(A/N) Chapter 2 (at last)! I really enjoyed writing it, and hope you enjoy reading it. :) This POV is so much fun~

Hopefully you've already read all the warnings, so I'll skip all that. :P

Thanks to BlackRose556, xXFemkeXx, Greath, Lileipad and TwoCute for reviewing! 3

I do not own Zim, Dib or Invader Zim. Or Prof. Membrane. Or Torque Smacky. :P

Last warning: ZaDr and language! Flames will be used to roast my marshmallows. :3

Zim, you came to see me today.

I can't believe it.

I think I began to cry, but I can't really tell.

You held me in your arms, and I was warm. Zim, how long has it been? I would ask you that, but my voice doesn't work. I think you're crying.

Don't cry, Zim. You've been with me this whole time, you bastard.

You keep apologizing- "Zim is sorry, Zim is so sorry! Forgive Zim, Dib-thing, but don't forgive Zim! Never forgive Zim!"

You're weeping- I'm sure of it now.

Don't cry, my dear Zim. You didn't abandon me- you never left me. And you don't have to beg- you know I'll never forgive you.

Here, read this.

My hands are weak as I try to hand it to you; they tremble. You let the journal I've kept fall in favor of clutching them, holding them to your lips and warming them with your breath. Zim.

I've missed you.

I wish I could smack you.

Are we leaving, Zim? I still don't know: are we on Earth or Irk? I'm sorry that I can't walk; I wish you didn't have to carry me.

Don't forget my journal! Don't forget my journal, Zim. I want you to read it.

Has Torque been leaving you alone, Zim? He doesn't have anything against either of us, you know- he just has something against us when we're together. So as long as you haven't been talking too much about me, he shouldn't have beaten you up too badly. You're more comfortable being stuffed into a locker than me anyway, you tiny bastard.

But you've grown, haven't you?

Zim...

The sun is so bright- I never imagined it was summer out here, but the sun burns my eyes and skin. Despite how much I hate myself for it, I bury my face in your chest.

Zim... it burns me like water burns you.

I don't know where you're taking me; even if I opened my eyes, I would be effectively blind. I just cling to you- I trust you, Zim.

You're such an insufferable jerk.

When I hear a door open and then shut, my curiosity convinces me to look up. Why are we at your house, Zim? What are you planning to do to me?

And why is Dad here?

Dad?

His presence makes my head spin, and you wordlessly pass me into his arms. He's weeping, too. Don't cry, Dad- you were right. I am insane.

"My son... my poor, dear son... I'm so sorry... I should have believed you...!"

But Dad, I am insane! Read my journal- you'll see. There are no aliens- there can't be. I'm still on earth- that must prove it.

Zim, you startled me! Don't sneak up on me... with those ruby eyes of yours...

Zim... you aren't... wearing your disguise. What... are you thinking...?

"My son, your little alien friend told me everything.

"I have failed you, my son."

I feel my face twist; oh god, Zim, I don't want you to see me like this...! You're just watching... calmly... sadly... I don't want you to see me cry like this...! This gratitude... unbearable...!

But you're not going to leave, so eventually I give in and sob, clutching at Dad's clean white coat and trying to forget your presence altogether.

God, Zim...! I just love you so much...!

… … …

"You god damn faggot," Torque growled, shoving me hard into the locker. I squeaked, wincing.

"Z-Zim...!" I choked, looking around; he was gone- nowhere to be seen. Torque tightened his grip, cutting off my air.

"Faggots like you are an insult to humanity," he snarled, tearing off my glasses and spitting in my face; I winced back, blinking frantically to clear my eyes. "You claim to save the world, but you just make sure it's going to hell- you and that fucking little green fag."

I wriggled desperately, panting- his insults second to the physical pain. "Torque...! Torque, I can't breathe...!"

With a disgusted growl, he threw me to the ground; I yelped, hearing my glasses hit the floor beside me. A rain of blows fell on me, then- the football team and other jocks, all laughing and chatting jovially with Torque and amongst themselves.

"Zim...!" His name left my throat as a squeak, and the boys howled with laughter as their assaults gained momentum.

"Crying for your boyfriend?!" one of them cackled, shrieking with laughter. "Wot a little bitch!"

