CHAPTER TEN- Yeah, yeah, it's only been a few hours. Have another chapter anyway.

Chronofall: They want to get the most fit and healthy ones over first, bringing the people who are injured over in progressive stages just to make sure that the ones with severe injuries wouldn't be hurt further. And no, I don't play an instrument (do you count recorder and the cowbell?), but I am passionate about music and it's honestly brought me out of some really dark times, particularly bands like Bowling for Soup and Daughtry and singers like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

Waro: To be honest, Ferbnessa is kinda forced. Like Vanessa made it clear that she had no feelings for Ferb at all, and she was in a well-established relationship with Monty during season 4. And do you mean you don't like Ferbella, or you get mad when people dis it?

AmyNChan: Ferbnessa is not my thing. Especially in the main series, due to the age difference. I technically ship Ferb with Mabel, but I can't do that in this story lol.

Fickle: Maybe I should clarify; the machine doesn't technically have healing abilities, but since everyone is transferred to the machine exactly as they are in the pictures, the minor injuries heal completely and the larger ones change as much as possible to fit the picture.

Guest95: Making Buford complex is my favorite thing :) You'll see more of that later.

Brainless Genius: Man, why does everyone hate on Montnessa? Geez.

ANY who. I don't own Phineas and Ferb and all that nonsense, and there isn't anything you have to be aware of for this chapter. That'll change in the next chapter though *wink wink*

GENERAL POV

"Monty?"

Monty turned around and tilted his head at Stacy, surprised to find her awake. "Stacy? What are you doing up?" he asked her softly, trying not to wake anyone else that was in the room.

Stacy crossed her arms over her chest and glanced down at the floor, illuminated by the glow of the candle Monty held in his hand. "I knew," she murmured, ignoring his question.

Monty furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and rubbed a hand over his jaw with his free hand, trying to work out what she meant. "Knew what?" he asked, bewildered.

Stacy flinched. "About Perry. And the agency. I found out almost a month ago."

Monty raised a singular eyebrow and stared at the girl for a long moment, noting the guilt written on her face. "How?" he finally questioned her, not sure what else to say.

"Perry kinda smashed into my house with Dr. D," Stacy admitted, twirling a strand of hair around a finger anxiously. "I asked him to let me keep my memories on the condition that I'm not a part of the Flynn-Fletcher family."

Monty snorted at the very obvious loophole that he had somehow missed and shook his head, setting the candle down carefully on a nearby ledge. "Well, all I can say is that, as long as you didn't tell anyone, we technically can't do anything about it. Plus at the moment, it doesn't really matter."

Stacy raised her hands. "I know. But I've been having Perry give me lessons over the last few weeks, like on how to work your equipment and some basic martial arts and stuff. So like, if you need help," she stammered, seeing the surprise on Monty's face, "I can probably pitch in without much of a problem."

Monty grinned. "Good to know. And if this all works out in the end, who knows? Maybe we'll hire you."

Stacy blushed and then placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head so that her hair tumbled over one shoulder. "New topic: where's Buford? I heard you guys talking, but when I looked up he was gone."

"Did Phineas and Ferb ever show you their picture transporter?" Monty asked, glancing at his watch and leaning against the wall, smiling briefly as he saw Jeremy disappear from the group behind Stacy.

Stacy chewed on her lip. "No, but I've heard about it," she muttered, her eyes widening as she realized just what the agent was leading up to. "No way. Are they transporting us there with that?"

Monty winked. "Duh. Be prepared, and don't make noises. According to the report from Ferb, they're pulling teenagers first. And Jeremy just disappeared, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're next."

Stacy opened her mouth, only to look down as her body dissolved into thin air.

Her particles scattered and for a moment the girl couldn't think anything except this is it, this is how I die. Separated into a thousand little pieces and flying through midair at light speed in the middle of the night.

Stacy's feet solidified first, upright on a cold metal platform, and when her eyes had adjusted she found Ferb, Buford, Vanessa, and Pinky staring at her in surprise. Jeremy was asleep several yards away, a blanket tucked around his shoulders, and Stacy slowly moved down the steps with her eyes locked on the tiny group.

"We didn't expect you to be awake," Vanessa said softly, pulling the girl into a quick hug.

Despite not being super close, she and Stacy had bonded after the whole "Scarlet Pimpernel" incident at Vanessa's Halloween party and were on good terms. "Yeah, well, I needed to talk to Monty about…you know," she said, looking at Vanessa pointedly, the daughter of Perry's nemesis being the only one to know that Stacy had known.

Vanessa nodded knowingly and turned back to the pictures that Buford was holding.

Stacy turned to Ferb and knelt next to him. She had known the boy since he was a toddler, and thought of him and Phineas as her brothers, so it was no question to pull him into a hug.

When she pulled back, she saw the glimmer of pain in his eyes and tilted her head. "You okay?" she murmured softly, brushing a lock of her dark hair behind one ear.

Ferb grimaced and glanced down at the floor, opening and shutting his mouth in hesitation. "I…yes. But…there's a few things I must tell you."

The tone of his voice and the tears in his eyes made Stacy realize exactly what it was he had to tell her and she swallowed hard, pressing a hand to her mouth and trembling. "Ginger?" she finally choked out, not needing an answer. Sure enough, Ferb nodded and she cringed, sinking to her knees and wrapping her arms around herself, struggling not to cry.

Ferb's arms encircled her and the Japanese teenager hugged him. "Thanks for finding out," she whispered, her voice cracking as tears slid down her cheeks. She and Ginger had never been super close, but she loved her to bits.

