Danem

Running Out of Time

Tunaghost handed him a glass of milk, which he took, wordlessly, drinking from it.

"Ready to leave, I'm sure." She moved toward the door.

He set the glass down carefully, eyes trained on the ground. "Actually," He replied, "I'd like to speak with Agent DarkBooty."

Tunaghost paused at the door. "What do you want to talk to him about? He's very busy."

Zim turned, directing his comments at the camera. "I'm sure he'd like to talk about a change in the deal."

Tunaghost turned, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"Thank you, Agent Tunaghost." DarkBooty entered the room, gesturing out toward the hall. "You're dismissed for the time being."

Tunaghost gripped her pad tightly, shooting DarkBooty a glare as she exited the room. He swung the door shut, turning to face Zim.

Zim forced a casual tone into his voice. "Well. She's sure happy about being taken for a fool, now, isn't she?"

Darkbooty pulled one of the chairs toward himself, straddling it. He eyed Zim suspiciously. "You mentioned a change in the deal. What do you mean, exactly?"

Zim folded his arms, laying his antennae back. "We both know why I'm really here, answering pointless questions and enduring stupid tests. You want to know Zim's limits, so you can match them when you finally catch me and drag me down here for your serious experiments."

DarkBooty raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Circumstances have pushed certain deadlines I have to the forefront." Zim continued. "I am in need of this seven-day period being muchly shortened. I want tomorrow to be the last day."

DarkBooty whistled. "Taking three days off the deal leaves you in pretty serious debt, considering you promised."

Zim set his jaw. "Zim is fully aware of this. For this reason, Zim is prepared to..." He took a deep breath. "Allow slightly more serious testing to be done, today and tomorrow, as long as it is not surgical in nature."

DarkBooty leaned forward slightly. "So, let me get this right. In exchange for knocking three days off, you'll submit to two tests, one today and one tomorrow, of our choosing, as long as it doesn't involve cutting you open?"

Zim gave a short nod.

DarkBooty's mouth curled into a grin. "Deal."

...

That evening, Zim staggered back to the camp, covered in bite marks and gashes. He slumped, exhausted, by the fire, hardly registering that there was a fire where there hadn't been, and food cooking.

Red watched him from across the firepit, eyes narrowing. "Rough time getting supplies?"

Zim rested his head on his knees. "You finally recovered."

"Where did you go?" Red asked lowly.

"Zim is tired."

"Where did you go, Zim?" Red straightened to a formal sitting posture, emphasizing his height.

Zim cringed, antennae lowering in submission. He was too tired to make up a lie. "I've been going to the Swollen Eyeball." He admitted. "I promised to answer their questions and submit to some of their stupid tests in exchange for the med pod."

Red's eyes widened. "You're telling them our secrets?"

"It got you healed, didn't it?" Zim snapped. "Besides, they're not asking super secret questions anyway. Most of them are stupid."