"Hey! Maybe we should give him what he wants!" one suggested, sounding to my ears like a squealing pig. "Why should that little green fag have all the fun?!"

"No... no...!" I shrieked, panic rising in me as I felt my pants unzipped and tugged at. "NonoNO! Zim! Zim!"

Why was I wailing his name? It only made things worse; it only made my own self-loathing join the cloud of hatred surrounding us.

Yet I couldn't stop.

As the tears began to fill my eyes, I couldn't stop.

"ZIM!"

"Hey! Hey, you kids!"

I felt the jocks stiffen around me- then they were running, sprinting in all directions and leaving me there, whimpering and half-naked in the middle of the now-deserted hallway. A shape crouched over me- familiar, but only vaguely.

"Dib? Dib, it's alright."

"... Mr... Dwicky...?" I asked softly, disoriented. My councilor nodded, gingerly pulling my clothes back into place.

"I'm sorry, Dib. I wish you could go up to the stars like I did. I really wish you could go- with Zim. Ask him to take you away from this stupid rock."

... ... ...

"Meet me at the bridge, Zim."

That was all my note had said. Because Dwicky had helped me come to the most important conclusion of my life.

The Irken peered at me as I leaned out over the railing; I could feel his questioning gaze on me, even though my eyes were closed.

"Take me away from here, Zim."

I felt his tangible surprise- rocked back and leaned out a bit farther, feeling the wind tear at my hair.

"What is the foolish Dib-thing speaking of?"

"Away from Earth, Zim. Let's leave. Let's go to Irk- or Jupiter, for all I care. Let's just go, Zim, and never come back."

I heard his intake of breath. "How can the Dib-thing say such foolishness?!" he demanded, taking a step forward.

I sighed, breathing in the crisp, moist air drifting up from the river.

"Zim will take over the Earth!" he continued, his voice vehement. "Zim will not leave! And the Dib will try to stop me, therefore the Dib must not leave!"

My eyes cracked open, but closed just as quickly. "Zim, you and I both know that isn't true," I murmured, trying to quell the momentary pang of nausea that had hit me when I looked down. "We both know that my dad is right- I'll never amount to anything. We both know that the Tallest are right- you'll never amount to anything. So why keep torturing ourselves like this? This... this isn't life. This is worse than death- so much worse." No words I had ever spoken, I was sure, had ever been as true as those.

Zim hissed- sounding disgusted. "The Dib sounds as if he is giving up!" he spat, and I heard his feet scuff the ground. "Invader Zim does not surrender, and neither does the Dib-human!"

I took another breath, eyes still closed, vividly aware of how my bruised rib cage expanded and contracted. "Zim, I'm not staying here. Either I fly to the stars with you, or I go over them alone.

"Say we'll leave, Zim- promise me. Or I'll jump."

I heard him squeak with surprise- he started to say something, but his voice was too strangled to make out. When at last he managed to speak, his words were comfortingly harsh. "You stupid stink-boy, get off that railing! Come to Zim, come to Zim now!"

"Will you take me away, Zim?" I asked softly, and he huffed.

"Zim will not run," he muttered sorely, although I knew he was nursing a sprained shoulder, pulled out of its socket by Torque's latest assault.

"Well, Dib would like to run," I breathed, having received all the answer I needed. "This morning i got into a fight with my Dad; do you know what he told me?" Rising up so that my foothold was precariously small, I took a deep breath. "That I was the bitterest disappointment of his life. And he was right.

"They won't bother you when I'm gone- so long as you don't talk about me too much.

"I hope you conquer this rotting ball of mud, Zim."

And then I let myself fall.

"No!" Zim's shriek pierced the air, and I felt him grab my waist. Shrieking with surprise and pain as his claw-like-nails sunk into me, I began to writhe.

"Zim, let go! Let me die! Let me run!" I wailed, the tears beginning to come. "Zim, I love you too damn much to stay here! You bastard, let go of me!"

"Zim will not!" he screamed back, hauling me back up onto the bridge. "No, Zim will not! You stupid, stinking human! You will not run from Zim!"

I was sobbing and screaming as he took me into his arms- skinny arms that you would never think would be so strong. I beat at him, scratching and punching and feeling his thick blue blood spatter me as I found purchase on his face. We both went tumbling to the ground before he managed to subdue me, pinning my wrists above my head and kissing me roughly. I knew my saliva burned him, so I bit his tongue and, when he drew back, spat in his face.

