Disclaimers: I do not own Invader Zim

Author's Note's: Okay I know this is late, but I needed a break but we're back now, and so close to the end. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!

(Back with Dib…)

He dodged several more shot's as he dragged Zim out of the rage of fire.

The ex-invader was unconscious, and bleeding excessively from his wound.

Dib felt his heart cringe the wound was like a gaping hole in Zim's shoulder, seeping blood all over the tile floor of the room, and just the sight of it makes him see red! So without much thought to his own safety Dib jumps over the table shielding him and stampedes towards the scorpion, dodging lazars as he goes, finally once he's right on top of it he stomps on it excessively. He knows the force field will keep him from creating any damage, but he's too angry to notice. Luckily for him however the heat from the fire has disrupted the scorpion's defenses and it crushes beneath him.

It does stop him from stomping on it, he continues to do so over, and over again as hate runs throw his veins like a liquid fire. And as much as he wanted to blame Maz for all of this he couldn't, Zim was hurt because of him. Dib had distracted him, if Zim hadn't been so busy looking out for him, then he would have seen the blast coming. Instead he was shot, and now possible dead, because he couldn't get his shit together.

Suddenly Professor Membrane comes bursting in with a fire extinguisher, and sets to work taming the flames. Thankfully the fire isn't too out of control, and he is able to get it out, it's only then that he notices Zim. The Irken's pink blood is pooled on the floor around him, however the wound itself is no longer bleeding.

In fact it's healing!

"Stupid bug!" Dib screamed. "I'm so stupid."

"Son." Professor Membrane tries to get his attention. "Son?"

Dib doesn't even seem to hear him, he continues to stomp and curse, as he wonders why everything good in his life never seems to stay that way. Why did he always have to ruin every good thing that came his way? Sure he and Zim weren't perfect, but it was working, and he was finally happy, and now he was gone!

And it was all his fault.

Professor Membrane walks up to his son and grabs him by the shoulders, stopping his actions. "I think you got it son." He told him.

"Leave me alone." Dib pushes him away, and continues stomping, while his father just watches.

Professor Membrane knows he's not angry with him, his son can't help his actions. The bound he shares with Zim makes his emotions unpredictable. And right now he simply needed time to let his anger out.

Finally Dib seems tiered out, and he falls to his knees too exhausted to move, even though the shards of the broken scorpion are biting into his knees. "It's all my fault." He cried. "He saved me, and now…"

"Dib." Professor Membrane tried to tell him that Zim was fine, and he was in fact the wound was completely healed now, but he was still not moving.

"No Dad you don't get it." Dib yelled. "You just don't get it… Zim is…" Fear gripped Dib's chest in a suffocating hold. The panic was now boiling over and he felt a wave of nausea. He turned and crawled over to Zim's still motionless form. "No," he said brokenly. "No you can't do this to me…" he told him. His body shook as his eyes began to burn with tears.

He never saw himself as a crier, in fact, he only caught himself doing so on very rare occasions. He couldn't recall when he started caring so much for the alien, and yet he couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his face. It happened so sudden, one day they were trying to kill each other, and the next they were sharing the same bed. Dib pushed his glasses out of the way, and they fell to the floor. This couldn't be happening. This had to be some sort of nightmare. Zim wasn't dead on the floor at his feet, it just couldn't be. How many times had he wanted this? How many times had he threatened to do the exact same thing? Just the thought of it now made him sick to his stomach. "You…you can't leave me like this, Zim!" he begged. "We…we have a mission, remember? We…we got to stop Maz, and your dad, and the Empire. I…I can't do this without you. I need you..." A choking sob escaped him. "You…you can't die Zim! You're not allowed to leave me!" He drew Zim into his lap, feeling stupidly helpless.

Zim's body continued to make no response.

