Danville International Airport was bustling with activity. Between people rushing to the security checkpoint, people getting upset over waiting in long lines, people trying to calm or soothe young children who were terminally bored, and people waiting eagerly to pick up someone who was arriving, it made for a crowd that would have been daunting to the average person to weave through. Gretchen, on the other hand, was anything but average. Her combination of above-average intellect, below-average height, and all her Fireside Girl training meant she was able to maneuver through the busy terminal with relative ease. She spotted Phineas and Ferb waiting near the security checkpoint and quickly made her way over to them.

"Hey guys," she said upon reaching them. She collapsed the arm of her rolling suitcase and stood it upright next to her. "How long have you been here?"

"About a half hour," Phineas replied. "You're packed awfully light, Gretchen. You sure that's enough stuff?"

"I've got pretty good packing skills thanks to some tips I got from Ginger," she replied proudly. She then noticed Ferb only had a backpack with him. "But I'm not packed as lightly as Ferb, it seems."

Phineas laughed a bit. "Yeah, Ferb has mad folding skills. You should've seen his map when we flew around the world that day."

Gretchen merely nodded and then looked around a bit. "So, where's Isabella?"

"Not here yet," Phineas noted. "I hope she gets here soon, we need to get through security still."

"By the way…" Ferb added, looking over at Phineas.

Phineas sighed in disgust. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You won the bet."

Gretchen cocked an eyebrow at the brothers. "What bet?"

"Ferb and I put bets on who'd show up last," Phineas explained. "He said it'd be Isabella. I said I thought you'd be last. Now I gotta buy everyone ice cream once we're through security."

Gretchen giggled at Phineas' predicament. "Don't worry, I won't make you go broke. Isabella on the other hand…"

"Someone talking about me," Isabella asked as she finally reached the group. "Hey guys, whatcha doin'?"

"Uh, at the moment, checking out the monolith of a suitcase you've got with you," Phineas said, staring in awe at the size of the suitcase Isabella had with her. It was as tall as she was and probably outweighed her by at least ten pounds. "You do know we're only there through the weekend, right?"

Isabellla nodded and patted the suitcase. "Yup. I figure this should be just enough. As a Fireside Girl troop leader, I have to always be prepared."

Phineas and Ferb both blinked, then looked from Isabella's monstrous suitcase to Gretchen's fairly tiny by comparison bag, and then back to Isabella's. Then they looked at Gretchen as if they were asking for confirmation.

"This is why she's troop leader and I'm just her second-in-command," Gretchen told them.

As fortune would have it, everyone had electronic tickets for the flight so getting their bags checked didn't take terribly long. On the other hand, once they were all set they faced an incredibly long line for security.

"Guess we'd better get used to standing around," Phineas lamented. "This is the one part about travelling I could do without."

"You do know we don't have to wait, right," Isabella asked him.

Phineas looked at her completely puzzled. "Uh, I'm pretty sure we do."

Isabella shook her head. "Follow me. Gretchen, you have your credentials, right?"

"Of course," Gretchen replied.

Phineas and Ferb traded mystified looks and followed the two girls over towards a TSA agent, who was poised to tell them to get back in line. Isabella and Gretchen both produced their Fireside Girl badges and sashes.

"Troop Leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46231," Isabella told him quickly. "This is my second-in-command. We're travelling internationally today with these two boys. I personally vouch for them both; they present no danger to the flight and are not transporting any questionable materials."

"One moment while I verify your badge numbers," the agent said. He took the girls' badges and did some checking on his computer. Moments later, he handed the badges back to them and saluted them, which they both returned in kind. "Everything is in order, Troop 46231 Leader. You and your party may pass through. Have a safe flight."

Isabella thanked him and led the group to a separate path through the checkpoint where they went untouched and without waiting. Once through, Phineas quickly caught up to Isabella, full of curiosity.

"Okay, how'd you pull that off," he asked.

"All Fireside Girls are automatically white-listed at all TSA checkpoints," Isabella explained. "And Troop Leaders are allowed to vouch for up to four civilians."

"I gotta say, I'm pretty amazed. Ferb and I have travelled to England a number of times, but we don't get to get through security that fast."

