on him. The place was so humble compared to the buildings on Irk, he wouldn't be surprised if the walls gave out.

Enough of this, he decided.

"Dib!" He called out, taking flight and running out of the kitchen, into the living room. He recognized the public broadcasting thing, which played on some crude human cartoons over an occupied couch.

"Augh what is that!" He nearly shrieked when he saw the tuft of purple hair just over the back of the couch. Zim's first instinct was that it was some sort of animal, thanks to the purple-furred indigenous species on a certain recently conquered planet. Dib never said anything about heaving pets. Was it guarding the house? He readied himself in a defensive pose.

The purple haired beast grunted and didn't even glance in the alien's direction. "Be quiet." It barked, curling around its game console. Whatever was disturbing her had exactly two seconds to shut up or it would feel her wrath. Only two sections left to go till she leveled up.

Zim drooped. Oh, it spoke. Well animals certainly didn't do that. Not usually, anyway. This must be the sister Dib had mentioned. What was her name again? Gas?

"Sister-beast to the Dib!" He barked back. "I am looking for him; you will tell me where he is!" He circled the couch to face her head-on Oh, she was even uglier from the front.

"Urgh. He ran out the front door nearly eight hours ago. Probably went to dad's work. Now, shut up and leave, you stupid alien." She hissed, fighting the urge to crush this bug into the floor.

Zim's lips peeled away from his teeth. He had a retort (of course, it was Zim, after all) but it would have to wait. Dad's work? The Membrane labs? Zim hissed and made for what he assumed was the front door, letting out a sigh of relief when he was greeted by the streets. These Earth homes weren't exactly easy to navigate, even in their simplicity.

All the doors looked the same! A moment of hesitation before he ran outside. Was it wise to storm the streets in his current attire? No disguise? After a moment, he decided he didn't really care. If the humans had never seen an Irken before, they had better get used to it; there'd be a whole lot of them running around here, soon.

So with that Zim flew down the streets, his cheeks a rosy pink as the wind bit at his face. The cold air stinging his throat as he sprinted. Luckily, he wasn't so out of shape that he couldn't make it to the labs without a need to stop and breathe.

The guard threatened to stop him, but he was easily kicked to the side, and Zim was over the gate in a second.

"Now what." Zim thought, looking around. The doors required a code to get in. One that he did not, obviously, posses. "Luckily," He thought out loud as his PAK gave way to four mechanical rods, towering over him and glowing red hot. "I have a key." A blast of pink, followed by smoke, and Zim was inside. "I should have done it this way the first time."

Then he wouldn't be in this mess. Well, if Dib was here, he was certainly aware of his presence by now. People scattered, screaming and running. They ran for hazmat suits and fire extinguishers because that was instinct when things blew up in a laboratory only to pause when it wasn't something hazardous but, a small green man, that sped past them without a second glance.

Word of the break in ran fast. The second that Zim had breached the first gate word had been sent to Membrane. Everyone was confused. It came with the panic. He was hesitant to tell his son, because the boy was already so busy and it seemed unimportant considering he had no idea what exactly was breaching security. It could be frantic civillians for all Membrane knew.

It wasn't until the doors to the landing bay were hit and bent several times before being shot inward in a spray of concrete and drywall that the scientist truly worried. Membrane turned towards the explosion, watching as the smoke cleared and the lithe form of an alien stood in the wreckage and not just any alien but, THE alien. The one that had taken his son from him.

Unexpectedly a rage bubbled up in him. "You!" The professor cried, glaring heatedly from behind his glasses. They should've dissected him on that first day.

Dib's instincts almost had him diving towards the ground. When he was with Zim, explosions weren't out of the ordinary but; his father's yell had him turning out of curiosity. His breath caught in the back of his throat and part of the tension in his spine unraveled. "Zim!?" What was he doing here?

Zim wiped some of the remains of what used to be a wall off his shoulders, kicking some shrapnel away from him as he strode into the room. A warm welcome greeted him with a familiar face. Those glasses, that voice. How could Zim forget? In a wide stance, Zim set his weight on one foot and crossed his arms over his chest, giving the professor a sly grin. The muscles in the center of his face bunched up, as if he were wrinkling his nose.

"Hello, Professor," He spat the title out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "Miss me?"

Behind the collar, Membrane's lips curled up into a scowl. "Yo-you monster! You kidnapped my so—"

"Dad, stop." Dib cut him off before it turned ugly because with Zim's hotheadedness and his father's stubborn need to always be right…it could go on for a very long time. He stepped forward, placing his laptop and weapons on a nearby table as he walked towards Zim, running his eyes over his body. It felt like they hadn't seen each other in forever though it had only been several hours.

"What are you doing here?" His voice sounded rough as he spoke low, fingers itching to grab Zim's arms and pull him close. As it was they were only a few feet away.

