I do not own Phineas and Ferb.

The Attack

Phineas pressed both hands against his suitcase, dark blue eyes narrowed in concentration. But no matter how hard he shoved or grunted, the lid would not close. Ferb glanced up from his own packing to watch as his stepbrother climbed onto his raft bed. Phineas body-slammed the suitcase, but it only resulted in a bruised elbow. "Ow..."

Ferb wandered over and pushed up the lid of the suitcase. There were more tools and sketchpads than there were clothes. "A blowtorch?" Ferb asked in amusement, glancing up at Phineas.

The redhead grinned as he rubbed his sore elbow. "Yeah! What if we get struck by inspiration and don't have the proper tools?"

"I'm sure they have blowtorches in Paris," Ferb said with a grin.

"Well, I like my blowtorch," Phineas muttered. "Now help me get this lid closed!"

With the weight of two bodies, the lid finally closed. Phineas reached out and pulled the zipper all the way around. The suitcase looked like it would burst at any moment, but it was secure for now. The two boys dragged their suitcases out of their rooms and down the hall. Candace was already sitting outside in the early morning sunlight, her large pink suitcases by her white-sandaled feet.

"It's about time!" she muttered. Although she was excited to go to Paris for their family vacation, she was still rather cranky that they had to get up so early.

"Phineas was having trouble picking which outfits to take with him," Ferb deadpanned. Phineas punched his shoulder and Candace rolled her eyes.

"I can't wait to go to Paris," she sighed dreamily. Although she had already been there once before, the visit had been too brief to really enjoy the beauty of Paris. She knew she would spend the majority of the trip dreaming about Jeremy and how romantic it would be if he could come with them.

"Well, kids, are we all ready to go?" Lawrence asked cheerfully as he helped his wife shove the assorted suitcases into the trunk.

"You bet, Dad!" Phineas smiled.

"Candace, are you sure you need two suitcases?" Linda asked as she tried to fit Candace's last remaining suitcase into the car. When Candace opened her mouth to protest, Linda quickly decided that the whining that was sure to come was not worth it. "Never mind."

The trunk slammed shut and Lawrence clapped his hands. "Lights off?"

Phineas quickly scanned the windows. The house was dark. "Lights off!"

"Oven and electrical appliances unplugged?"

Linda nodded her head. "Yes, dear."

"Garage door shut?"

Ferb flashed a thumbs up.

"Doors locked?"

Candace sighed impatiently. "Yes, yes! Can we go now? We're gonna miss out flight!"

"Wait!" Phineas cried. "We need to wait for-"

"Good morning, Flynn-Fletcher family!"

Baljeet came up the driveway, looking rather upbeat considering it was almost six in the morning. Linda smiled warmly at him. "Good morning, Baljeet. I want to thank you for looking after Perry for the week while we're off on our vacation. It's too bad that the hotel doesn't accept pets."

"And Perry doesn't like kennels," Phineas added. He picked up a bag of platypus supplies that he had prepared for Baljeet and handed it to him.

"Are you sure he will be all right staying with me for such a long time?" Baljeet questioned.

"Oh, sure! I'm sorry Isabella can't help you watch him, but she had her Fireside Girls camping trip."

"I am sure he will be no trouble at all." Baljeet glanced around the dew-covered lawn. "Where is the little guy?"

As if on cue, Perry waddled out of his little platypus door and chattered. Phineas bent down and hugged him tightly. "Aw, we're gonna miss you, buddy. But don't worry, we'll be back before you know it, and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with Baljeet!"

Candace scratched his back. "See you later, you little meat brick."

Perry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and chattered, rubbing his head against her hand affectionately. Ferb hugged him before handing him to Baljeet.

"Do not worry. I will not take my eyes off of him!" Baljeet promised.

"I know you'll take good care of him. We trust you, Baljeet."

"Have fun, Perry. Be good for Baljeet, you hear?" Lawrence patted Perry on the head before getting into the car. Phineas and Ferb waved at the duo standing at the end of their driveway. Baljeet made Perry wave back until the car was out of sight.

"We will have lots of fun, Perry!" Baljeet said cheerfully as he slung the bag over his shoulder and cradled Perry in his arms.

Perry managed not to sigh. He liked Baljeet well enough, even if he was a bit of a wet blanket at times. He was already missing his owners, and he already knew it was going to be a problem sneaking off to go on his missions. Baljeet had watched him once before and he really did mean it when he said he wouldn't take his eyes off of him.

"I am back, Mother!" Baljeet called as he nudged open his front door.

"Hello, Baljeet," his mother greeted as she shrugged on her coat. "I'm off to work. Be good today and don't forget to do the recycling for me."

Baljeet made a noise of confirmation and he jogged up the wooden stairs. He entered his bedroom, which was almost impossibly neat. The posters on his wall (science diagrams and math equations) were perfectly hung and evenly spaced apart. His bed was neatly made and Perry was sure there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere.

A bunch of old blankets were in the corner of the room, arranged to look like a small pet bed. Surrounding the small bed were newspapers. Baljeet set Perry down in his makeshift living quarters and opened up the bag Phineas had given him.

"Let us see...here are your food bowls, Perry." Baljeet placed the glass pet dishes in front of the blankets. "I suppose you are hungry, so here is your breakfast!"