He nodded against her shoulder. "And Candace," he murmured, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Stacy immediately sat back at the fearful note in his voice, studying his expression carefully. She could read his facial movements almost as well as everyone else in the Flynn-Fletcher family, and she didn't like what she saw. Her eyes lifted to where she could see her best friend sleeping and the girl put a gentle hand on Ferb's shoulder. "I'll talk to her," she promised. "Can you bring my mom over next? I…I want to tell her before she gets her hopes up."

Ferb smiled sadly at her and nodded, returning his attention to the machine in front of him.

It was 4:30 am.

Nearly an hour later, Ferb, Monty, and Vanessa sat down next to the computer monitor in Perry's lair, watching as Buford scrambled around to drape blankets over everyone and Pinky shut down the machine.

"I'm surprised no one woke up," Vanessa murmured, leaning back against Monty's shoulder and shutting her eyes.

Monty jumped in slight surprise and Ferb raised a slight eyebrow, startled that he didn't feel jealous of the young man, but rather very happy for the both of them. "Well," Monty murmured, wrapping a tentative arm around her, "they did all have a rough day."

Ferb nodded and moved his eyes back to his brother, staring at him and wanting nothing more than to pull him into a hug and never let go.

Vanessa and Monty looked at Ferb and then at each other, smiling sadly. Monty stood up and moved over to Phineas, sliding gentle arms under him and lifting him into his grasp, nodding to one of the side hallways.

"Come on," Vanessa whispered to the Brit, standing and following Monty into the agency.

Ferb swallowed hard and jumped to his feet, trotting after the teenagers.

Phineas hadn't come back fully healed by any means; his leg was still twisted and grotesque, with scars and burns that Ferb knew would never leave his body. However, after a once over, Dr. Hirano had declared that the leg would stay thanks to the photo transporter, though she doubted Phineas would ever walk normally again.

The woman was currently with Stacy in Perry's office, each crying softly and comforting one another. Buford, having finished blanket distribution, was now sitting up with Pinky to keep an eye on everyone and to talk out his feelings to an animal who couldn't talk back (if he kept the translator off). Pinky was a surprisingly good listener. It came from years of listening to Isabella cry about Phineas, of course, but nonetheless, he kept quiet.

Monty stepped into an excess office and knelt to the floor, depositing Phineas on the ground. He motioned Ferb off to the side with Vanessa and then leaned over the triangular boy, gently shaking his shoulder. "Phineas," he murmured.

The boy groaned and after a few more pokes his eyes fluttered open and focused blearily on Monty. "Monty?" he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. "What…?"

His eyes adjusted on the ceiling and the desks around them and he frowned slowly. "Where…? This isn't the cellar under the antique shop," he realized, sitting up.

"Nope," Monty said, smiling. "It's not. Because your brother is a genius."

Phineas crinkled his eyebrows in confusion, staring at the floor for a moment and piecing everything together. He sucked in a breath as it dawned on him what Monty meant and with a little help from the agent, turned around to face his sibling.

The two stared at one another for a long moment, their eyes taking in each-others injuries and tired gazes. Phineas swallowed and reached a hand out towards his brother and that was all it took for Ferb to break and run over to him, the two throwing their arms around each other and sobbing softly.

Monty and Vanessa backed into the hallway to give them some room and Phineas sniffled, burying his head into Ferb's shoulder. "You…how did you do this?" he croaked out, refusing to let go.

Ferb rubbed the red heads back soothingly. "Perry. He had a copy of all of our inventions. I used the photo transporter. You won't lose your leg."

Phineas sat back abruptly and stared down at the appendage, pulling back on the gauze and looking up at his sibling, giving him a quivering smile. "You're the best, man," he whispered, his face shining with happiness. Phineas knew that he still couldn't use the leg normally, but in that brief moment it didn't matter to him.

Ferb winced and looked down and Phineas, usually oblivious, tilted his head. "Ferb? What's wrong?"

The green haired Brit sighed and rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. "A lot of things," he murmured, knowing that he couldn't hide anything from his brother any longer. "Mum, Isabella, Baljeet…."

Phineas' voice hitched in his throat. "What?" he managed to get out.

Ferb looked up sadly. "Isabella is alive but…she's completely blind. And she hates it, feels helpless."

The boy flinched and rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Geez. But…Ferb….Mom?"

Ferb pursed his lips and looked down, his chin quivering. He shook his head slowly and heard Phineas cry out. "No. No, you can't be serious," he hissed.

"Candace was there when it happened," Ferb clarified, drawing his knees up to his chin and looking away from his brother. "And Baljeet….I saw him in the streets. Also Irving, Ginger, Gretchen…."

His voice cracked and the Brit buried his head into his knees, letting himself break down as every dead body flashed by his eyes, everyone that they had lost. They had saved so many, but at what cost? Who had been lost that they didn't even know about?

How many children had been slaughtered, how many elders unable to run, how many women taken into captivity to probably do things that Ferb couldn't even think of without feeling overwhelming rage and disgust? How many men and women had died to protect each other, how many strangers had taken each other in to save someone, anyone? How many were out there right now, not knowing if their family or any of their friends were still alive? It killed the Brit to even think about it.

He heard Phineas scoot over and the two siblings collapsed against each other, sobbing and hugging for a long time, each relishing in the fact that the other was alive. "I'm sorry," Phineas hiccupped finally. "I'm sorry."

Ferb knew what he meant and he nodded into his shoulder, wishing more than anything that all of what was happening would be a dream, that he would wake up soon and it would all be over.

It wasn't, though. He knew that.

Completely exhausted, Ferb fell asleep in Phineas' arms and the boy softly called Monty and Vanessa in to help him.

They checked in with Stacy and Dr. Hirano, found Pinky curled up next to a sleeping Buford, and finally they too fell asleep, completely filling the lair with gentle snores and deep breathing.

It was 6:07 am.

Oh man. Everyone's now in the same lair. So what happens when they all wake up?

Review to find out!