Disclaimer: I don't own Phineas and Ferb. They belong to Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Although given the way the characters in this particular fic have developed since they were kids in the show and adults here, and I included original versions of a few other characters, I guess I could claim some ownership rights for that. But overall, just to get that clear, still don't own PnF.

Author's Note: I promised a sequel to Fear, Loving and Secrets in the Tri-State Area, and this is one. In a way. You see, this story takes place about twenty years in the future compared to FLSITTSA, and is thus set in an entirely different environment (including the occasional reference to slightly more mature themes - nothing major, but still something you should be aware of). Where FLSITTSA establishes Phineas and Candace's relationship, this story is set in a future in which they have been a couple for years, which creates entirely different challenges - and yet, as the characters will discover, some things do stay the same, and underlying sets of assumptions are about to be challenged from both sides when Phin and Candy get into contact with versions of themselves whose lives developed entirely differently. In a way it's as much of a story as it is a character study, even more so than FLS was, and it is one which could very well shake up our protagonists' lives in various small and bigger ways.

Phineas and Candace will be the main characters, but a fair amount of attention will also be paid to their kids. Ferb and Isabella, by contrast, are characters who will be in the story but take more of a backseat. Just so you know that upfront. Also, this is my first time writing a full-length story in first person narrative, and it's from Candace's POV. Ergo, the story's narration will be about as reliable as Candace telling a story can be... which is not very. Just so you know that in advance. Also, I came up with the title rather easily for once and I actually kinda like it because it compasses what happens in the story so well, so even if I acknowledge it sounds a bit silly I'm not changing it.

Well, I guess that's about it. If there is anything you want to ask about the story, something you don't agree with, or if you just want to express positive or negative sentiments about the whole tale, please review!

CANSWAP

Prologue

Tuesday, June 8th 2033
05:00 PM
Danville

Of all the strains housewives around the country had to endure, I thought wryly, serving as a guinea pig for their spouse's experiments usually wasn't one of them.

I leaned back and tried to relax, but relaxing wasn't easy when you have a helmet on your head and wires running from it in every direction, complete with someone leaning over you every once in a while. Of course I was willing to cut Phineas some slack, but this was taking forever. "Did you fix the problem yet?" I asked, straining my eyes to try to see what he was working on.

My brother leaned back up and turned around to face me. Although his usual smile was in place, there was a curve to his brows that indicated he didn't really know how this was going to end. "I think we have now" he replied. "I'm not sure, though. This is really sensitive equipment."

I wanted to add that it wasn't just the equipment that was sensitive but I was as well, but I knew that would hardly be fair. Phineas was doing his best to look out for me. "So what should I do now?" I asked. "Just try to relax and concentrate on reaching out to other worlds?"

Phineas shrugged. "I think it would be the most sensible if you just tried to focus on yourself and your life experiences. Who you are, and what made you the person you are today. Maybe you should focus on one specific dimension first – how about the one we travelled to the day we first met Dr. Doof and all had our minds erased? Of course that dimension was in a bad shape at that point, but things might have cleared up since and I wouldn't mind getting to hear from them again. Then again, that dimension was relatively easy to access going clockwise and I have no idea what the extents of mental projection are, and it would be a shame to waste it if that method could yield us greater results. You just have to consider fundamental life issues and your brainwaves amplified into a frequency by the helmet should be able to break through the protective bubble of our dimension and…"

Of all the strains housewives around the country had to endure, losing their lover half-way through a conversation to techno babble probably wasn't normally one either.

I tried to block Phineas' words out of my mind as I focused on the invention. It really was an amazing piece of work – a machine with which we would be able to connect with the minds of our counterparts in other universes. I'd been skeptical when my brother first proposed it, but later his enthusiasm actually succeeded in getting me carried away a little too. Which probably wasn't something I should have mentioned out loud, because it made Phineas decide that I could test it for him – and of course, once he'd looked at me with puppy dog eyes and asked nicely, there was no way I could have ever said no. And given that I had somehow managed to make contact with a zebra from another dimension in which I'd made Kevin when I was just a teenager, I suppose that it made some sense to ask me for something involving making contact with other dimensions through brainwaves – apparently, I was a natural at it.

But never mind why I had ended up here, the point now was to achieve something with it. I tried very hard to concentrate on reaching out to other worlds – the second dimension first of all, because despite what Phineas had just been saying (or at least what I think he'd been saying) I firmly believed in going the easy way first. I'd been wondering what became of them since we left them anyway. The other me had been amazing as resistance leader, but integrating into civilian life again could have changed a lot about her personality. And what about Phineas and Ferb, whom she'd sought to protect rather than bust? I remembered recommending Jeremy Johnson to her at the time because he was still my boyfriend then, and it made me wonder whether she actually took me up on that or – as I thought when glancing over at Phineas – like me, she'd found the love of her life a little closer to home. I couldn't imagine the thought of not being with him, but I guess a hypothetical version of me who had ended up with Jeremy after all might not be able to imagine being with Phineas (then again, there was no way that would have worked out in real life given the strains my and Jeremy's relationship had been under). I had to hand it to my brother – this really was fascinating material.

