-Bzzzzz-

Perry was momentarily disoriented as he woke with a start, but he quickly reached forward to silence his communicator before the noise could bother the sleeping boy with whom he was currently cuddling. It was a cold January night, and Perry pulled the covers up carefully around the child's shoulders before sneaking out of bed. Why did these late night calls always interrupt his quality time with Ferb? Perry stopped in the doorway to give his boys one last glance before exiting the room and heading down the stairs to find a quiet entrance to his lair.

Keeping an eye open for signs of the teenage girl who sometimes raided the fridge in the dark of night, Perry slipped into the living room. He found an entrance inside a potted plant and was soon sliding toward his underground base.

Perry wondered what kind of mission Monogram had for him this time. Late night calls were very rarely related to Heinz Doofenshmirtz. The scientist might toss and turn all night, but he usually at least tried to get to bed at a decent hour. He was even less likely to try a late night scheme when Vanessa was staying with him.

Vanessa would normally be with her mother on a Sunday night. However, Charlene had gotten remarried on Saturday and was on a three week honeymoon. While Sam and Charlene Helms were on their Jamaican cruise, the teen would be staying with her father. Though Charlene's remarriage had put Heinz in a bit of a funk, he was overjoyed to spend three uninterrupted weeks with his little girl.

"It looks like I'll get more than one school night after all!" Heinz had proclaimed when he told Perry the news. The scientist had then quickly reassured the platypus that he had been extremely helpful on that November evening, and that making the first school night memorable was just as important.

Perry was looking forward to having three weeks of lighter schemes to foil. He hoped this new mission wouldn't mess with his plans.

Perry landed in his chair with a thud and turned his attention to the screen. A tired Carl was looking down at the Agent, and Perry had to hide his surprise that the Major wasn't standing there with him. It was peculiar for the young intern to call on his own.

"Oh there you are, Agent P!" the redhead's voice broke a bit. "At 11:49 PM, the OWCA received a distress signal. Major Monogram had already gone home for the evening, and I was about to clock out. We're lucky to have intercepted the message."

A Distress Signal? Perry wished the Intern would skip the back story and get to the heart of the message.

"Well, I guess it wasn't so much "intercepting a distress signal" as it was "receiving a distressed phone call". Still though, there was distress! But she refuses to speak with anyone but you. I had to call Major Monogram's house and wake him up to receive the clearance to deliver the message."

Good grief. Perry had no idea who would be calling the Agency to request his help in the middle of the night, but he still resented all the red tape. It was now 12:30 AM; the distressed lady had been waiting almost an hour before the mission briefing had even began. Perry chattered to speed the process. He hoped to be back in Ferb's bed by the time the children got up to go to school.

"Alright, Agent P. We just need to reset the connection. Miss Doofenshmirtz should be on the line shortly."

Miss Doofenshmirtz? But why would Vanessa...

There was a click, and then a familiar voice came from a speaker to his left.

"Hello? Perry the Platypus? Perry, are you there?" The monotreme could hear the tension and worry in her voice. He chattered.

"Oh, Perry! I thought they would never get you!" The girl paused and took a deep breath. "I didn't know if calling you would be the right thing to do, and I was beginning to really regret it. I didn't want to bother you, but I thought you might want to know. I don't know if I can do this alone!"

She was rambling enough to put Heinz to shame; obviously something terrible had happened. Perry chattered gently to calm her and pull her on track.

"Perry, something happened to Dad. I don't know what's wrong with him! He was fine when I went to bed! He said he wanted to stay up a little while to work on a few traps. When I got up later to get a drink I noticed he hadn't come back from the lab and I went to check on him. I... I found him lying on the floor. I don't know if he had a heart attack or if something went wrong with an -Inator or what, the EMT's and doctors won't tell me anything!"

Perry's mind was numb. Now more than ever Perry wished he could speak. He couldn't express the emotions he wanted to convey to the poor child with a chatter over a phone line. She couldn't even see him to read his body language.

