My Only The Only One

Chapter 6

From that moment on Zim was careful not to take Dib for granted. Not that he had before, but he became very conscious of every little thing Dib did for him. He wouldn't always say thank you, but he was always thankful, and usually showed it with an extra kiss or some other sort of affectionate gesture.

Despite the humans not actually being able to do anything about Zim they showed their distrust and hatred more than ever. Leaving notes for him to find and throwing insults whenever they were feeling brave. In fact, Zim almost tore up the letter he found waiting for him on the floor of their room until he saw the official seal of what was known as The Membrane Council, stamped very officially on the front.

He opened it and read the very short message inside. It said simply:

Irken Zim, your trial will be held tomorrow at noon. Come to Conference Room A. The Membrane Council.

Zim shivered. A trial. He was being put on trial again?

He crumbled up the letter and threw it onto the bed, bolting for the door when he ran into someone just outside of it.

"Hey, watch it." The human growled, sneering at Zim, but the irken ignored it, standing and bolting for the docking bay. He had to get out, he had to get away!

"Zim! Zim!" Dib called, catching his lover dashing down the hallway franticly and quickly followed.

Zim wouldn't stop; he almost made it before Dib's much longer legs allowed the human to catch him, grabbing his arms and yanking him to a standstill. The force of the pulling caused them both to fall back, Dib on his butt and Zim in his lap.

"I can't stay here!" Zim immediately burst out, struggling to get out of the human's grip. "They want to kill me! They'll erase me!"

"Zim, Zim calm down, what are you talking about?" Dib asked, holding fastly to his irken.

"I got a note! Your father is going to put me on trial because no one wants me here and I got into a fight! They were just waiting for that to happen so they could rip my pak off!" Zim blubbered, eyes wide with fear.

"You won't be killed for fighting, Zim." Dib said gently, moving one of his hands to the irkens face to try and make him focus. "Plus, you have me on your side, there's no way they'll be able to do anything to you."

"Damn right they won't!" Zim yelled. "Because I'm getting off this thing before they can!"

"You can't just run away." Dib said, looking unimpressed. "Plus, what about me?"

"You can come too!" Zim said with a wide smile, desperate to avoid the trial. "You'll love space Dib!"

Dib sighed, standing once Zim was done struggling and pulling the irken into a tight hug. "Zim," He said. "I hate to say this but there's no where we can go. Most of space is ruled by Irk and you're a wanted criminal to the empire. Please, it won't be that bad. With me by your side you'll get a slap on the wrist at the most."

Zim's breathing picked up but he nodded. "You promise you'll be there?" He clung to Dib as he gasped out his words. "Promise promise? Cross your heart and all that?"

Dib nodded, smiling at Zim's childlike worry. "I promise. Now come on, let's get some lunch and work out a good defense." He said, pulling back and holding Zim's hand as he led the irken back to their room.

Noon the next day found Dib and Zim in a conference room, facing a panel of five people, one of which was Membrane, sitting in the middle in a very elaborate chair, obviously playing the role of the judge.

"Do we all know why we're here?" The man to Membrane's right asked, looking at the irken, unimpressed by the calm way he sat there.

"Because I got into a fight?" Zim asked, feeling much like he was back in high school.