"Zim…" Dib swallowed, trying to maintain some control over himself. If he didn't he would fall apart completely. "Zim I…I love you." His chest felt like it was exploding with emotions. Anger. Fear. Desperation. "Do you hear me you intolerable green lizard?! I love you!"

He didn't know what he had expected. Of course his confession wouldn't just magically bring Zim back to him. He buried his face in the Irken's neck. "Please..." he begged the lifeless body, the universe, anyone who would listen.

Zim groaned, his head was killing him, and some stupid idiot was screaming in his face.

"Zim…?" Dib asked hopefully.

Zim opened his eyes to see the wet sobbing face of his mate, and rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you're not just sitting here bawling your eyes out when the enemy could be upon us at any moment."

"Zim!" Dib embraced him in a hug that might as well be a choke hold. "You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive you insufferable dirt child!" Zim snapped, trying to escape his hold. "What has gotten into you?"

"I thought I lost you." Dib whispered fearfully.

Zim's face softens and he returns the hug. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew of my healing abilities." He said.

"You're healed?" Dib asked, he hadn't even noticed.

"See for yourself." Zim said, handing him his glasses which he found on the floor beside them.

Dib placed his glasses back on and looked at his shoulder to see that he was right. The skin was completely closed up, all that remained was a tear in the sleeve.

"I tried to tell you." Professor Membrane said.

Dib suddenly blushes in embarrassment. "I guess I got carried away." He admitted.

Zim snickered. "It's okay it's hard not to cry for someone as amazing as I." He bragged as he got to his feet.

"Jerk." Dib whispered halfheartedly, as he got up, only to gasp as Zim's lips met his briefly. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." He whispered as their lips part.

"It's okay." Dib said as he allowed Zim to hold him for a moment longer, before pulling away. "Well at least Maz didn't get the data." He said.

"Yes, but he's long gone now." Zim hissed.

"Yes he is." A voice snickered from their communicators. "And so is the beloved sister."

Dib's heart froze all over again, as his father's eyes widen.

"Gaz!" They both said in unison.

Zim looked down at his communicator to see his brother's smug face. "Cowardice will not get you the throne brother." He hissed. "Leave the sister unit out of this and face me!"

"I have a better idea, you will let me take the weapons, and then maybe I'll allow the worm baby to breathe a little longer." Maz snickered.

"Listen you jack ass." Dib snapped finally finding his voice. "If you lay a single finger on my sister I'll-"

"The only thing you're going to let me do is March right back into that building and take every last one of your weapons." Maz finished for him simply.

"Why you-" Dib hissed, but Zim cut him off.

"Dib let me handle this." He said.

"You?" Dib snapped. "She's my sister!"

"This is a family matter for me as well." Zim reminded him.

"Zim I'm handling this!" Dib snapped.

"Actually I am." Professor Membrane said, surprising them all. "We'll give you the weapons."

"What!" Zim snapped.

"Dad you can't." Dib began, but his father raised his hand, and gave his shoulder a soft squeeze. This might not look like much, but Dib remembers that this was his father's 'Just trust me' gesture. And that's when he understood, his father had told them that he had a trap waiting in that vault for Maz.

And now he was about to make him willingly go to it.

"Excellent." Maz says. "I also want you both to surrender your bases to me."

"We'll do whatever you want." Zim says, obviously catching on to the plan. "Just leave the girl alone."

"See brother these humans have made you soft." Maz growled. "I know you had no place on the throne."

"Do we have a deal or not?" Dib snapped, getting inpatient.

"Yes." Maz answered. "I will return to the Division in three hours." He said. "And in that time I want all security disabled and your bases abandon, and disarmed. Once I've seen this completed I will arrive to empty the vault, and –"

"You'll give me back my sister!" Dib yelled.

"Yes fine." Maz smiled. "Only if Zim surrenders."

"I surrender." Zim said simply.

"Perfect, I will be there to end your miserable life in three hours brother." Maz said. "And then I will claim what's mine." He hung up then.