And yet, it just wasn't working.

After five minutes of lying down and being anxiously watched without the machine doing anything, or feeling anything more than a growing headache, I sat up and forcefully removed the helmet. "This isn't working out, Phineas" I said stringently. "Maybe we should just wait until Ferb gets back. You always enjoy working together with him, don't you?"

I felt a little bad for pulling that card, but it was necessary in this situation. Phineas sighed and nodded. "Working with Ferb is the best – I just wished we could have worked all this out before he got back" he said. "Well, it's not like we haven't got anything else to do at the office the next few days."

I nodded, pulling my legs over the side of the lab bed. Phineas immediately rushed to hold my arm as I tried to stand up – and he was right to do so, given how dizzy I felt – and I gave him a grateful smile. "What time is it now, anyway?"

Phineas glanced at the clock. "It's past five – too late to get any other important things done. Why don't you get the car, I'll check whether anyone else in the building lost track of the time."

I nodded, still not entirely stable on my feet. My head was pounding. Was this normal? An uneasy chill came up to me but I dismissed it. I was too old to panic over things that didn't require panic. Keeping our relationship secret, taking care of the kids, enjoying my job… those were things that mattered. An after-effect of the mind transmitter wasn't. I carefully shook my head, and to my relief I noticed the fog in my head was clearing up. Not as much as I would have wanted it to, but it'd have to do.

I got up the stairs and through the hallways to exit Flynn-Fletcher Incorporated. There was still some light on in the hallway, and I saw a lone secretary still sitting at the desk. She gave me something that was probably meant to resemble a smile. "See you tomorrow, miss Flynn. Has your brother left the building yet?"

I tried not to automatically grit my teeth. "No, but he should be here shortly. Good night, Kirsty."

I stalked out of the building without saying another word and tried to relax. Seriously, I had thought I'd be over the whole Kirsty Huntingdon thing by now. I tracked down the car in the seemingly endless parking lot and found out that Phineas had somehow already beat me to the punch.

"Are you okay?" he asked me as I shuffled into the driver's seat. "I figured I'd be the one upset because the machine didn't work, but I'm mostly fine while you look like something's bothering you."

I shook my head and pulled the car into gear. "I'm fine. Just… I don't know. Minor stuff. I'd tell you about it if it was important."

Phineas gave me a skeptical look, but he shrugged and leaned back as I drove the car back home. Unlike some other cities Danville was fairly quiet at this time of day, and it made me feel a sense of appreciation for what I had. Home, family, a steady job which I enjoyed and earned me good money – seriously, I shouldn't be overstrain over such minor things. Phineas' arm around my shoulders admittedly helped clear my mind of those worries too. Seriously, Isabella is always talking about how attentive Ferb is, but if she thinks Phineas isn't then she really is underestimating him. Now there's a new thought.

We got home after only about five minutes and headed inside. Xavier was playing a video game, while Amanda was watching the news. They both looked up at our arrival. "How did the experiment go?" Xavier asked eagerly, speaking up even before his father had had a chance to close the door. The curious glint in his eyes made me smile. Our little dork.

The kids are so different and yet they still manage to get along well. Amanda is our eldest – she's thirteen years old now and already showing the first signs of puberty. Although on the surface it looks like she takes after me, there are a lot of issues on which she's actually more like Phineas. Mandy is a lot calmer than I used to be at her age, and she gets really upset when people lie to her. Not just annoyed, but really disturbed, the way Phineas used to get back in the day when someone would break his trust. Amanda is a romantic by nature, something she definitely took from me, and she seems to be a natural at flirting, the source of which… leaves both of us stumped, to be honest. She's creative, not in the same way her brother and father are but she does have some clever non-project-related ideas at times. When she grows up, I think she's going to be something related to gardening. She absolutely loves flowers, which is another trait with a mysterious origin.

As for Xavier… he's almost ten now, and he's a lot like Phineas. They look alike, apart from Xavier's orange hair, and they share the same basic optimistic outlook on life. And yet, anyone calling Xavier a carbon copy of his father would be completely off the mark. He's just too insecure and easily stressed out for that. He doesn't have the same natural overweight around his group of friends as Phineas always seemed to have over ours, but he's a great kid and he always notices when someone is feeling left out or has their feelings hurt. Even now, that's something Phineas tends to trample over, considering that given how happy he is all the time, it's hard for him to understand that others may not be.

