Notes: Just so anybody who might care knows, there's not gonna be an update this Monday like there usually would be, 'cause I don't have Section Five written yet. xD Yeah. Additionally and unrelatedly, I've noticed that nobody's thought to review this chapter since I put it up. Remember that reviews are welcome! If this chapter sucked, I wanna know 'bout it. ;)

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Zim could hardly stand to hear such lies as the ones the Dib thrust upon him. He cared? He wanted Zim to be safe? He wanted to help? Impossible! What lies! Clever of him to form so clever a ruse, to go so far as to show such worry on his face and such tears in his eyes! But not clever enough, for Zim had known it had been fake from the beginning! He was an Irken invader, and he knew when an inferior lifeform was lying to him.

Or at least, believing that would have been the simpler of the options.

Parts of Zim's mind still couldn't comprehend the words coming out of Dib's mouth, only hearing sounds with no meaning, as though his PAK's translator were malfunctioning. But parts heard, and they were quick to take those words, those devastated words full of desperation and worry, and mold them into some diabolical scheme to destroy Zim, to tear him limb from limb and to dissect him and to do all the things that the departed human mob would have done...

But didn't do, a part of Zim's mind had to point out wordlessly, because Dib kept them away.

As part of a plot! The rest of Zim retaliated wholeheartedly, or half-heartedly, or forcedly... It was getting hard to tell. The ache and the exhaustion in every one of Zim's cells was not prepared for this and the adrenaline-like rush had drained from his limbs as soon as it ceased to be absolutely necessary. And that had been as soon as the human threat was gone.

Maybe if he had taken a moment, Zim might have registered that this meant that Dib didn't qualify as a human threat; human, of course, disgustingly human and pale-skinned and tall, but not a threat. Never a threat.

But Zim took no such moments, and he only listened with all of his mind that had yet relearned how to listen as Dib poured his heart out before him.

"But I don't hate you at all! I've never hated you!" the pleading look in Dib's eyes was so sincere that it would have been utterly painful to accept that it was anything except a clever ruse.

Zim felt a jolt, a shock, some sort of intangible pain that held no substance besides to strike something deep within him and to tell him that something was simply not right. His enemy, standing there, all but crying over Zim? Trying to help Zim? He could not help, he was Zim's enemy! Why would his enemy ever want to help? Why, why, why?! It made no sense, no sense at all! It was a lie, that's all it was! "You're lying!" Zim forced out, convincing himself as well as calling out Dib's treachery, "You're trying to trick Zim!"

Because what else could Dib possibly have been doing? Zim had nobody left who would help him! Why should he expect that sort of aid from his mortal enemy?

"No I'm not!" Dib protested and Zim wondered in an almost-formed thought why Dib was even bothering anymore; Zim knew of his plot!

What in the world would Dib have to gain by helping Zim? Zim was his mortal enemy, damnit, and Dib finally had what he wanted, anyway! The entire planet knew that Zim wasn't human! Whatever sick and twisted scheme Dib had devised to reap his victory, Dib had already won! The human couldn't possibly be so dull to not realize that, so what was he doing, keeping up this worthless ruse?!

"Then why are you doing this?!"

"Because I don't want you to be hurt! Okay? I want to help you, so why won't you just let me help you?"

Zim's temper flared within him at the aching suddenly instilled deep within him. Why was Dib—his mortal enemy—the only one who ever seemed to care about Zim at all? Nobody else even acted like they wanted to help Zim! Hell, Zim didn't even have anybody else! He grit his teeth against that thought as soon as it formed and forced the part of him wishing to believe Dib's words into submission under internal screaming that it was just a trick, just a trick, just a trick!

"Because you are not trying to help, you are trying to trick! Nobody fools an invader!"

And invaders don't need help, anyway, Zim continued to himself, so why should he even care if Dib was lying or not? Even if he was telling the truth...

He's not, Zim forced himself to think, only contributing to the aching feeling that swelled within him. It's just a ruse, a clever trick!

But why would he even bother at this point?

"No I'm not!" Dib yelled in retaliation, his voice betraying the best likeness of exhaustion and despair that Zim had ever heard. "Look, Zim, I care about you and I don't want you to be hurt! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Those words hit Zim in the chest with shock and some form of relief that confused and scared him; Dib cared? What was that even supposed to mean? He wasn't Zim's enemy, he didn't want to hurt Zim, he wanted to help? Why, why, why, why, why?! Was Zim so important to Dib? Did Dib really want Zim around? Nobody else did (even though Zim is amazing!), so why should Dib? Why did he keep acting so upset over Zim, damnit?!

They were enemies! That's all they were! Not that Zim would exactly mind having Dib around, he might even prefer that, but...

But what? Zim felt horrified as he caught himself realizing that Dib wouldn't just be a useful ally, but that Dib was the only ally (or enemy or friend or anything else) that Zim could ever hope to have! The Irken Empire didn't want him, GIR had been captured, Zim was trapped in a hostile environment where everyone was after his squeedily-spooch, what did Zim have left?! All he had was... all he had was...

All he had was Dib.

The heavy mass of pleading tension lodged in his chest lurched and made itself known and he felt a feeling of fear wash over him at the thought that he really, truly did not hate Dib as he would hate an enemy, after all... He simply didn't! There was no explaining it, there was no defining it, Zim simply did not hate Dib! Far from it, even! How could this have happened? Not only was Zim's seemingly-endless repertoire of hatred for Dib apparently nonexistent, but in fact, to Zim, the human was... Dib was...

Zim stared at Dib with a new flavor of fear encroaching upon his brain and a feeling of disgust at himself washing through his veins.

Was Dib really that important to him?

