It was with a jolt that Dib woke up again, gasping for air. The first thing he did was look down at himself. The blood had been cleaned off of him, and the wound itself was covered in a pink film…it also only barely twinged with pain.

There was an IV needle in his arm…no, two needles. One connected to a bag with clear fluid, while the other was about half-full of blood.

He looked around the room. Though he didn't visit it often (thankfully), he recognized Zim's medbay, and realized he was laying on one of the cots, a nearby monitor showing information about his vitals.

…lying down felt weird. Well, it felt normal, actually, but he got the feeling that it should feel weird. With a flash, he remembered one of the last few things that happened before he passed out.

He shifted and sat up to look over his shoulder. The cot he was in had a hole in it…one that the PAK now embedded in him had been nested in, allowing him to comfortably rest.

Boots clicked against the metal floor, and Dib whipped his head around to face them. Who else was it but Zim, carrying over a bottle of pills and wearing a expression of utter relief on his face.

"DIB!" he said, running over and tossing the pills on a nearby surface, throwing his arms around Dib and burying his face in the crook of his neck. Dib flinched, but quickly returned the hug, giving his alien a tight squeeze.

"You're okay," he felt Zim mumble into him. "I knew you would be."

Dib patted his back. "Of course I am." He looked Zim over, making sure he wasn't also injured, then wrapped his arms fully around him again.

Eventually, their hug loosened, though Zim sat on the cot and pressed up against Dib's side. Dib scooted over a bit so he would have room. "Can I ask some questions, now?" Dib asked.

"Of course."

Good, good…now, just where to start? "…this PAK," Dib said. "Did you make this?"

"Mhmm. For you and you alone."

"How long were you working on it for?"

"Eh…technically since we got back to Earth. I'd been plotting a few ideas throughout our trip, though…I just needed the equipment here to actually start building it." Zim smirked, pleased with himself. "Though I was able to pick up some components I wouldn't be able to find on this planet."

Dib suddenly remembered the screw he'd given him, after taking it from Tenn's base, and his brow furrowed. "Hey…you were making a PAK, this PAK, with that Pakium metal, weren't you!? You lied to me!"

Zim tapped his claws together. "If Zim remembers correctly, I never said I wasn't making a PAK. Just mentioned all the complications that would come with building one."

Dib opened his mouth to counter…then closed it and thought about it for a second. "…okay, fine, you got me there. Still, why didn't you tell me you were making something like this in the first place?" he asked, reaching back and again brushing his fingers against the newest addition. This would take some getting used to...

Zim pursed his lips, looking away. "I was...unsure how well it would work. If at all. PAKs are not meant to be compatible with non-Irkens, so adjustments in the design were needed."

He gestured to Dib...no, Dib's PAK. "I was going to run more trials and make sure it was even possible before discussing it with you. But you...you were so injured, I didn't know if anything else would work in time, so..."

"So you stuck it on me."

Zim nodded. "Simulations showed that it wouldn't hurt you…probably. No danger of a personality override, since it's blank." He grinned a little. "I think having a PAK on you once already made it easy for this one to bond to you."

"…huh." Dib said, absentmindedly rubbing his chest where another PAK had sat for several minutes, years ago.

He took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. If this thing is on me, I need to know everything about it."

"It's bare-bones right now. A beta," Zim said. "It's attached to your nervous system, but all it'll do is accelerate healing. Maybe extend your life, but I still need to work on that. And it has space you can put things in."

He leaned forward, poking Dib in the chest and looking very serious. "BUT! It may be good for healing, but not for anything that would be immediately fatal," Zim said. "Scratches it can fix, major wounds can heal more quickly...but don't go getting your giant head chopped off, alright?"

"Wasn't planning on it," Dib said, rubbing his neck before then reaching down and running his hands over the PAK again. "Anything else I should know?"

"Eh...you're probably not reliant on it the same as Zim, but you're better off with it on than off, so leave it," Zim said. "I was going to install some PAK legs and maybe a few weapons, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. I could add a translator, even, that shouldn't take too long."

"Can you still do that?"

"Sure! While you're still wearing it, even," Zim said smugly. "It might feel weird, but it shouldn't hurt anything."

"…that's pretty cool," Dib said. Zim beamed, looking proud. "Can I see the specs for it?"

"Sure, I'll bring them later," Zim said. "The PAK is healing you, but…it'll be easier if you don't move around too much. And let the bags replace the fluid and blood you…lost."

"How long am I stuck here?"

"Prrrrrobably a day or so? Don't worry, I can bring anything you want!"

Dib sighed, leaning back and letting his PAK settle in the hole in the cot (probably what it was designed for). He'd been stuck in beds in worse hospitals for longer. "That's not too bad," he said. "And…if it's just a day, and I'll be fine…we don't need to tell my family about this, right? At least not right away?"

He didn't want to worry them. And he couldn't begin to imagine how much Dad would freak out, learning that being around Zim led to him getting hurt.

Zim looked away, expression guilty. Dib frowned. "Zim...Zim, what did you do?"

"...you'd lost a lot of blood," Zim said, tapping his claws together. "The PAK stabilized you, but I wasn't sure how long it would take for you to make more of your own blood.

"I needed to transfuse blood into your system, but I don't exactly keep human blood lying around. But there was a human in Zim's base whose blood type would match yours..."

The blood in question drained from Dib's face. "Oh, no."