Perry chattered anyway. He figured Vanessa needed to hear something.

Vanessa chocked back a sob and almost whispered, "How could this happen, Perry? Dad's a resilient guy! He blows up all the time! I never thought anything could really hurt him."

Silence. Even if Perry could talk, he wouldn't know what to say. Aside from those few times when the monotreme had been forced to step in and save the scientist from some unintentional effect of a scheme, Perry had always viewed Heinz's longevity the same way Vanessa did. Heinz was a tenacious man with villain-immunity. Perry had always expected Heinz to outlive him by at least thirty years.

"I called Mom, but even if she and Sam get off the cruise and catch the soonest flight they can't be here until late tomorrow. Uncle Roger is out of town at some conference, and Oma Doofenshmirtz said she might stop by to visit tomorrow if she has the time."

"I'm scared, Perry. I'm all alone here. Well, I wish I was alone. Norm is here, but he's making it worse. The doctors won't tell me anything. I've been sitting alone in this room for over an hour, and I think I'm losing my mind!"

Perry chattered at the girl. He had decided the moment she mentioned Heinz was in the hospital that he wanted to go wait with her. Now was the time to find where she was so that they could speak in person.

"Oh, are you coming?" Perry chattered in the affirmative.

"We're in Tri-State Regional Hospital. I'm in a private room by the ER."

Perry nodded, then remembered that Vanessa couldn't see him and chattered again. The teen thanked him before ending the call.

"Agent P?" Perry had forgotten that Carl was still there. "Don't worry about your family, Agent P. If you aren't back by morning I can rig the 'Perry' robot to take your place. They aren't likely to notice if they're busy getting ready for school."

Perry nodded his head in thanks before turning and climbing into his hover-car. Normally the idea of using a robot to fool his boys would be abhorrent to Perry, but this was an emergency. Making sure Heinz and Vanessa were okay was more important than one ordinary school morning with the Flynn-Fletchers.

There were two hospitals in Danville: Tri-State Union and Tri-State Regional. Union was famous for it's modern environment, friendly staff, and world-renown physicians. Perry knew that both Candace and Phineas had been born there, and Phineas had had his appendix removed there as well. Regional, on the other hand, was in an older building in need of repair. This hospital was known for the rudeness of it's staff, the long waits for attention, and for the occasional mistakes made in diagnosing problems and prescribing the correct medication.

Of course the ambulance would take Heinz to Regional.

Alone in his hover car, Perry was forced to sort through his many emotions. First was worry. Heinz might be his nemesis, but he was also Perry's closest friend. If Perry had been told three years ago that the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz would become something of a companion or comrade in addition to respected adversary, he would not have believed it for one minute. But feelings change over time, and the friendship of Heinz Doofenshmirtz was something of an acquired taste. Perry wasn't sure how he would cope without the friend who made him feel like a proper human being.

He was also worried for Vanessa. Waiting for news and suffering through the uncertainty of any emergency was excruciating. No sixteen year old child should have to face it alone.

Perry also felt angry. Some of his anger was an irrational hatred of the situation, but he was also angry at the majority of the Doofenshmirtz family. Heinz's mother bore the brunt of Perry's rage. Her neglect was inexcusable, and the platypus couldn't understand her lack of feelings for her oldest child. Even if she was apathetic to Heinz's needs, she should have gone to the hospital to support her granddaughter.

Then came Roger and Charlene. It made sense that neither could be there right away; both were out of town and would have to cancel plans. But Vanessa had made it sound like her uncle had chosen to stay for the remainder of the conference, and that there was the possibility Charlene wouldn't catch the soonest flight.

Perry's family might see him as a pet, but they genuinely loved him.

This led back to Perry's confusion and uncertainty. The concerns about Heinz's welfare. The doubts about the medical staff's ineptitude. His insecurities about the workings of the Universe, and why things happened when they did. As his hover-car made the long trek to the hospital on the far side of town, Perry found himself wondering what could have gone wrong.