Episode: What Did I Miss?

Privateandcadet: That book was so good. I did like Paper Towns a bit more though. John Green is just a phenomenal person in general.

Ficklepickle7: Thank you!

I don't own Phineas and Ferb (btw, this chapter does not revolve around Candace, though she is in it. Just not as a mermaid)

GENERAL POV

Ferb stepped off the stage, a small smirk on his face as the judges applauded his debates (ironic, considering he had said all of twenty words before the kid had agreed with him).

The green haired boy wasn't quite certain what the purpose of pet/owner debate camp was; regardless, he had been ecstatic to go. He felt like he never got time to spend with Perry, as the platypus was either always off doing his own thing or Phineas was hogging him.

Ferb plopped down into the chair next to Perry and pulled the animal into his lap, wrapping his arms around the monotreme and snuggling into his warmth. Perry gave a small smile and chattered lightly, allowing himself to relax in the young Brit's grip.

He was glad Ferb had decided to do this again. He never got to spend time with the boy, and quite honestly, Perry missed him. He was probably the only human who understood what it was like to constantly be silent when he wanted to speak. He was also incredibly intelligent, something Perry had discovered that people forgot in the midst of Phineas Flynn.

"Now we will take a forty five minute intermission while the judges debate our debaters-heh-arguments and determine who will be facing each other in the final round. Campers may go to the mess hall or back to their cabins during this time, but under no circumstances are you to discuss final debate topics with one another," the announcer warned them.

The boys and girls cheered and departed, each taking their pet with them, either on a leash or tucked into their arms. Ferb chose the latter, adjusting his posture so that Perry was seated comfortably in the boy's hands.

"What do you say, boy?" Ferb murmured. "Back to the cabin to relax?"

Perry chattered contently, happy to do whatever Ferb wanted. For once, he got a chance to just be a pet and let whatever substitute agent Monogram chose fight Doofenshmirtz.

Ferb smiled and set off at a gentle pace towards his cabin, passing the lake (which he knew Candace would love) and the forge (bizarre, but interesting to be in. And Phineas would get a kick out of it) as he clambered up the hill that led to the area in which he was currently staying.

So intent on the climbing, and so happy with being relaxed and carried around for once, neither Ferb nor Perry noticed anything amiss until Ferb's foot landed on the ground and, rather than sinking lightly under him as normal wet dirt would do, it clunked.

Ferb blinked in confusion and glanced down, his eyebrows furrowed. Perry shifted slightly in his boy's arms, trying to get a glimpse of what the object was without alerting Ferb to any suspicious activity on his part.

The Brit knelt carefully, brushing away the soft dirt, and gently set Perry down next to him so he could better dig. He cleared off a square piece of solid sheet metal, with the words Sucker emblazoned on it in gold.

"What in the-?"

Ferb's sentence was cut off as a net came out of nowhere, flinging his body backwards and into a nearby tree, knocking all air out of his body.

He heard Perry's enraged chatters and then a soft yelp emitted from the monotreme and Ferb anxiously struggled in his bonds, trying desperately to get to his pet. "Leave him alone!" the boy yelped.

A hand attached to what was presumably a person that Ferb could not see came out of nowhere and pressed a cloth to his mouth, using the other hand to wrap a bandana around his head.

Ferb squirmed as much as he possibly could, but it was no use as his vision darkened.

Perry woke up and groaned, raising a paw to his head and squinting around curiously before realizing that he couldn't see anything. The platypus momentarily panicked before his agent training kicked in and he shut his eyes, listening.

He could hear the sound of water dripping in the distance, and the musty smell of old books clouded his sense of smell. He reached out a hand and felt around, his fingers tracing over the spine of what felt like several encyclopedias, and he tenderly stood up, using the books as a ladder.

As his head stopped spinning and his thoughts cleared, Perry felt another brief surge of panic, unsure of what had happened to Ferb in the midst of the attack. He hadn't seen who it was, and he wasn't sure how long he had been out for.

Pushing down his fears and "what ifs," Perry began feeling his way around the dark room, managing to make his way to a wall with minimal difficulty. He followed it until his hands brushed over a light switch.

He flipped the switch up, ready to be blinded, but Perry saw nothing. He frowned and shook his head, annoyed. The bulb must have blown in whatever room he was in.

He continued shuffling around the room until his hands fell upon a cushion. The temperature at this part of the room had changed, and Perry could feel warmth hitting his fur. He had found a window seat.

The platypus backed up in horror.

He had found a window, with what felt like the sun shining through it, but he could see nothing. The room wasn't dark.

He was blind.

The agent sank against the window seat, trembling violently, and then shook his head. No. He had to calm down. He needed to find Ferb. His kid was in trouble, and there was no way in hell that Perry was going to let anything happen to him. He had already screwed up several times with Candace getting hurt, poked and prodded by scientists. He wasn't going to let the same fate befall another one of his family members.

Perry felt along his wrist for his watch and clicked the button along the side that would direct him to Candace's cell phone.