"I had to get her blood to help you, and she wouldn't do it until I told her everything!"

"Everything!?"

"Everything," Zim confirmed with a nod. "...she doesn't know you're awake yet, though! So—"

Before he could finish that thought, the doors to the medbay slid open. They both turned to look—and saw Gaz, who looked absolutely furious.

Dib shrank in on himself. Zim pressed up against his side. "...hi, Gaz," Dib said, giving her a weak wave.

"Dib," she greeted. Her gaze snapped to Zim. "I heard you talking. How long has he been awake?"

"Just a few minutes!" Zim answered. "And we were having a moment."

"Yeah, well, moment's over." She crossed the room to stand beside Dib's cot, crossing her arms and frowning down at him. Her gaze was soft, though. "You're okay?"

Dib nodded. "You're sure?" she pressed. He nodded again.

"Good." Her expression hardened, and Dib tightly squeezed Zim's hand for support.

"You know, I'd slap you if you weren't injured," Gaz growled at him. "Heck, I'm tempted to do it anyway."

"What!?" Dib said. "I'm the one that got shot! I'm the victim here! Why are you mad at me?"

"Don't worry, I'm mad at Zim, too," she told him, shooting a glare at the alien in question. Her attention quickly came back to Dib, though. "But I'm mad at you because you're an idiot."

"No I'm not!" Dib said petulantly.

"Yes, you are. You—" She poked him in the chest. "—decided to use yourself to shield Zim. The alien with his own built-in shields and healing properties.

"That was a stupid thing to do, and being that stupid was what got you shot."

Dib crossed his arms, head drooping. "...is it so stupid of me to want Zim safe? To care about someone?"

Gaz was silent...and then let out a heavy sigh. "Damn it."

She approached and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Look. It's...a good thing you care, alright? But you've got to stop putting yourself in danger to save others."

"But—"

"No," she said sternly. "Listen to me, Dib. How do you think Dad and I feel when you get hurt?"

He was sorely tempted to be snarky and accuse them of not caring. But...that wasn't really true. He sighed. "...pretty bad?"

"And Zim. How do you feel about Dib trying to shield you like that?"

Zim fidgeted, looking almost guilty. "Well, I...it's a complicated thing, you know..."

"So summarize."

"I'm...touched Dib wants to protect me," he said quickly. "But seeing him hurt is like...like a hole in my spooch."

"Oh," Dib said quietly, suddenly feeling very cold.

Zim turned to him and hugged him tightly. Gaz gave his shoulder another squeeze. "See? We just...we want you to be safe, too, Dib."

"I get that," Dib said. He lifted his head to look her in the eyes. "But what if I only have a second to decide to help someone or...or just stand by and watch them be hurt?"

Gaz sighed heavily. "Maybe you and Zim should stop throwing yourselves into situations where you have to ask that question."

"Well, we certainly didn't ask to be almost assassinated on my home planet!" Dib huffed.

Gaz sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Okay, look, just say you'll be less stup—reckless, and I'll leave you to rest and heal for now."

Dib frowned, crossing his arms, and she gave him a look. "What do you think Dad would say?"

Dib's heart dropped again, and he could feel his face get paler. "Did…did you tell him about what happened?"

"No, not yet."

"Okay! I won't be reckless, just don't tell him about this!" The last thing he needed was another reason for his father to be angry with Zim!

"I won't," Gaz said, and Dib sighed in relief. That didn't last long, though, as she added, "But he's going to find out sooner or later, and he'll take it better if he's told, and doesn't just figure it out on his own."

"…does he really have to know, though?" Dib said, fidgeting.

Gaz sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and gestured to his new PAK with her other hand. "You have alien technology embedded in you, now. He's going to notice, and he's going to wonder why you got that thing in the first place."

Dib bit his lip. She was right, of course, but…he didn't even want to think about how their dad would react to this whole situation.

Zim rolled off the bed, and Dib quickly looked up. "Look, your brother is still recovering," he said, making a shooing motion towards Gaz. "Begone and allow him to rest in peace!"

She gave him a look, but after one last glance at Dib, turned and started to leave. "Remember—no more being reckless," she said over her shoulder. "I'll slap you next time, injured or not." With that, she walked out, the doors closing behind her.

Dib sighed, sagging into the cot. "…I actually don't feel that tired," he admitted to Zim.

"I know. But you still need a bit of rest…and a break from that particular conversation," Zim said, patting Dib's hand. Dib smiled, entailing his fingers with Zim's.

"Thanks," Dib said quietly. After a few seconds, he asked, "I don't suppose we could watch something in here?"

Zim smirked, gesturing to one of the closest screens. It flickered to life, revealing a selection of movies and shows, and with another gesture from Zim, it began to play a cheesy horror movie. Dib smiled, leaning back and relaxing, wrapping one arm around Zim as he curled against his chest.

Though Dib was sure he wasn't that tired, he dozed on and off through the movie, waking up the most when Zim placed a plate of toast drowning in honey and honey butter in his lap for dinner. After that, and once the movie was over, Zim rubbed a washcloth over most of Dib's skin, carefully working around the injured part of his torso.

After that, he pulled out a soft blanket, tossing it over Dib and placing a soft pillow under his head before curling up against his side again. Dib yawned, wrapping his arms around him and shifting until he was comfortable.

Though there was still an uncomfortable throb in his side and at two points on his back, he found himself slipping into unconsciousness.