Zim all of a sudden realized just how much he was shaking and just how weak his legs really were, and he sat down upon Dib's bed, putting his head in his hands to block out the sound of the tempest outside that suddenly berated his antennae with its impossibly menacing pitter-pattering. "Go away," he grumbled.

The rain was so loud and it reminded him that the humans were still out there. How could he hope to live through this situation, with or without Dib? And when did Dib stop being his enemy? Why was he helping? Would the humans come back to search again? What was... What was he going to do? Even the best invader (which he was!) wouldn't be able to handle this!

"Cease your lies and leave Zim alone!"

***

The silence Zim had left him with was an awkward, uncomfortable one, and Dib never thought he would feel so utterly out of place in his own room; he was almost the only one who ever came in here. His sister tended to avoid him in the first place, so her visits to his room were few and confined only to very special occasions; his father wasn't home all too often, and when he was, he scarcely left the lab. In fact, if Dib hadn't been so caught up in feeling what he felt and trying to figure out why, he might have noted that Zim (or some machination of Zim's) had probably ended up in his room over the years as many times as Gaz and Professor Membrane combined.

But the truth of the matter was that that wasn't relevant to anything, and it didn't even produce the slightest ripple on the outskirts of Dib's thoughts. Those thoughts were in an absolute torrent, racing around and around each other to try to figure out what he had been trying to explain to Zim just moments ago: why was he helping his mortal enemy?

He had made it clear enough to Zim, hadn't he? Dib cared about Zim, and he didn't want anything to happen to him. It shouldn't have been that complicated... But it was. Because Zim wasn't just a friend, or some kid off the street, Zim was an alien invader! He was bent on the destruction of the human race! And even more than that, he was Dib's mortal enemy! Who the hell had Dib been fighting for seven years now? Who had made near-death experiences nearly commonplace for Dib over those seven years? Who had been the chief cause of nearly all of the trauma Dib experienced throughout his childhood? Zim!

And Dib told himself that over and over again as he stared at the alien invader sitting on his bed, head in his hands, antennae drooping and quivering, radiating hatred and anger and fear and a profound confusion.

Or maybe the confusion was just in Dib's head; he had plenty cause for it himself. Every sign pointed toward it, Dib should hate Zim! He should have tried to expose Zim! He should have rejoiced when the rest of the humans finally realized what Zim was! So why didn't he? It made absolutely no sense, there was no reason why... there was no reason...

But there is, Dib argued to himself in his head as he slumped down in his computer chair, feeling a little guilty when the slight noise brought Zim's relaxed antennae to an alert position and caused the alien to jump the tiniest bit and glance around the room apprehensively before letting his hands drop to his lap and shooting a suspicious glare at Dib.

"Why do you look at me like that, Earth-filth?!" Zim demanded, and Dib noted that the alien had almost entirely replaced the immense fear he had carried upon his arrival with anger.

He blinked, only just realizing he had been staring. He averted his eyes to the wall at his side and muttered, "Sorry." He supposed he couldn't have blamed Zim for being so paranoid, but it still hurt knowing that nothing he did could convince Zim that he really didn't have any ill intentions.

And all in all, it was probably a good thing that Zim seemed to accept that answer and fell back into his uncharacteristic silence, even if that silence drove Dib absolutely crazy. It gave him time to gather his thoughts, and he needed that more than anything. He stole another glance at Zim, looking away promptly when he noticed Zim's eyes were already narrowed upon him. He all but held his breath, waiting for Zim to say something, but Zim never did. Dib just assumed Zim had looked away at the wall; the invader had more to sort out in his head than Dib did himself, after all.

But why did I help him? Dib wondered hopelessly; it really didn't make any sense! Why in the world would he help his mortal enemy? What was he thinking? Why would he do any of this, why?

Dib sighed slightly when he realized that it was a stupid question, really. He had told Zim, hadn't he? He cared about the alien, he wanted to help him. But why? How many times before had Dib shouted insult after insult at Zim, claiming that he would capture him and pin him down to an alien autopsy table? How many times had he made preparations to cripple Zim's plans before those plans even became clear in Zim's head? How many? A dozen, a hundred, several thousand? So why in the world would he suddenly want to help his mortal enemy?! He was an alien invader, he couldn't possibly be so important to Dib tha—

Oh, Dib realized numbly, Well, that's it right there.

Why wouldn't Zim be that important, Dib realized, because after all, he had known the alien for nearly half of his life. He knew Zim better than he had ever known anyone before, and probably better than he ever would know anybody! He recognized the meaning in nearly every shift of Zim's expressions, in each of the positions Zim's antennae took. He had a brief section of Zim's military records completely memorized, the only section he had managed to snatch from Zim's computer before it kicked him out. He kept a thick file of photos, many of which didn't even come close to proving anything about Zim, but were simply photographs that Dib had taken in secrecy over the years. And hell, the alien was the only one who ever seemed to want to be around Dib! Though, that had always been part of Zim's overall scheme to destroy Dib, but... Even then, even when Zim could've easily killed Dib, he never had. He had always taken just that extra thirty seconds of gloating, or slowed his movements just marginally, and unconsciously done exactly what needed to be done to let Dib get away. And even just then, when the mob had been chasing Zim, he had sought refuge in Dib's house first! And not even with the intent of threatening Dib, just with the intention of finding a place to hide! So, did that mean...

Dib shook his head free of those thoughts. Just because he suddenly realized just how important it was to him to have Zim around, that didn't mean anything about what Zim thought of him. And besides, didn't he have more important things to worry about right then? Zim's crisis hadn't yet been averted, after all.

Dib was better off focusing his thoughts on a way to help Zim out of that.