But sometimes, despite all differences, it does feel like we're looking at younger versions of ourselves, and now that Xavier was so ecstatic about the mind transmitter Phineas knew it would disappoint him to tell his son what happened, precisely because he would have been the same way as a kid. "We… haven't been able to achieve success yet" he said carefully. "We still might tomorrow, though! There's definitely some potential there."

Amanda looked away from the news channel for a moment. "Your invention didn't work?" she asked. "What happened?"

Phineas and I exchanged glances. "I don't know" I replied. "I was supposed to establish a link with one of my counterparts from another dimension, but all I felt was a killer headache." A headache which was coming back now that I was talking about it, actually, disproving my earlier hopes of it fading away. "Which reminds me, I'd better take some aspirin. Did you guys get dinner?"

"It's on the kitchen counter" Xavier replied. I nodded, and headed to the bathroom.

When you look at the wealth Phineas and Ferb immersed due to their inventions, the fact that we were living in a three-story-house might have struck some people as odd. Nevertheless, this property, located near the heart of Danville and right next to Ferb and Isabella's home, was one we considered quite the catch when Phineas and I first discussed permanent homes, and by now it's the place we've raised our kids and we wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Not to mention the fact that the limited size made running a quick errand easier. I'd hate to live in a place where you would have to search ten minutes just to find the bathroom. Especially in light of my current headache but also because of nightly toilet visits that really sounded like a bad idea.

The aspirin relieved me a bit, and it was with a more upbeat mood that I joined my family at the kitchen table. The fries were already apportioned out across the table (with Xave and Mandy making sure to snatch the best snacks for themselves, as usual) so it wasn't long before we were digging in. Almost immediately, though, I caught Amanda staring at me with a frown on her face. "What?"

"You know, Mom," she said casually, "if we had gone on holiday just like Uncle Ferb and Aunt Isabella, you might have relaxed enough to not have to worry about headaches."

I sighed. "Mandy…"

"A-man-da."

I tried to be a good mother and not roll my eyes, while Phineas took over the honors of talking some sense into our daughter. (He's always been much better at reaching out to her than I have, to be honest.) "You do remember why we can't go on the same kind of holidays as other people, don't you Amanda?" my partner said gently, even though it was clear from his voice alone that he shared our daughter's sense of disappointment.

"I know, I know…" Amanda replied solemnly. "I just don't want to be cooped up in Danville all summer. Not that I don't love this town, but… why can't you invent something that will let us go out on holiday as a family?"

To be honest, it frustrated me a little that although Amanda was of course addressing Phineas, she and her brother were keeping half an eye on me – as was Phineas himself, for that matter. I knew they weren't fully convinced of the risks to our secret relationship a holiday posed, and Phineas especially tended to go along with my wishes just to keep me happy. Which was sweet of course, but I wanted him to realize the dangers himself. I mean, we'd only told our parents a few years ago, for crying out loud, and that had involved a lot of stress and worries about how they would take it already. Random strangers on a cruise ship discovering what we were? There was no way I was going to risk that.

"We could just build a ship ourselves and sail around the world with that" Phineas replied. "There'd be no risks of anyone finding out then – well, apart from satellites, but we run that risk in our own backyard as well. But weren't you the one who insisted that we should get to visit other countries and cultures? In this situation we would still have to stay on the ship all the time, because your mom and I can't exactly be your parents if we're surrounded by tourists who might know me by sight."

"Who undoubtedly will know you by sight" I couldn't help but add. Seriously, even Phineas shouldn't be so modest to think that only a few people would recognize the world's most famous inventor. Even when we were kids he was a local celebrity, and it has only gotten worse since.

Amanda sighed. "I guess so" she muttered. "Maybe going out on a ship with just the four of us would be fun after all. I'd like to practice my diving skills."

"Or we could build a memory gun to make sure anyone who sees you together forgets about it" Xavier mused.

Phineas and I both frowned. "I don't think so" Phineas replied. "We might end up missing some people who recognize us but don't tell us so, and with photographers we'd have to erase their cameras as well. It's just too impractical."

Of course Phineas was going to focus on practicalities, rather than the more obvious ethical aspect of forcibly erasing someone's mind. Sometimes, I wondered whether he really was in touch with the world outside him. And yet, I stuck with him throughout.

I suppose that could be what love is. Annoyance, but never fundamental disagreements. Accepting that Phineas wasn't going to change unless he wanted to change, and that all I could do was encourage him to do so rather than force him. It wasn't always easy to accept that, but it gave me a sense of inner peace and made me see through his problems and through to the brilliant guy that lay underneath.

It worked. Somehow, we made it work.