Isabella chuckled and walked ahead of him again. "There's a lot more perks to being a Fireside Girl than just the cute uniforms."

Ferb looked curiously at Gretchen, who simply nodded to him. "You should see our digs for the Jamboree when it comes around."

Ferb suddenly recalled Baljeet's curiosity one time regarding if there were Fireside Boys as well, but he refrained from asking a question to which he already knew the likely answer.

With the announcement of their reaching cruising altitude, Gretchen loosened her seat belt a bit and reached for the novel she'd stored in the seat pocket in front of her. She took a moment to look out her window at the pillow-like clouds passing underneath them as they flew and bid good-bye to the Tri-State Area for a while.

"Care for some company," Ferb asked, causing her to startle a bit. He stood in the aisle next to her row. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright," she replied, catching her breath. "I got a bit too captivated with watching the world go by. There's no one sitting next to me, so you're welcome, but…don't you want to be with your brother?"

"You mean Snoring McHonkshoo? I daresay he'll be much for conversation for the next several hours."

Gretchen strained her ears to listen and, sure enough, two rows in front of her she heard Phineas snoring away in his seat; presumably with a fairly irritated Isabella right next to him.

"But you guys flew around the world chasing the sun and he didn't fall asleep," she noted as Ferb sat down next to her.

"That's because he was doing the flying. When he doesn't have anything to do on a flight, he passes right out. Guaranteed he won't wake up until we're on the ground again."

"Isabella must be beside herself."

"Quite the contrary, he seems to have gotten rather comfortable resting his head on her shoulder."

"Ah. Say no more, then."

Ferb smirked and then noticed the book still in Gretchen's hands. "I'm not keeping you from your book, am I?"

"Huh," Gretchen replied, suddenly remembering that she was holding a book at all. "Oh, this. I just picked it up from the newsstand for something to do, but I'd much rather talk. Though I have to admit, I'm kinda surprised by your talkativeness, Ferb."

"How come?"

"You are, as Phineas puts it, more of a man of action after all. The last couple of days is the most I've ever heard you talk."

Ferb shrugged and settled into the seat some more. "I talk when there's something worth saying or when I feel like it. I'm not like Phineas who, at times, seems to almost love hearing himself talk as much as he loves inventing things."

"I can definitely appreciate that. The Fireside Girls Lodge can get pretty noisy sometimes with all the girl chatter. I do my best while there not to pollute the air with yet more noise. Unfortunately, it's given me the image of being the quiet, nerdy girl."

"There's nothing wrong with being quiet or nerdy, at least in my book. After all, everything we've accomplished this summer has been thanks largely in part to those who are quiet and/or nerdy. Besides, you are a rather accomplished Fireside Girl yourself, right? That rather speaks against you being just another bookworm."

"I hadn't thought about it like that. You do have a point. It's just hard to see sometimes when I have girls like Isabella or Adyson to compare myself to."

"Speaking of which, do you mind a question about the Fireside Girls?"

"So long as it doesn't touch on something for which I'd have to kill you after divulging the information regarding, sure."

Given Gretchen's humor-free response, Ferb didn't know if she was actually joking or not. He decided it was best to not tempt fate and simply went on with his question.

"I must admit, I was actually a bit surprised to find out you're Isabella's second. Is that really your position with the troop?"

"Heh, I get that reaction a lot. But yeah, I am second-in-command. You probably thought it was Adyson, didn't you?"

"She does seem the type."

Gretchen smirked at him. "You wouldn't say that if you knew 'A. P. Sweetwater' better."

"A. P. Sweetwater?"

"Those are her initials. They actually stand for Adyson Priscilla, though the in-joke with us is that they actually mean Accident Prone. We tease her with that 'A.P.' nickname whenever she starts acting a little too big for her britches. She's actually a massive klutz."

"Really?"

"Remember the biodome?"

"Oh. Yes, I do. I suppose that explains that then."

"No no, you don't understand. That was a good day for her."

"Oh my."

"Yeah. Most of the first aid patches we all have are for giving her treatment. At this point I'm wondering if we'll have a chance to go for our M.A.S.H. patches yet this summer."

