CHAPTER NINE: For everyone who did want to know, my tattoo is a treble/bass clef heart. It's on my left hip :) If you really want to see it, it's on my Tumblr account (same name as this one, pftones3482)

Nyx's Fist: Hi, thank you! And I LOVE your username!

Chronofall: I mean yeah, but he's very tiny, so I don't know…though Agent S exists, so. And you got a few things right and a few things very wrong, but as you saw I do have a tattoo.

Privateandcadet: You have fallen under my evil spell, is what happened!

AmyNChan: I thought about the computer for a while, and then realized I'd probably make it super sarcastic lol.

Ummmm no warnings for this chapter? I don't think? Just some sadness and bro hugging ( and by bro I mean Ferb and Buford, not Ferb and Phineas). I don't own Phineas and Ferb.

GENERAL POV

Monty Monogram winced as his watch began buzzing. It was almost four in the morning; who the hell was trying to talk to him?

Dad.

The agent shot up, nearly smacking Phineas in the face, and glanced at the incoming caller ID. It was unfamiliar to him, and Monty tilted his head in confusion. It could only be an agent, his father, Wanda, Carl, or Carla though, so he pushed himself to his feet, stepped carefully over the group of people sleeping together for warmth and comfort, and moved to the far end of the room.

He grabbed a candle and lit it quietly, knowing they had to save battery power, and then flicked his watch on. To his surprise, Ferb looked back at him. "Ferb?" the man whispered in confusion. His heart sank before the boy could say a word. "Oh. Did something happen?"

Ferb shook his head. "No. Listen, I have to keep working. Vanessa is going to take over."

Monty grimaced. He and Vanessa hadn't spoken in a while, and he wasn't sure where he stood with her. He still really liked the girl, but wasn't sure on what she thought of him.

Vanessa appeared on screen, managing to frame both herself and Ferb and Pinky (whose watch they were currently speaking on), in the background comparing what looked like photos.

"So," the teen said, not beating around the bush, "Phineas and Ferb made this machine that could take a picture of a person, scan it, and grab that person from wherever they are in the world and transport them back to the machine in one piece."

She let the words sink in and Monty's eyes widened. "You mean that you thought of a way to get us there?" he whispered, glancing at the group.

Vanessa nodded. "Yes. But, we aren't sure how it will affect people who are hurt, like Phineas. We need to test it on someone, and we were thinking you."

Monty shook his head immediately. "No. I have the only source of communication. Let me wake up someone. Who do you suggest? The only one not injured is Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro. She was already in the shop when the attacks started. "

In the background, Ferb and Pinky flinched and shook their heads. Vanessa grimaced. "That's…not a great idea," she murmured.

"You guys didn't….find her body, did you?" Monty asked with trepidation.

The Goth held up a hand. "Isabella is alive just….blind. Completely blind. It's pretty bad."

Monty sighed and scanned the group once more. "Well…then I'd suggest Buford. His mom has a broken hand and wrist from saving him from a couple of invaders, but he's okay physically. A black eye, but that's it."

Vanessa glanced back at Ferb, who thought for a moment. Despite the look of agony in his eyes, he finally nodded and held up a picture of the bully. "Wake him up," the Brit said softly.

Monty nodded and stepped over to the boy, gently shaking his shoulder. The dark haired, brutish figure immediately shot upright, a fist flying forward. Monty barely ducked in time and he reached up, snagging the boys wrist. "Buford," he hissed.

Regaining complete consciousness, Buford recognized the figure and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, man. What d'ya need?"

Monty gestured to the corner with the candle and quietly explained the situation, gesturing to his watch every now and then. Buford, having used the machine before and not being a big fan of it due to the whole bug incident, nodded warily.

"I'll go," he said firmly. "All I got's a black eye, 'cause some dumby tried to grab my mom."

He scowled and glanced at the watch, crossing his arms over his chest. "If the machine gets rid of my black eye, will it heal everyone else?"

Vanessa sighed. "We hope so. We'll be ready in about five minutes. If it works for Buford, we're going to try to get everyone else here without waking them up. Should make for an interesting morning," she said with a smirk.

Monty snorted. "Okay. Then I'm going to shut off my watch to conserve the battery. Good luck."

He shut off the watch and looked up to find Buford staring at him, a mischievious smile on his face. "You like her," the bully stated bluntly. He walked away, leaving Monty to stammer in protest.

"Okay," Ferb whispered, holding the picture of his friend in his trembling fingers. "We have to hope this works. I don't want Phineas losing a leg."

Vanessa laid a hand on his shoulder. She hadn't gone to sleep and had instead heard Pinky and Ferb rummaging through Perry's office and decided to investigate. "Hey. We got this. You guys are geniuses."

