Double Crossed (Invader Zim)

Chapter 13

(Dib's P.O.V)

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I'm running. Running through a building. Lights are blaring red, and sirens wail. I'm looking for something... What am I looking for? A room rushes past. Then another. Another. And now I'm at the end of the hall. There's a bright metal door, pure white against the red lights, as if the light aren't shining on it. I push the door open. Somehow, I know that whatever I'm looking for is in here.

The door swings open, revealing Zim strapped to a table. The sirens quiet down, but the lights jeep blaring. I run up to Zim to free him, only to find that he's been sliced open, organs splayed across the table, his face a bloody mess. Somehow, I know his eyes are gouged out.

"Zim? Zim! What happened? We still had time! There was still time! There was still-"

"Dib." Zim's body moves, the straps suddenly gone. He sits up and opens his eyes, looking at me with empty eye sockets. "Dib, wake up," he says, smiling at me.

"What?" I stare in horror at his face. How is he alive?

"Dib?" he calls out, his brow furrowing. "Dib?"

"Dib!"

"Gah!" I shoot upright, and Zim recoils. He's sitting in my lap, and a light throb tells me he was trying to shake me awake. It was a dream. I was dreaming. I begin to laugh in relief, feeling sweat drip down my face. My laughing gets louder and louder until I'm crying. I feel Zim wrap his arms around me, and I pull him closer, feeling comfort in his embrace. If we don't figure this out... I don't know what I'll do without him. He's the only one who doesn't think I'm insane. Well, maybe he does, but not like everyone else does. Zim thinks I'm crazy just because I'm human, and all humans are insane to him.

"Are you okay?" Zim asks, pulling back and putting his hands on my shoulders, though he stays seated in my lap. "What was going on?"

It was a fair question. I guess since Irkens don't need to sleep, then they can't formulate dreams. "It's called a nightmare," I answer. "If you've ever daydreamed, it's like that, but when you sleep. Nightmares are the bad kind of dreams, though."

"So, you were scared of the 'nightmare' then?" Zim's eyes pull up in concern. "You were making noises and twisting around."

I nod. "Yeah. I usually don't get them, but they're triggered by worry or stress, so I guess the last little while has caught up with me."

Zim half scoffs, half laughs. "I don't understand why humans have dreams. There aren't any evolutionary benefits or deficits."

"No one on Earth really knows either. Some things are just easier to explain than others, I guess," I say, shrugging, causing Zim's arms to bob up and down.

For awhile, neither of us say a word. Zim nuzzles into my neck after a few minutes, obviously tired. But instead of having gone back to sleep right away, he'd spent time waking me up and talking to me because I was scared.

"Zim?" I finally break the silence.

"Mm-hm?" Zim responds, his voice sleepy and muffled.

"I love you."

The words feel foreign on my tongue, though not in a bad way. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before, and saying the words make me feel free, and light, like I could just float away and leave behind everyone who ever doubted me, or called me crazy.

Zim makes a sound that is similar to purring, and his antennae twitch. After a moment, he replies, "I love you too, Dib."

My heart flutters as he says it. Yes, it's been almost two weeks since that kiss, but I think we both knew that nothing had changed between us since then. We hadn't gone back to "normal", whatever our normal can be defined as. And I, at least, was craving more, though I'm definitely too awkward to ask.

The sound of Zim's slow breathing calms me down, and before I know it, my eyelids have grown heavy once again.

---

(Zim's P.O.V)

Somehow, Dib is awake before me, though not by long, because he can't exactly stand up with me in his lap. My neck is bent awkwardly from having been pressed into Dib's, so I spend a few minutes twisting around to try and fix it as Dib does something on his phone.

"Alright, we need to go quick. We only have six days, maybe less based on that journal entry. So if we don't get this done now..." Dib trails off, even though we both know exactly what he would have said. I would be dead. Probably in two or three days.

"Okay, well, I don't know where we're going, so you're going to have to lead me there," I say, placing my hands on my hips. "I'm already sore enough, and that sneaking around isn't going to help either way."

Dib looks reluctant for a second, then we make our way to wherever it is that he's decided we should go. Even though the city is large, it seems like it takes an unnecessarily long time until we finally get to our destination; a large building with shiny white walls and a tall set of stairs leading up to the front doors. The building seems to be added onto frequently, as there are a lot of extra sections of the exterior that look as if they were created after the original construction. The words MEMBRANE LABS are sprawled across a large electronic sign, and, most importantly, there is a sign informing the citizens that only scientists can enter. Perfect, now there will be no civilians, and sneaking will be much easier.

"We need a way in," Dib says, and I almost wonder why he isn't whispering until I realize that no one is around. I look at the lab, scanning all the surfaces I can see. All the windows seem to be sealed shut. For once, humans have created something without being idiotic about it. However, that makes it harder for us. Even the military base was easier to get into than this. What's so important in here that there can be no risk of anyone coming in from the outside? The only place that no one would be able to see is...

"The roof," I respond. "We could try checking the roof. It's the only surface not visible to outsiders, so perhaps they didn't take as much precaution with it."

Almost immediately, Dib agrees with my plan, and he latches onto my back as I climb up with the legs in my Pak. Despite him being heavier than me, the climb is easy, and in seemingly no time at all, we're on the roof, where there are plenty of ways in. Vents, rooftop staircases, skylights. Of course it would be easiest to go down the stairs, but if we're trying not to be seen we shouldn't take that risk, so once again, we decide to enter through the vents.

Even though the roof is a lot less guarded, it still takes a bit of effort to open the vent. Once it's open, though, it's a straight shot into the building. We're not going to risk splitting up this time, because of the extra security, so the shimmy through the vent is a bit louder than I would have liked, and with Dib leading the charge. Every once in awhile, we'll stop so that Dib can inspect a room through an opening, and they always have someone already in them, so it takes quite awhile before we find a place to drop down into.

The room looks normal enough, a few tables- though with no chairs- with papers on them, though they're strewn about, rather than organized like I'd expected they would be. No wonder no one's in here. It looks like it should be the most useless room in the building.

But, even as the thought runs through my head, footsteps begin approaching, and, acting quickly, I grab Dib and lift us back into the vents.

"What gives, Zim?" Dib asks. It seems as though humans don't have the impeccable hearing that Irkens do.

"Someone was coming. Be quiet."

Just a few seconds later, someone walks into the room. I immediately recognize him as Dib's father unit, and I can hear Dib suck in a sharp breath beside me.