Platyborg had never liked Charline Doofenshmirtz, ever. Not before the takeover, not under the programing,never. She made his fur crawl, even now, under his metal exoskeleton. He'd always simply accepted that he didn't like her, and there was nothing he could do about it. Who'd have thought she'd be capable of this?

He poked around D.E.I., looking for any sign of a hint of a clue where they'd gone.

Doofenshmirtz had, of course, stepped out of line. Not by much, but with Monogram, Candace, and AJ on the board, even a little was too far. They'd slapped him back in jail, and life had gotten simpler again.

Until she poked her head out of the hole she'd been hiding in. He growled, low in his throat. They'd come after him, of course, and his family had been right in the middle of it. He hadn't been able to protect them. He'd been captured. They'd had to come to his rescue.

And scared him practically to death in the process. Ferb-Borg? Seriously, where had that cruel idea come from? As if he didn't suffer from enough nightmares already. Just thinking about it made him freeze up like he had when Charline had introduced her latest…

He gripped his head, willing away the imagined images of either of his boys going through the process necessary to make a cyborg. It didn't happen. It didn't happen! When he was finally able to look up, he realized that he was shaking. Suddenly, where the Doofenshmirtzs were wasn't even fractionally as important as knowing the boys were safe.

He took off, flying straight for home. He landed in the backyard, where they had been playing, until he'd scared them stiff. He swallowed, and took a step back.

They raced over to him. Phineas smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, boy. Everyone's safe."

Ferb patted his head. "You've been overworking yourself."

He accepted the comfort they offered, but they didn't know what they were talking about. No one was safe here. This, this whole dimension was anything but safe. One look at their counterparts would tell anyone that. And as for overworking himself, he hadn't found Doofenshmirtz or his non-divorced wife.

Candace raced in through the gate. She didn't have her bowstaff, but somewhere along the run, she'd managed to obtain a hefty stick, and she looked ready to beat a Normbot to death with it. "Is everything okay?"

He gave her an apologetic chatter. She'd taken the whole thing so well, stepping back into power, then stepping back down once the other agents were back. She only snapped back to her old self at times like these, when their pet platypus flew into the yard like the boys were in danger.

"I think he was just worried about us, Candace."

She studied him, in between twitchy glances over her shoulder. "Is that true?"

He nodded, and she made a visible effort to relax before her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

He had no idea. It wasn't as if he'd discovered they were in danger, or even just had a bad feeling. He shrugged, trying again to rub away the headache that had been nagging him since Vanessa tricked them into letting her parents escape.

Candace didn't seem to need an explanation. He didn't really expect her to. She set the stick down and stepped away from it, fingers twitching like it physically pained her to be unarmed. "Alright then. I guess I'll, go help mom with supper."

Phineas gestured to the project they'd been working on. "Wanna help us, boy?"

He glanced back over his shoulder. They're still out there…

Ferb gave him a gentle nudge. "You'll be able to focus better if you rest a bit."

Well, maybe…

He settled down beside them. It can't hurt to rest a few minutes. It will be worth it if it makes them feel better. Besides, being near them was helping.

The next thing he knew, he was bing gently petted awake. Awake?! His eye shot open, and he leapt to his feet. "It's okay, boy! You just need to come inside now. It's getting dark."

He stared around the yard, now mostly shadows. I fell asleep. When I was supposed to be watching the boys. How had he let that happen?

He followed Phineas inside, where a plate of food waited for him at his place at the table. The boy leaned against the table, and watched him eat. "You've got to start taking it easier. You can't keep us safe all the time."

He nodded in agreement. That's the problem, Phin. I couldn't even protect you when I was right there. How am I supposed to make sure you're safe when I'm not around?

"I'm not sure that nod meant what I hope it meant."

He shrugged, offering a small smile as consolation, and pushed back from the table. Well, thanks for the nap and snack, Phin. I'd better get back out there.

"I was afraid of that." Phineas ran over and blocked the door, as aware of his pet's superior strength as he was of the fact that he'd never hurt him. "You barely slept an hour, and you are not going back out there until you've had a good night's rest. I understand why you want to find them, but pushing yourself to the point of exaustion isn't going to help anybody. What's going to happen to us if you find him, and you're too tired to fight, huh?"

Don't worry about that, Phin, the adrenaline alone would be enough to wake me up. Still… Maybe Phineas was right. His nights had been getting later and later since the Dofenshmirtz family took off. He wasn't all robot, and a good night's sleep curled up at the foot of the boy's beds was sounding nicer by the second. He nodded.

Phineas broke into a smile. "Good!"

Before going to sleep this time, he switched himself to sentry mode. If anyone moved, he'd wake up. Yes, it got a little annoying each time one of the boys rolled over, but he'd put up with a lot worse to make sure they were safe. Besides, it wasn't as if he minded waking up to find everyone snug in bed, and safe, for the moment.

Safe. He was being to doubt there was any such thing. They hadn't been safe when they won. They hadn't been safe while Doofenshmirtz was under house arrest, though there were considerably ahead of where they were now. He gave a sigh, wishing for the thousandth time that nobody had overreacted. Doofenshmirtz had only gotten carried away with a trap that had almost killed him, for crying out loud. Accidents happen, and as far as accidents go, he'd been willing to overlook it. But Aj had been there, and when she pulled up the security footage, she hadn't had to to say a word to convince everyone else that Doofenshmirtz was starting to become a threat again, and, really, he hadn't put up much of a fight. After all, he knew if that trap had caught someone else, he'd be singing a different tune.

Thinking about it isn't going to do any good. Just relax. They're as safe as they can be right now, and that's all you can hope for. He curled up as much as his metal plating would allow, and surrendered to sleep willingly this time.

A/N: I made a few changed to the scene where Candace rushes in, thanks to the advice i1i1wow gave me. Thanks again for that! = )

Anybody else wish they'd turn Tales from the Resistance into a spin-off series? Anyway, until they do, it's back to speculating what happened next. Granted, it took a little work to cram the timeline I came up with into the cannon one, but, just, please bear with me, and ignore the inconsistencies. This is the third story I've written about the Second Dimension, and, obviously, takes place some time after The merge between A Safer Second Dimension?, and the tv episode.

It all starts with Platyborg's Agent Predicament, which I've just entered into a contest on Inkitt. stories/49791 If you liked the story, and wouldn't mind a quick trip over there to give me a vote, I'd be grateful, and um… I'll try to make the following chapters less boring?

Doofenshmirtz: "What? You're bribing them?"

Not exactly! I'm just saying…

Doofenshmritz: "Just saying what? That if they don't vote, you'll make the next chapter boring?"

Of course not! And what are you even doing here? You're not supposed to be in this dimension!

Doofenshmirtz: "Wha'? It just says 'Doofenshmritz'! How do you know which one?"

Because I haven't punched you in the face yet, that's why, Doof.

Doofenshmirtz: … … … … "Good point. So back to the contest, you going to offer any reason why they should vote? Or at least go back and try to muscle through your stories?"

Um, you and Perry are in the Safer Second Dimension?

Doofenshmirtz: "Oh! Well in that case, by all means! Wait… I was never in a second dimension! I'd remember something like that!"

Well… this is obviously just a bad dream then. Go back to sleep.

Sorry about that. Anyway, I've guess I've covered everything except for the disclaimer about how I don't own Phineas and Ferb and Company, in either dimension. The only character I own in AJ (More on her next chapter)

And, as always, thanks for reading!