Ferb couldn't help but lightly chuckle as the image of the Fireside Girls setting up a makeshift operating room to remove Adyson's tonsils passed through his imagination.

"Should it ever come to that, I would hope for Adyson's sake you'd get to be 'Hawkeye' then," he said, still stifling his laughter.

Gretchen quickly picked up the reference and decided to play along. "Oh, so I'm not good-looking enough to be 'Hot Lips'?"

Ferb knew just how to get out of that trap. "You're far too smart and capable for that role, Gretchen. Plus you'd make a terrible blonde. I prefer brunettes anyway."

"R-really…" Ferb's admission caught her completely off-guard, and she found herself blushing as she absently brushed some of her hair back behind her ear.

Seeing Gretchen's reaction, Ferb suddenly found himself blushing as well. "I'm sorry, Gretchen, I didn't mean to embarrass you or-"

Gretchen quickly shook her head at him. "No, not at all. Really. Just because I have brown hair and all doesn't mean…I mean, there's so many other girls who have the same kind of hair and are far prettier than me…what I mean to say is you could've easily just picked some other prettier girl with brown hair…"

"Gretchen," Ferb said her name firmly, getting her attention and stopping her from verbally spinning her wheels.

"I'm sorry," she replied, finally getting a grip on herself. "This whole trip is still pretty overwhelming to me. I'm not used to this kind of treatment."

Ferb smiled a little and, very tentatively, put his hand on hers on the armrest between their seats. "If you were the sort who was used to it, I wouldn't have invited you."

Gretchen felt her heart race a little, but managed to look back at Ferb as he spoke.

"I do know a lot of people, and I'm sure there are many other girls who would've jumped at this opportunity, but it's like I said previously. I didn't want to go with just anyone. And as you've shown in the past, and especially recently, you are not just anyone. Truthfully, I can't think of anyone else with whom I'd rather be on this trip."

The two fell silent for some time, blushing at and trading smiles with each other as they sat just as they had been before Ferb had talked her down with his hand on hers. Finally, Gretchen pulled herself out of her daze and fanned herself with her book a bit.

"Getting a little warm and stuffy here," she noted, reaching for the controls above her for air.

"Yes, a little air is a good idea," Ferb added, doing likewise.

"This is going to be a really memorable trip, I just know it. I'll have to tell Hector all about it once I'm home."

"Who's Hector?"

"My pet hedgehog. He stays in my room with me. You can come see him sometime if you like."

"I'd like that. Hedgehogs aren't all that common as pets. Does he do any tricks?"

"Heh, no. He's just a hedgehog. They don't do much."

"Curse you, Hector the Hedgehog," cried out Dr. Diminutive as he lay tied up once again, foiled by his nemesis.

Across the Danville skyline, Hector the Hedgehog flew along with his rocket pack headed for the O.W.C.A. base. In the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar hang glider and banked over to fly alongside it.

Perry saw Hector come up alongside him and saluted, which Hector returned in kind. The two flew along together, landing back at the base simultaneously.

"Another one bites the dust," Hector said as he walked alongside Perry. "How was Doof today?"

"Not one of his better schemes," Perry replied. "Sometimes he really doesn't even try, I swear."

"At least you see action every day. Diminutive takes three times as long to come up with something for me to thwart."

"Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Anyway, wanna grab a bite or something? Y'know, since both our owners are out of town for a while."

Perry stopped and thought for a moment. It had been a long time since he kicked back and relaxed with any of the other agents. "What the heck, I'm down. We should see if Pinky's available too."

"Now you're talkin'," Hector said, high-fiveing the platypus. "Who says we don't do much?"

Isabella stirred a bit, having drifted off to sleep herself some time ago. She looked over and, sure enough, Phineas was still out cold on her shoulder. She then noticed that Ferb was no longer sitting with them. She was alarmed at first until she looked behind her a bit and saw him chatting away with Gretchen a couple rows back. What's more, they were even holding hands. She smiled and, rather than disturb them, she settled back in her seat, carefully slid her arm around Phineas, and closed her eyes again. London was still a few hours away, and that was a few hours of bliss she wouldn't interrupt for anything.