The Brit blushed at the compliment and glanced at Pinky, who was standing by the picture slot. Since only Phineas and Ferb knew the proper codes for the machine, Pinky was going to insert pictures, Ferb type the codes, and Vanessa help move the sleeping people from the platform thing.

The green haired boy handed the photo to Pinky and readied his fingers.

Less than fifteen seconds later, the bully stood on the photo transporter platform, blinking in confusion with two perfectly normal eyes.

"Ferb," Vanessa suddenly hissed, watching as Buford regained his bearings. "If it heals people, would it work on Isabella? I know it's mostly internal but…"

Ferb bit his lip. Since blindness wasn't really a visible injury, he had no way of knowing if Isabella could be healed by this particular machine. In Isabella's case, though, the blindness had been caused by injury to the head, so he wasn't really sure what the protocol for that was. He shrugged for the time being and called out softly to Buford, who turned to look at the tiny group.

The two lifelong friends broke into grins and hugged each other tightly, ignoring the fact that they were both crying. "It worked, man," Buford whispered.

Ferb pulled back and grinned. "You'll never believe this. I found Biff at your house, and after I found Adyson, she brought him back here."

Buford squealed a very un-Buford-like squeal and then blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, bro. Hey, what about Baljeet?"

The second Ferb's smile fell Buford crumpled to the floor, pressing his fist to his mouth and shaking. "Shit," the boy hissed, tears overflowing his eyes. Ferb felt his heart break and he knelt next to his friend quietly, gathering him up and hugging him tightly.

Vanessa and Pinky glanced at one another sadly and backed up to shuffle through more photos and give the boys some space.

"I'm so sorry," Ferb murmured. "It was hard for me as well."

Buford choked back a sob and shook his head, his eyes filled with pain. "You don't get it man. It hurts me, a lot. I loved that nerd."

Ferb tilted his head. "We all loved Baljeet…." he said, trailing off as Buford looked him in the eye. "Oh. Oh. I understand," he murmured, his gaze filled with sympathy.

They sat in silence for a moment before Ferb glanced sideways at him. "Did you ever tell him?" he whispered, his accent soothing.

Buford gulped and shook his head, spreading his hands helplessly in his lap. "How could I? After my dad's reaction, I was positive Baljeet would be disgusted by the thought that I could like him."

Ferb rubbed the bully's back gently, his eyes focused on the ground as he tried to think of things that he could say to make the bully feel better. "He wouldn't have. Not Baljeet. He cared about you very much."

Buford gave Ferb a shaky smile. "Thanks, man. Hey wait. What about you? Did you ever find your mom?"

Ferb swallowed and drew his hand away from Buford's back, clutching his fingers together and drawing his knees up to his chest. Buford's smile fell immediately. "Oh. Oh man. And Phineas and your old man don't…shit, I'm sorry Ferb. When did you…?"

"Candace," Ferb murmured softly. "Candace was with her when it happened. We knew when we were talking to you, but we didn't want Dad and Phineas to find out that way."

Buford winced and bit his lip. "Man, that's rough. I'm really sorry you guys had to deal with that. She's pretty tough though. Candace is, I mean. She did save your butts," he joked half-heartedly, trying for a smile from the Brit.

Ferb winced and rubbed his shoulder gently, the bullet wound stinging. "Um…yeah. She's tough all right."

The pale skinned boy heard the crack in his voice and turned to stare at him. "What happened?" he asked, his voice stone cold.

Ferb looked up weakly. "I…it's not my place to say," he finally whispered, glancing towards where his sister was sleeping, curled up and breathing softly.

Buford clenched his jaw, his teeth grinding on one another. "Some asshole tried to take advantage of her, didn't they?"

The Brit raised his eyebrows in surprise at how quickly the bully had put two and two together but nodded slowly, staring down at his hands. Buford scowled and shook his head. "Some people," he grumbled, before climbing to his feet.

He reached a hand down and Ferb took it gratefully, allowing the child to pull him to a standing position. Buford nodded in the direction of Pinky and Vanessa, giving a grim smile. "Let's get to work then."

Ferb blinked, and then dug into his pocket and pulled out a Bluetooth translator, mentally noting that they now had four left after giving one to Isabella (Adyson had rejected one upon learning there were a limited amount). When Buford looked at it skeptically, Ferb nodded towards the dog. "So you can understand Perry and Pinky."

Buford stuck the device in his ear and tilted his head as he adjusted it. "Yeah, man what's up with that? Your pets are secret agents?"

Ferb snorted and started walking towards said agent. "Apparently, yes."

It was 4:18 am.

So I continue with the head canon of Buford being gay, and yes, there is significance in Baljeet's death. So yeah…..

Oh, and Montnessa will be canon in this story. So none of that nonsense about Ferbnessa. I don't role with that. Too much of an age difference. Stupid Act Your Age.

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