The rest of the dinner table banter was filled with more conversations about going on a family vacation, about Xavier and Amanda's day at school and (of course) a little about inventing. Sometimes I wondered why I wasn't more annoyed by all the talk about science, when that clearly wasn't my forte. The answer, of course, was simple – regardless of the fact that my main interests lay elsewhere, I was still a Flynn. No matter how hard I'd always tried to bust the boys, it was a part of my genes to be involved in the whole craziness. Even Amanda – who was probably the most level-headed member of the entire family, and the one who was least into achieving the impossible, not that those two things necessarily had the same cause – liked participating in what Xavier and Fred did.

The thought that all this was a family thing warmed my heart for some reason, and it gave me another reason to feel good about myself that day. Perhaps that's just me looking back at it from a distance, but I think that night I just felt at ease with everything. Phineas worked on trying to figure out what could be wrong with his calculations, while I watched a movie with the kids and failed to convince him to come and watch as well. It irked me a little, but I knew how important this was to him and that there would be many such family nights again.

By eleven PM, the movie was over and Mandy (or Amanda, as she herself has insisted ever since she started puberty) and Xavier were on the verge of falling asleep on the couch. No wonder – they had had a particularly long day at school, and although Xavier is always energized by watching a movie since he's such a nerd (I swear, he can recite entire TV show episodes just after two showings and casually points out details others wouldn't spot on a sixth viewing) he got all the more tired when the adrenalin ran out. And yet, they still wanted a goodnight story.

At thirteen and nine, Xavier and Amanda are probably a little old for bedtime stories (not that being a little old or a little young for something has ever stopped anyone in this family before). But Phineas really is a great storyteller. I forgot to mention that earlier, but I think that's another thing Amanda might have picked up from him. Whenever my brother tells a well-known story, often a fairy tale, he always manages to make it funny because of the twists he adds to it and the way he lampshades everything that happens. Most people would take, say, Sleeping Beauty getting that pinprick from the spinning wheel for granted as an element of the story. Phineas gets into entire narratives about why her father didn't try to introduce a better alternative for a spinning wheel, and before we know it he and Xavier have jotted down several project ideas, while he and Amanda have come up with a way to fix the flaws in the original story and pulled into a wholly different direction.

… I realize it doesn't sound like much, but you have to hear it first-hand to appreciate it. I never leave the kids' room at night without a smile on my face, even after a horror story because Phineas is the only one who can tell those in an upbeat way and still make it scary. Storytellers around the world must be yearning for that secret.

The story Phineas told that day was a short one, though, probably inspired by the fact that we were both very, very tired. My partner trudged up the stairs with some of his usual joy de vivre having left him, and I just had to speak to him about it when we got into our night clothes. "You haven't managed to figure out what was wrong with the machine, have you?" I asked sympathetically.

Phineas sat down on his side of the bed, stared at me and shook his head. "I feel like I'm close, but I'm not there yet. It's just so frustrating."

I sat down on my side and reached over to put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I don't figure everything out instantly either, but that doesn't mean I never do. You just have to keep trying and you'll figure it out eventually. Or you won't, and that won't be such a big deal either. Getting to communicate with other dimensions would be cool, but it's not your life's work."

Phineas nodded. "I know, but my motto has always been that everyone can do what he wants to do, and facing the fact that here's something scientific I just can't figure out clashes with that. Your motto, on the other hand, is… I don't know, what would you say drives you in life?"

"A wish to get through the drudgery of everyday existence" I said dryly. "But seriously Phin, it's not a big deal if you won't figure it out. There are some things you've already achieved in your life which are much more important than this."

"Like the fusion reactor?" Phineas guessed. "But that was with Ferb's help…"

"Like Xavier and Amanda" I corrected him. "And, in a different way, me."

Phineas plopped his head down on his pillow. "You have a point there" he muttered. "I never thought as getting to be with you or having kids as accomplishments, but maybe I should."

I smiled, laying down as well. "Of course you should. Don't forget how long it took you to win me over. I was really stubborn and neurotic back in the day."

"You're still stubborn and neurotic now, Candace."

I raised an eyebrow. "And here I was thinking we were going to be nice to each other tonight."

"I am being nice to you. I'm just stating the facts."

I shook my head with a fond smile. "I know. But stop worrying about the mind transmitter, okay? Just be your upbeat self and you'll fall asleep in no time, and tomorrow morning you will know exactly how to fix your problems."

Phineas grinned at me. "You're right, Candace. Tomorrow is a new day, after all." He kissed me on the cheek and lay down on his side. I lay down on my back, glancing at him with a smile on my face. He was right. Tomorrow was a new day.

But what kind of day it would end up being was something I could have never imagined then.