A/N: Woohoo for long term-stories! I haven't done one in a while. I miss writing them.

Anyway. I'll not explain the plot, as it should explain itself, but suffice to say this was inspired by Across the Second Dimension, and is AU (or AD, haha) in the sense that it doesn't take place in any known dimension, although it's close to the second one.

The first three chapters will be short snippets of Phineas's, Candace's, and Isabella's lives to just let you get a feel for them, as they're the main characters. The first is Phineas (here), the second is Candace and the third will be Isabella. These chapters are a bit short – hopefully from thwn on they'll be a bit longer. From then on it'll basically be just a normal story.

Hm…what else? I'll also be using a bunch of OCs, as the Resistance is pretty big in this one, but only two really get any notice; Ames and Ethan.

Anyway, I guess that's it. ONTO THE STORY! /woosh

Phineas glanced at the digital clock beside his bed. 9:27 PM. Normally she'd be home by 9. He could feel his hands begin to shake with fear, clutching the book hard, imagining all the things he never told her, all the things he wants to, and he was incapacitated with fear until -

"Phineas, I'm home!" He heard Candace shout as she slammed the door to the house shut behind her. He let out a shaky breath he'd forgotten he was holding. As he heard her come up the stairs, he returned to his book, calming his shaking and managing to look bored and disinterested as she stuck her head in his room. It was a difficult feat.

"Phineas, I'm back from Stacey's."

"Hey," Phineas greeted from on top of his bed, not looking up at her from his book.

"Have you eaten today?" she asked him. She sounded like she was smiling, and it sounded forced. But he wouldn't look up from his book to check.

Once upon a time she wouldn't have had to worry about feeding him – mom would have taken care of it or he would have fended for himself. Then again, once upon a time she wouldn't have been at Stacey's at all, too busy trying to bust his brother and him. Now…well, now she was at Stacey's almost always, sneaking over there when she wasn't at work, trying not to be seen by the norm-bots.

"No."

She sighed. "Well, dad's not gonna be home for a few days and mom is…" She trailed off. Who knew where mom was? "Anyway." It was awkward and he could tell Candace was guilty but, for the first time in a while, he didn't want to forgive her. As far as he knew, she was just hanging out at Stacey's to avoid the same suffocating depression the entire home was surrounded with, leaving him alone to bask in it.

"I'm okay."

"Come on, Phineas, you gotta eat."

Phineas sighed and offered, "Soup?"

"Geez. Way to pick something that'll fill you up," Candace said, playfully sarcastic. She sighed softly again when she was once again unable to coax his head to look up from his book at her. "Well, I'll go get started on the soup." She was about to close the door, before she opened it again and added, "And Phineas, you can't stay locked in here all day, ya know. I saw Isabella at…on the way back from Stacey's and she asked why you never come over to hang out anymore. When you do go out I have to practically drag you and then you sulk the whole time, and when I don't have to drag you just disappear."

Phineas didn't reply. He cringed slightly at the mention of Isabella's name, but Candace didn't notice.

"Look, I know it's hard. But it's been three years since Ferb and Perry…disappeared, four years since Doofensmirtz took over…and you've gotta move on and make the best of it instead of ignoring your friends," – he cringed again – "ignoring me," – and again—"and just giving up on life in general!"

Phineas' hands clenched the book so tightly his knuckles were turning white. He could tell she was going to yell at him again, but she must have noticed he was shaking and her words stopped.

"Sorry."

"Candace…"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Phineas, but I mean what I said. You can't wallow in self-pity forever, and the brother I knew would never allow himself too, either."

Before he could reply she snuck out, shutting the door behind her. He listened to her walking down the hall and down the stairs, and then groaned audibly to himself. "She doesn't get it…" he grumbled, running his fingers through his medium-long, spiky mess of red hair. Then again, it wasn't her fault she didn't get it – he didn't tell her anything. He didn't tell her that he was currently doing his damndest to keep her alive. He set the book down, rolling over to look out the window at Isabella's house. He sighed, thinking about what Candace had told him. So she missed him. He missed all of his friends, especially her, but all of them. But…the way things were now…just talking to someone else was dangerous for him, for them. Speaking to Candace the minimal amount he did was a burden he despised. Not that he didn't love his sister and really want to talk to her, to hug her, to show how much he cared for her, but he couldn't. Acting close to anyone…it would get those important people snatched from his life.

Just like Ferb.

Phineas gave another groan, this time a bit closer to a growl at the thought of his name. Ferb had disappeared only a few months after Doofensmirtz took over, Perry disappearing with him. Ferb and Perry had been gone for so long…he didn't let himself believe either to be dead, because then he'd go stark raving mad, but even so…he couldn't handle someone else leaving his life. Couldn't handle another friend being snatched from him because of that awful Doofensmirtz.

So he'd have to play it cool. So far, Doofensmirtz didn't seem to realize that he and Isabella were close…heck, that he was close to anyone. It was solely Candace he was threatening, and he'd like to keep that number small. It was bad enough working for him to keep her alive, but having more lives hanging over his head…the thought was unbearable.

He rolled out of bed and walked to his desk. With a pull of a string the small lamp on the desk lit up to life, bathing the corner of his room in a dull, dirty light. He pushed several books aside, finding a small folder. He opened it and rifled through the blueprints inside, finding the one he needed and pulling it out. Setting it on the table, he spread and smoothed it with his hands.

A buzz on his wrist alerted him to another. He sighed, and said, "Hm?"

"How are my new blueprints coming?" The watch replied. Phineas hated that voice. Annoying, first of all, but it also seemed so darn happy. It would have been merely irritating, if it wasn't for the fact that the voice belonged to the man threatening to kill his sister.

Phineas absently drew on the blueprints, adding improvements to the robot's design. "Fine…sir." He absolutely hated calling him that. Not that there was much he could do about it. Still, it made his teeth clench in anger. "I'll have them done by tonight."

"Perfect. I'll send my norm-bot to pick up later. Ta-ta!" he called, a static-like sound announcing that he was done speaking to him, and the line went dead. That was fine with Phineas. He didn't want to talk to Doofensmirtz any more than absolutely necessary.

"Phineas~!" he heard Candace's muffled call from downstairs. "Soup's on!"

"Haha, real funny, sis," he said to himself with a humorless laugh as he finished up the blueprints, folding them and placing them in a small lidless water bottle hanging by his open window, where the norm-bot would know to find them. It always came late at night, where no one was likely to see it. He'd even had an invisible one come, once or twice. "Coming, Candace!" he yelled as he left his room and walked down the stairs.

Outside, the rain pelted against the roof and, across the street, he heard a familiar voice let out a sob.

Just another night.