Zim pulled off the communicator, and crushed it under his feet. Dib and his dad did the same.

"So that's it?" Dib asked. "We just let him win?"

"No." Zim answered. "We end this now."

"How?" Dib asked. "I mean no offense dad, but whatever trap you have it's not going to hold him."

"Trust me son that vault is quite sturdy." Professor Membrane said.

"Wait the vault is the trap?" Dib asked.

Professor Membrane nodded. "I emptied yesterday, and place a hologram cube in place, the holographic image will show weapons, put the moment he touches it the image will disappear and trigger the door to close." He explained. "Trapping him inside."

"Where I will be waiting to end this." Zim finished.

"Are you sure?" Dib asked, suddenly feeling the worry reentering his gut. "You'll be stuck in there with him."

"I'll be fine." Zim assured him.

"Please tell me you at least have a plan." Dib said. "Cause Maz is-"

"A sneaky coward?" Zim finished for him. "Yes I know." He answered. "And I think its about time I follow his example."

"At least let me go in with you." Dib asked hopefully.

"No." Zim said, pulling Dib in his arms. "I must do this alone, besides I hardly doubt he will let your sister go. You should go look for her while I keep him distracted."

Dib wanted to argue, but he knew it was a good plan, the chances of Gaz being set free was slim to none. She and the rest of their family knew too much, they would all have to die. "But how do I find her?"

"Use this." His father said handing him his tablet, it has a GPS map pulled up on the screen with two red dots beeping on it.

"Is this a tracker?" Dib screamed as he pulled away from Zim.

Professor Membrane nodded. "I'm a very powerful man son, with many enemies."

"So you have tracers on both of us?" Dib asked.

"I placed a tracking device on an item that I know you two never go anywhere without." Professor Membrane explained. "For you it's your glasses, for Gaz it's-"

"Her necklace." Dib exclaimed, suddenly feeling a since of pride for his father. "You do care." he realized, feeling stupid now.

"Of course I do." Professor Membrane said.

"Thanks dad." Dib said, hugging him. "I'm sorry I'm so difficult at times."

"And I'm sorry I don't listen to you, and what you want." Professor Membrane said, hugging him back.

Zim cleared his throat. "This is all very nice and all." He said. "But we have work to do."

Dib and his father nodded and pulled apart.

"So what about the bases?" Dib asked.

"We'll disarm them for now." Zim answered, "Then once we know Maz is trapped we'll rearm both."

"Sounds simple enough." Professor Membrane replied.

"Good let's get moving." Zim ordered, as he moved to do so.

Professor Membrane also leaves the room, but Dib stops Zim half way out the door.

"Zim wait." Dib said pulling him in.

"Dib we don't have time for this." Zim said, trying to pull away.

"I just wanted to tell you something." Dib said, he's already said it once today, but he's not sure Zim actually heard him. "Zim I-"

Zim stops him by placing a finger to his lips. "Tell me after." He said. "I'll give me something to look forward to."

"That's stupid." Dib said. "Especially when I can just tell you now."

Zim shook his head as he resisted the urge to say the words himself, sure he's told Dib before, but Dib had been asleep and hadn't heard him. Besides what was the point, they were leaving each other anyway. Why add salt to the wound? "Trust me Dib." Zim whispered. "Not now."

Dib growled in frustration, but nodded all the same. "Fine you win Space boy…for now at least."

Zim smiled before he allowed his human to kiss him deeply. 'It's almost over.' He told himself.

Dib was thinking the same thing. 'Just a little bit longer, and then it will all finally be over.'

But they both knew that this was only the beginning of the end.

Just three hours, and then the real war would begin.

Zim held Dib tighter at the thought, just knowing this might be the last time he held him, and still he didn't say it. No he would take those three words to his grave before he said them.

After all there was no point in tell them anyway…

Chapter End Notes:

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The Next update will be soon.

So until then this is Emily Signing off…