Summary: Ferb seems a bit too cool, too collected, too knowing of what was going to happen before it does. What if Ferb had come from a future where things didn't turn out that well? Doesn't matter, Ferb is back to save the universe. Will he succeed? Or fail?

Disclaimer: I don't own Phineas and Ferb... I do own my memories of the series though! Hah!

Word Count: 1080

Date Added: May 28, 2012

COLLECTED
Chapter 1:

"Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!" A boy with a triangular head and fire red hair shouted in inspiration. "Where's Perry?" He said after a moment of looking around the spacious back yard.

Ferb, a boy with emerald green hair, put down the book he was reading with a silent sigh, The Bounds of Sense written clearly on the spine in black ink. He could quite easily tell his stepbrother where their semi aquatic pet had gone -where he went every day in fact- but decided not to, just like every previous day. Phineas couldn't know just yet.

Ferb got up, brushed off any grass from his purple shorts, and started helping Phineas with whatever the plan was that day.

A water park.

Blimey, a water park that twists throughout the Tri-State Area! And it disappeared (just like almost every other contraption they had made) just before mom could see it. This monotony was tap dancing on his nerves.

All the kids were soaking wet, including himself. He's going to have to take another shower before he goes to sleep; he could practically feel the bacteria colonizing on his skin.

A platypus walked up, chattering with his eyes askew. "Oh, there you are Perry!" Phineas said just like every other day.

A hot shower.

Ferb rolls over in his bed, unable to fall asleep like Phineas had on the other bed, holding Perry tightly. He stared at the wall, thinking about his life, about how selfish and bratty he was the first time, how it had fallen around his ears right when things were finally looking up. It had been his fault, and he was determined to fix it.

No matter how long it took.

Tomorrow, they would be working on the coldfusion project only to start working on fashion design instead.

Ferb got out of bed to work on the computer. He'd have to finish the order forms so Phineas could get the deliveries the next day.

Oh, the life of a time traveler.

In his first life, Ferb was just as expressive as Phineas, maybe more so because he expressed his judgments with no reserve. He also had an excellent memory, some have even called it eidetic, but he was clumsy- almost impossibly so, it still didn't stop him from helping his brother make the ingenious creations during the many summers. He didn't have any friends, and was mostly known as "Phineas' brother." He didn't believe the other children even knew his nickname, not to mention his first name. Either way, it hadn't mattered; Ferb didn't care. He took the first chance to leave, and didn't return for years.

Eight years to be exact, and Ferb returned a little after he had turned twenty-five. He had changed drastically, but war usually did that to people.

He has calm, quiet, and his dexterous hands were so different from when he was a child. He was unperturbed, even when the whole world was taken over.

Cute, disastrous aliens fell from the sky, armies of robots flooded through a rift in dimensions. Earth was fighting on two fronts, and lost.

Ferb had loved a woman with silky brown hair, Vanessa. It was only after he had lost her to a stray beam of deadly cuteness from an alien that he went to his brother for help.

"Please, Phineas!" Ferb was down on his knees, his long shaggy hair tied back had slipped over his shoulder. It was the most emotion he had shown publicly in a long time, his eyes had dark rings around them, and battle scars littered his leathery skin. He knew he was making a scene in the laboratory tent, but he didn't care.

"Why should I?" Phineas yelled back, his red hair seemed to move like fire. His right arm was replaced with a metallic replica, and his clothes were dirty with grime. "This could just as easily fail to work and destroy the fabric of reality! Nothing would exist anymore!"

"Because you're the only one that can! Vanessa- my Vanessa is gone! Please, I haven't asked you for anything in my entire life! Do me this one favor!" Ferb looked desperately into his step-brother's cold blue eyes.

Phineas stared at him intensely before he deflated. "Fine." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I hope you know what you're doing, Ferb."

It was only a matter of time before their project was complete. It was surprising how well they worked together. Ferb had thought it would have taken longer. The time spent together would hould have even been fun if it wasn't for the circumstances.

"I guess I'll go now." Ferb said with a hint of sadness, laying on a metallic table. He knew that just by going back in time, everything he knew as his present would no longer exist. Would it be worth it?

"Okay." Phineas said awkwardly. He poked his head out of the regulation tent carefully. "Where's Gretchen? She should be here by now." An explosion went off in the distance, and his metallic arm started flashing. Phineas started cursing. He rushed around the equipment. "Sorry Ferb, bad news. They've found us, and Gretchen isn't coming." Phineas ran around the computers, his hair imitating fire once again as it trailed after him. He came back with a small gun in his hand. "She had the anesthetic, which means you're going to have to do this conscious." Phineas pressed the gun to Ferb's sternum. "Remember, we don't know when you'll end up, so be careful." He pulled the trigger, and Ferb disappeared without a trace. The rumbles and explosions were getting closer. Phineas got ready for the battle as quickly as possible. He hoped he had done the right thing.

Ferb felt the injection meld with his bone in a chilling blaze. Then it spread through the rest of his body. It hurt, but it didn't at the same time. The feeling was so disconcerting, yet soothing. Then he was in the hospital in front of a baby's cradle. A tuft of green hair stuck out from the folded bundle. Ferb held out a hand, moved the cloth out of the way, and brushed his fingertips gently against the baby's cheek. He felt a pulling sensation in his mind, and didn't resist. The next thing he knew, he was looking up at the ceiling in relief before falling into peaceful slumber, the cloth comfortably wrapped around him.

((A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter enough to review! This is SariauChan signing off!))