"Here to help, of course." He answered simply. He rounded the table to fuss with the human's laptop, not that he knew much about the human technology. He figured it would be simple enough to crack; it was obsolete by Irken standards, after all. "The security of this place is pathetic. I could have killed every human here and been out by now." He waved a hand as he spoke, his eyes on the screen. "I hope your planet's defenses are substantially better." He gave a whistle. "You're going to need it."

Dib rolled his eyes and grabbed his laptop back. "Gimme that." He put it back into the carrier and threw it around his shoulder. "We weren't exactly preparing for an Irken to come running in here solo. We're more prepared for the organic cleansing sweep." He said, haughtily.

Membrane looked back and forth between the two, his large brain processing body language and trying to connect the dots. But, it still made no sense. He felt like there was something he was missing.

Dib looked back at the ship he was supposed to be taking, making a point not to meet Zim's eyes. "Besides…what about your Tallest? What about…your Empire?" Those were the most important things to an Irken. It was like breathing. Like water and blood, the loyalty for their people ran bone deep.

Zim sighed a bit, looking down at nothing in particular, his nearly non-existent lashes hiding away the ruby mass of his eyes. "What do you think will happen, Dib? They will blow away the surface of this planet and leave it be?" He looked back up to meet Dib's gaze, which were not returning the favor.

Zim reached up and gently grabbed the collar of the human's jacket, needing him to heed his words. "I am not turning away from them, but I am not helping them. Not with this one. I am not choosing them, nor Earth." His hand slithered under the jacket, over the smooth surface of Dib's warm chest and over his shoulder, where it laid to rest.

"I am choosing you. The Empire may own Zim's name in their records, but you own my body and being. Turning away from you was the worst treachery I could have ever committed."

Dib finally looked back at the alien, reaching up to curl his fingers around Zim's hand where it rested over his scars. The back of his eyes felt hot, chest tight and he tilted his head downwards to press their lips together. There really wasn't any way to describe what he felt in that moment. An Irken choosing him over the Empire…it was gut turning in the best way.

They didn't even hear the loud gasps and the confused stutter that came from Dib's father. What was happening? Was his son gay? An xenophile? A freak? What had he done wrong as a father? But, it didn't matter. It couldn't matter right now.

"Dib!" Membrane prodded. "You must leave soon if you wish to make it before the Massive gets close enough to fire off the first shot."

Zim relished the kiss, breathing in every second of it. He shot Membrane a glance as Dib parted before looking back up at him. A sly smile played out on his lips. "I hope your ship is big enough for two." A pause. "I guess that doesn't matter, though." Not when they had already spent so long crammed in the Voot. It was actually something he missed, slightly. Apart from bleeding out from the leg, that is.

Dib breathed out the urges he had to keep the kiss going, to curl into Zim and let the alien do anything to him and take him anywhere because when they were together nothing else really seemed to matter and he didn't want to be responsible to for Earth. He just wanted to fly through the stars and travel planets with his mate. But, he straightened up and grabbed the little duffle bag of weapons he would be taking with him.

"I'm sure there's enough room for two." Dib replied, smirking. "But, I warn you now, Zim. If you come with me, you be good. No trying to talk me out of things, no trying to take control of the ship and fly us away, no getting in the way of my plans…okay?"

Membrane and the other scientists, getting over the newest in a long line of shocks, began typing in the final launch codes. Space travel had gotten much easier than it had used to be. But, it was certainly no Voot cruiser. Ready to take off like a car would. It had to be programmed. Luckily they'd done that hours ago.

"I'm always good!" Zim barked, circling Dib as he walked. "So what is the plan, anyway? Got the weak points pinned down, or are you just gonna storm in there like a lunatic?" Zim grinned, but that grin faded when he saw the ship they'd be using. It was impressive, but only in size. "This is the scrap heap we'll be making our entrance on?" He shook his head. "Irk help us." Bad choice of words, considering the situation.

"Yeah, yeah, Good-boy. Shut up and get inside." Dib replied, dryly. Membrane came up behind him and grabbed the boy's shoulders, squeezing tightly. He'd just gotten his son back. Only to lose him again.

"Are you sure bringing the...alien along is a good idea?" Dib glanced behind him as Zim tried to figure out how to get inside and treated the whole thing like it was a giant rat he was trying to ride instead of a ship.

"Yeah. I mean, I trust him."

Membrane hesitated before nodding slowly. "Then you be safe. Come home." This time it was Dib who hesitated, unsure if he should say that he could die. That this could be the end. And that even if he did survive, home wasn't here anymore. It wasn't earth. It was the stars and a cramped spaceship. It was an alien. It was Zim.

"I'll do my best, dad."