He dug out a container of platypus food and dumped it into one of the bowls. Perry, who was kind of hungry, ate it gratefully. Baljeet sprawled out on his carpeted floor and watched him intently. Perry tried to ignore the genius, but the staring was getting unnerving.

The door to Baljeet's room slammed open, and instinct nearly took over the agent platypus. Baljeet yelped and scrambled up.

The burly form of Buford stepped through the doorway. "You scream like a girl, Jeet."

The Indian preteen placed a hand over his pounding heart. "Buford! You scared me. What are you doing here?"

Buford shrugged. "Everyone else is gone, and I was bored, so I thought I could see how far up the flagpole you'll go."

Baljeet hastily stepped back from his frenemy. "As appealing as that sounds, I am afraid that I am busy watching Perry for Phineas and Ferb."

"The ducky thing will be fine for a few hours alone," Buford said dismissively.

Perry chattered in irritation. Baljeet crossed his arms and frowned. "Buford, Perry is a platypus."

Ignoring his nerd, Buford grabbed Baljeet by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of his pristine bedroom. Baljeet yelped as he was pulled ungracefully down the hallway and down the stairs. Perry waited until his pained shouts disappeared before checking his watch. Surprisingly, Major Monogram had not called him in for his daily mission. Taking advantage of the quietness, he curled up in his makeshift bed and fell asleep.

...

"Buford! You can let me go now!" Baljeet snapped. The bully dropped him to the wet grass and Baljeet rubbed his sore behind. "But what about Perry?"

"He always shows up by the end of the day," Buford pointed out. "You're worrying about nothing, nerd. Now can we go?"

"Are you really going to put me up the flagpole?" Baljeet asked suspiciously, although he wondered if Buford would really tell him the truth.

"Meh, we'll see how I feel later on."

Figuring that was as much of an assurance as he was going to get, Baljeet sighed heavily and nodded. "We have to be back by noon so I can give Perry his lunch."

The two were about to set off when a glint caught Baljeet's eye. He paused and squinted into the distance, staring at the sparkle as it came closer. His eyes tripled in size as two large robots flew rapidly towards them. "What are they?"

Buford gaped. "Uh...a last minute creation by Phineas and Ferb?"

Baljeet seriously doubted this and cowered behind the bully as the mechanical contraptions approached his house. Their red eyes glowed dimly, their mechanical humming filling the silence. The two robots hovered in the middle of Baljeet's lawn, doing nothing.

Buford was about to approach the contraptions when one of them suddenly slammed through Baljeet's window. Baljeet screamed in shock and both boys ducked to avoid the raining glass shards. As much as he desperately wanted to run in terror, the knowledge that Perry was still inside caused Baljeet to summon his lingering shreds of courage and bolt into the house with Buford hot on his heels.

He charged into his bedroom just in time to see the robot scooping up a startled Perry. Baljeet lunged and wrapped his arms tightly around the platypus, holding on for dear life. Buford grabbed the lamp resting on Baljeet's computer desk and slammed it over the robot's head. The mechanical claws clutching Perry immediately retracted and the red eyes lit up in rage.

The second robot reached out for Baljeet. Buford jumped in front of the Indian preteen and was quickly wrapped up in steel tentacles. "Get out of here!" Buford roared, struggling furiously against his bindings.

Filled with fear and horror, Baljeet shook but complied. Holding Perry close, he raced down the stairs and out of his house, desperately wondering where he could go for help.

Perry was twisting madly in Baljeet's arms. Come on, kid, let me go! You don't stand a chance against those rust buckets, and neither does that wall of meat!

The agent didn't doubt for a second that the robots were after him. He didn't know who sent them or why, but all he knew was that he needed to rescue Buford and destroy the robots.

The first robot zoomed after them, metal claws reaching out threateningly. Baljeet ran as fast as he could, but he no match for a furious robot. The claw latched around his waist and Baljeet immediately let Perry go. "Go, Perry! Save yourself!"

A laser emerged from the robots silver head. Perry raced off, dodging the bright red beams fired at him. With a cry of fear, Baljeet was lugged off into the sky.

Perry slowly peered around the tree he had taken cover behind. The robot was now nothing more than a speck in the distance. Eyes narrowed, the agent immediately put on his fedora and pressed a button on his watch.

Monogram's face flashed across the tiny screen. "Agent P? What's wrong?"

Through various chatters, gestures, and a couple of pictures borrowed from Baljeet's destroyed bedroom, Major Monogram was filled in. "Great Googly Moogly! Well Agent P, if those robots were after you, then the person who deployed them must be familiar with you."

Perry knew instantly he was not referring to Doofenshmirtz. As evil as the man tried to be, kidnapping two eleven-year-old boys was not his style. Perry had a hunch that it might be someone from L.O.V.E. M.U.F.F.I.N trying to eliminate him.

"I'll get Carl to do a thorough scan of the area, and we'll see if we can figure out how they discovered your location. Agent P, I feel the need to remind you what will happen if you reveal your identity to those two boys."

Perry froze. If his secret was exposed, he would be removed from the Flynn-Fletcher family. But right now, he could not think of another way to rescue Buford and Baljeet without revealing himself or the O.W.C.A., and he was not going to let the two fend for themselves.

They had risked their lives to save a platypus. Perry was going to return the favor.

If he could help it, Phineas and Ferb would still have two of their best friends when they arrived back home.