7 WEEKS UNTIL THE APOCALYPSE

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Zim looked around her hotel room, watching any nooks and crannies that a tiny pixie could get into. She had never told Storm, Ben or the other escapees from that day almost 7 years ago at the lab, but she had snuck back in and found Pixie, who was hiding in the vents. Pixie peeked out from the space between her stove and her fridge, a smile on her face as she ran over and scaled Zim's leg. Zim noticed and looked before gently picking her off her leg, holding her in her hands. Pixie just sat in the palm of her hand, and the two suddenly heard the door opening.

"UHHHH... Zim, when did you get Pixie back!?" Zim froze and slowly turned her head to the doorway, seeing Storm and Ben standing in the doorway to her hotel room. Pixie also looked at the two, and she stood up in the palm of Zim's hand. Ben had Amelia's hand in his, and Storm was just staring at Pixie, who stared back.

"Guys, I can explain-" Zim started, but Amelia cut her off.

"Is she a fairy!? They're real! I knew it!!" Pixie looked at Amelia, who was jumping up and down like an excited child. "I told you momma was right, daddy!"

"I never said she was wrong," Ben started, before looking at Zim and Pixie again. "But Pixie's existence can't be shown to anyone who doesn't know about it. Or other kids. Otherwise, the bad people will come for her, and Zim knew that."

"Zim, can I talk to you and Pixie... away from Amelia?" Storm walked into another room, and Zim gave Pixie a look, to which Pixie gave her a thumbs up, before following her, still carrying Pixie in her hands. Storm slammed the door behind her, and she immediately turned and glared at her. "Zim, what the fuck were you thinking!?" Her voice was a harsh whisper, and Zim knew exactly what was about to happen. Oh boy.

"Storm, listen, I lost Pixie, and I promised her I wouldn't-" Storm's glare shut Zim up halfway through her sentence, and Pixie just looked at her.

"Zim. I told you we would get her back together. Why couldn't you just wait until we had a solid fucking plan!?" Zim looked at Pixie, and then back at Storm.

"I promised Pixie I wouldn't lose her." Zim stated plainly, and Storm pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We made a promise after we walked away from that lab! Zim, we promised we'd go and get her together! Why didn't you keep your promise!?"

"BECAUSE OF YOU." Zim's sudden shouting made Storm flinch, and Ben and Amelia looked at the door to the room they were in, surprised at Zim shouting. Zim took a deep breath before looking down at Pixie. "No one was putting you at risk after you found out about Amelia. Why would I wait until you were okay to go when I could get her back myself?" Storm went to say something, but she didn't know what to say, she was in so much shock at Zim's sudden shouting that she had no response for her. "No response...? That's what I thought..." Zim walked out of the room, holding Pixie in her hands, and Storm just stood there, dumbfounded. Part of her wanted to cry, but she knew she had to hold it together for Amelia. She didn't want her daughter seeing her having a mental breakdown. She couldn't let her see it.

"Zim, don't you think yelling at her was a bit... Harsh?" Ben whispered, noticing that Storm's trauma response was starting to kick in a bit. "You know how she is with yelling, especially after what she went through with Dr. Embers..."

"No, actually, I don't. Plus, she deserves it for getting mad at me-"

"You could've waited to get back Pixie. We would've gone after Amelia was born. Sky was gonna stay home with her. Then you disappeared on us and came back days later. Hiding Pixie." Both Ben and Zim looked over at Amelia, who wasn't paying attention to their conversation, and was instead playing with her toys, so Ben continued his line of thought. "Zim, you put yourself in danger when we all promised we would help you get her back. Storm has every right to be a little upset with you, but that doesn't mean you can just yell at her for it!"

"Ben, you don't understand, I promised Pixie-"

"Oh, yeah?" Ben interrupted, and Zim glared at him. "We promised you. We were willing to help you. But you got too fucking impatient and went without us. We were gonna go after you if you hadn't shown up, and not only would your life have been in danger, but so would the rest of our lives. Mine, Sky's, and yours. Amelia would've gone with our babysitter, but goddammit, Zim, if you weren't impatient, then neither of us would be upset with you right now!"

"Why are you defending her!?"

"She's been through enough with that lab! She would've gone back because of you! Zim, if we had to go back because of your impatient ass, I would've killed you myself. If you would've waited, then we wouldn't have considered the possibility that you got caught and that we'd have to go and get you. Next time, either be patient, or don't expect us to cover your ass when you go it alone." Ben immediately ran over and made sure Storm was okay, and she just threw herself into his arms, barely able to keep her composure as the amount of times Dr. Embers yelled at and hit and got... Physical with her came flooding back, making her even more upset and scared than she had been before, both of those emotions overtaking her anger. Zim looked at Amelia, who was still playing with her toys, unaware of what was happening to her momma. Pixie looked at Zim, who just sat on her couch, watching Amelia play with her toys, silently blaming her for not being able to get back Pixie sooner than she did. Zim gave her a death glare before looking at her TV, completely oblivious to the fact that Storm was suffering from a mental breakdown because of Zim shouting at her, and unaware that Amelia was being led out of the hotel by someone holding her favorite candy bar in their hands.

Pixie was her number 1 priority, and so she'd put Pixie over Storm and her family any day. But at the same time, she would've tried to stop Amelia from leaving had she kept death glaring her instead of turning to look at the TV instead.

Too bad that, by the time she noticed, Amelia was already gone, having been lured out of the hotel by a candy bar holding man in a lab coat.

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Amelia followed the guy in the lab coat, her favorite doll in her arms. She reached out for the candy bar with one hand once she was close enough, holding the doll in her other arm, but instead of being able to grab the candy bar, she was grabbed by another man in a lab coat, forcing her to drop her doll. She immediately screamed and started trying to wriggle her way out of the man's grip, but he was too strong. She screamed again, but his hand covered her mouth, stopping her from being able to be heard screaming. The first man put away the candy bar and opened the door to the van he was standing in front of, and the other man dragged Amelia into the van, restraining her so that she couldn't escape.

Storm had heard the screaming from the hotel, and she immediately ran after Amelia to find out what was wrong.

"AMELIA!?" Storm's voice carried over to the van, and Amelia's eyes went wide at the sound of her momma's voice. She screamed through the man's hand, and she was immediately slapped for it. The van door was about to close when Storm and Ben, who had run after her, saw Amelia in the van and rammed into the first man, stopping him from shutting the van. Amelia screamed through the second man's hand, and Ben immediately pulled the two out of the van, pulling Amelia away from him as he knocked him out. She clung to him, crying into his chest, as Storm ran over and made sure she was okay. "What happened...!?"

"He- He had candy- He had my favorite candy, and- and I got distracted, I- I-" Amelia couldn't stop crying. "I'm sorry, momma...! I'm sorry...!"

"Sweetie..." Ben looked at the men in the lab coats, and he immediately recognized the labels on it. His eyes widened a bit, and he gently handed Amelia to Storm before closely examining the label to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Um... Sky, get her back to the hotel... Keep an eye on her, okay...?" Storm looked confused, before she noticed the logo on the lab coats, and she held onto Amelia tightly, not letting her go as she made her way back to the hotel.

She didn't want to be anywhere near the lab boys after she recognized the logos that their lab coats were branded with. First that same lab took her, and now it nearly took her little girl. Both she and Ben swore that they would tear that lab to the ground one day, no matter if it costed their lives or not.

That day, Storm also swore that she would never forgive Zim for not watching Amelia closer than she had been, and she was gonna make her pay if it ever happened again.