"I'm taking the Dib-thing for help," Zim said authoritatively, ignoring my assault and hauling me to my feet. "I cannot help the Dib-thing; Zim will find people- humans -who can."

"No, no, no..." I moaned suddenly, my hostility vanishing in a wave of despair. "Zim... no...! I'm sorry Zim... no..."

"The Dib is not sorry," the Irken sniffed, "and Zim cares for the Dib too much to leave well enough alone."

He dragged me into the sterile white building- the psychiatric hospital; I no longer had the energy to fight him, but I do remember pleading.

"No Zim no... no no no Zim no Zim no... Zim no... Zim... Zim...!"

He threw me against the counter, stretching up onto his toes as he asked the woman, "If I leave my precious one here, he... will be taken care of?"

"Oh yes..." the woman replied in a nasally voice. "We could check you in, too, if you'd like... you look like you've had the fright of your life."

For the first time, I realized that Zim was trembling. "That won't be necessary. I... am Zim."

The woman shrugged; popped her gum. "Suit yourself. We'll take good care of your little friend for you."

"You have Zim's gratitude, human beast."

... ... ...

"Zim..."

You look at me with those beautiful, limpid red eyes; you look up from the battered leather journal in your lap. I wince at how weak my voice sounds.

"Forgive Zim..." you whisper, leaning down and nuzzling me gently- your breath is so deliciously warm on my face, and I wish I could tell you that. Perhaps one day, but for now my voice is as frail as I am, and I must use it carefully- say only what is most important.

"I hate you, Zim."

Your breathless laugh- that sound that kept me sane, if barely. "Zim is glad to hear that," you choke, and your eyes crinkle pleasantly as they close. "Glad the Dib has not changed to someone..." you sound like something is strangling as you force out, "... that Zim does not recognize."

I nod; struggle to squirm into your lap. You understand- I knew you would, lifting me gently; your warmth comforts me and I murmur softly, without words- I don't have any words, except, "If I could, I'd hit you."

"Zim would hit you, if I didn't think it might kill you, frail little humanling."

I laugh, though it hurts my chest. Your hand there quells the stab of of pain as if by magic.

"The humans say the Dib-thing has an infection in his chest cavity," you inform me softly, your eyes touchingly limpid with concern- concern that warms me as much if not more than your arms. "You should not speak, Zim thinks."

I smiled. "Zim shouldn't think. It's dangerous."

Your tongue- usually so annoying -feels like velvet on my nose, your purr wreathing around me. "Foolish, sweet little human."

"You seem to be the one who's changed."

Your purr thrums through my whole body, making every fiber of my being sing with life. You're all around me- how, how can your presence envelope me like this? Perhaps I'll ask when I have more words to spare. But for now I think my breath is gone; my throat is sore with tears and inhospitable for words, let alone a question so tender as that one. So I close my eyes, simply letting you be there, all around me, and not questioning how it came to be or how it is possible.

"Zim has not changed, little stink-beast. I simply missed your revolting stench. Hurry and get better, now; Zim commands it. So that things may return to how they must be. So that life may resume."

"..." I open my eyes again, briefly; gaze up at the ceiling. 'So that life... may resume.' "Where do you find the strenght, Zim?" I rasp, and you blink. Though my words are growing almost too faint for me to make out, I try to clarify. "You're the same as me- you should feel the same despair. How do you keep it at bay...?"

And you think- for the first time, I see a contemplative light in those beloved ruby eyes, as if I've fallen in love with not an impulsive alien invader but a great philosopher. Yet your answer is simple, insanely so.

"I do not think of such things."

I laugh- it's more a rasping confined to my chest, with scarcely a whisper of sound, but you know, and smile. Your forehead presses against mine- isn't that how you told me, so many eons ago, that Irkens express the utmost affection and comfort?

"I do not think of such things," you repeat softly, kissing my skin lightly- a painfully human show of affection. "And so the Dib-thing must not. Focus on life, focus on Zim."

I close my eyes again- smile. "Alright. I'll focus on life.

"I'll focus on Zim."

"And I on my Dib-thing, of course."

~THE END~

(A/N) Please leave a review- it would really make my night. :) I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.