I hope you guys are enjoying this because I am! Invader Zim belonged to Jhonen Vasquez and Richard Steven, but all of the OCs involved belongs to me.

Speaking
Thoughts
Shouting
Importance

(An hour later)

Dib lies on the bed while unconscious and slowly regaining his breathing. Valarie puts her hand on his head and sighs as she backs off and turns the group.

"... He... He should be fine for now," Valarie told them, "He needs some rest. That is all."

"You sure, Valarie?" Lily asked.

"Yes. I am sure," Valarie replied. "You guys enjoy yourselves. I'll look after him..."

"... If you say so..." Lily said as she turns around to the group, "We... should get going..."

"Yeah..." Min-Jung replied as the whole group leaves.

Valarie sighs and looks at Dib, who is starting to sweat profusely and breathing heavily again, which Valarie quickly starts shaking Dib violently.

"Dib! Wake up!" Valarie yelled out, causing Dib to wake up.

Dib violently jumps up and starts breathing panicky while his face turns very pale and looks at Valarie, who is looking at him with a puckered forehead and knitted brows.

Dib takes a deep breath and says, "Sorry... I... I shouldn't have made you worry... especially at a time like this..."

"... Dib..." Valarie spoke and asks, "You really need to take better care of yourself! It's been like this for two weeks now!"

"..." Dib turns away and then, looks back with a lazy smile, "I... I suppose..."

"Dib..."

"... I... I can't help it..." Dib answered, "Those hallucinations are honestly killing me... and they keep getting worse and worse that... I wasn't sure what I should do..."

"... Why... why didn't you seek help?"

"I... I don't want to be a burden... that is the last thing I wanted at a time like this..." Dib told her, "I can't even go to therapy because I'm a wanted criminal, so... I have no choice, but suffer alone..."

"... That... that is an extremely unhealthy choice!" Valarie told him off, which Dib stares at her with widen eyes, "Your self care is just as important as this situation and your trauma is valid no matter what others say! Trust me... I been though that experience and it's horrible..."

"What... what happened to you...?" Dib asked, "You never really told me about your past, honestly."

"... I... Kronin and his men murdered my parents... and kidnapped me..." Valarie explained, much to his horror, "I... I was experimented and tortured so badly that I was basically mute and on the verge of becoming blind... when I couldn't handle it anymore... I... I ended up murdering those men..."

"..." Dib's face turns pale, "Why father...? Why...?"

"That... is when Tori and Mikala found me..." Valarie said, "Right after I turned those men into mush and their blood coloured the room pure red... I couldn't muttered a word... I... I was super happy... but suffered guilt because... I killed those men with my own hands... even if they're my torturers, they must have a family or friends or something... I... I..."

Valarie starts to visibly shaking and gulps, "Sorry... I... I guess what I'm trying to say... you're not the only one mentally suffering... especially Zim."

"Z-Zim?!" Dib shouted, "Is it... that his mission is fake?"

"Yes..." Valarie answered honestly, "I will admit... I might be responsible for giving him nightmares since he was involved in my rescue along with Gir... but he managed to get over it fast."

"I'm not surprised," Dib replied, "Irkens are built for war... so it makes sense blood and gore doesn't faze him too much... though, I'm surprised it actually fazed him even a little, since he did some horrible things in the past."

"... Now that you mentioned it... about the whole irken race being made for war and stuff..." Valarie realised, "You... you might have a point. I also remember Tori randomly telling me how upset and mentally scarred he was about Gir's condition to the point of crying after I was rescued."

"... That's odd," Dib mentioned, "Zim is never been the type to care about anybody. Only himself or his former leaders... he also never cried before either... something is going on here..."

"You're right," Valarie replied, "From my experience with the other irkens, they're so self-centred and blindly loyal to their leaders that I'm not surprised they're only artificial and not biological like humans, vampires and such."

"Exactly," Dib nodded, "Just... something is happening to Zim... and I don't know what..."

"It's worse that, of all people, Ate had my dad erased my memories of the war... now I see why..." Dib thought, "Did she actually care about me or is this her way of continuing to use me...? If only... if only I can read her mind... even though I think it's the latter, but... those years... she acted as if she genuinely cares about me, so... I... I don't know anymore..."

A/N - I hope you guys look forward to it and if you do, leave a comment and have a good day, my guild. Aqua out!