A ringing sound filled the air and after two solid tones, there was a click and Candace spoke. "Perry? What's up? I thought you and Ferb were at Debate camp?"

"We are," Perry managed to stammer out, his voice shaking. "I…we were going back to Ferb's cabin and someone attacked and I….I got separated from him…"

"Shit," Candace muttered. "Well, I can tell you're in some kind of attic. I would think you would have left to find him by now."

Perry hadn't realized the girl was using video, and he winced. "I can't see, Candace. They…somehow, they blinded me."

He heard Candace's sharp intake of breath. "Geez. Okay. Look, I can try to help. Turn your watch around."

Perry did so, keeping his other hand braced against the window seat. "Okay," Candace said. "If you walk straight forward, and keep your arms out, you'll reach the door in about twenty paces."

The monotreme hesitated momentarily before moving forward, his hands in front of him while Candace provided gentle encouragements. Once or twice he stumbled over a box but he always regained his footing. He wished desperately that his echolocation worked outside of the water.

"Okay," Candace said. "Right in front of you is the door. The knob is on the left."

Perry reached up and sighed in relief as he grabbed the cold metal handle, twisting it and pulling the door open with ease. Cold air hit him in the face, and he could feel the emptiness in front of him.

"There are stairs in front of you," Candace advised him.

Perry nodded. "Candace…I have to do the rest on my own. If anyone hears you talking, they'll hide Ferb in a different spot. I'll call you if I need help, okay?"

"Of course," Candace said softly. "Want me to alert the OWCA?"

The platypus chewed on his bill anxiously. "No….Candace, with my sight the way it is, I may accidentally end up giving away my secret to Ferb. Don't say anything yet. Too many people already know."

"All right. Good luck, bud."

She hung up the phone and Perry shut off his wristwatch, flipping his fedora onto his head in order to feel some sense of comfort. He reached his hand out and his fingertips brushed what felt like a pole. Curious, the animal ran his hands over it and smiled, realizing it was the leg of a chair.

He pulled it to his side and began using it as a walking stick, careful not to make too much noise.

He found his way down the stairs quickly and perked his ears up, listening intently. No sound except for the laughter of children came from his right, and he assumed that was the way out.

To his left was eerie silence, interrupted only by soft tapping and scrabbling sounds that Perry assumed were mice. He tuned out the scrabbling and focused on the thumps, his trained ears recognizing them as Morse code, which every one of Phineas and Ferb's friends, and Phineas and Ferb themselves, knew.

T-H-I-R-D-O-N-R-I-G-H-T-U-P-S-T-A-I-R-S

Perry grinned gently and moved towards the sound, keeping one hand braced on the wall and the chair leg stretched in front of him. After about ten feet, his hand slipped into open air and he leaned over, brushing his fingers across wooden steps.

Hesitating only a moment, Perry left the chair leg on the ground and scrambled up the stairs, keeping his ears perked and his hands at the ready. He turned right at the head of the stairs and followed the small, now irregular, thumping sounds down, counting the doors as he passed.

"What's this?" asked a distinctly American voice. "A platypus in a fedora? How…? Oh. Oh no way. You can't see, so that means you must be Fletcher's pet."

Perry flinched at the sound of Ferb's last name and clenched his hands at his sides. He was only one door away, and the kid was blocking him from getting there.

"Shame. You see, Fletcher wins this damn thing every year. And he's only been going for two years! I've been here for seven years. Seven! I've never won once, and I'm sick of it! I know the judges will pick him to be in the finale. All I have to do is keep him locked up and gagged here and he won't have any chance of winning. Of course, you're a stupid platypus. I don't know what you're going to do about it, especially seeing as you're blind," the boy cackled.

Perry growled, low and angrily, and, focusing on the voice, jumped and hit him firmly with his tail. The child cried out in surprise and Perry turned quickly, moving forward and grabbing onto the handle of the third door.

"Fine!" the boy spluttered.

Perry yelped as a hand roughly closed around the scruff of his neck, twisting his fur in such a way that he couldn't turn. "You want to be in there so badly, I'll let you! Good riddance!"

The door clicked open and Perry was chucked un-mercilessly through the door. It was only through years of agent training that he managed to land on his feet, albeit a bit wobbly.

The door slammed shut and there was the distinct sound of a lock clicking. Perry let himself sink to his knees and he braced himself momentarily, listening intently to the room around him.

There. The thumping sound, this time accompanied with gentle murmurs that were obviously hidden behind a piece of fabric.

Sticking to his hands and knees, his fedora somehow still on his head, Perry crawled towards the sounds until his fingers stopped hitting the rough wood and brushed against smooth, childlike fingers.

The platypus purred in relief and moved his way around the boy, his adept fingers picking at the knots until they unraveled in his hands.

Once Ferb's hands were out of his grasp, Perry felt incredibly disoriented, and he reached out feebly, feeling incredibly helpless and lost. It was a state he was rarely in; he had never completely lost his sight before, and he had never realized until now just how much he depended on it.

It wasn't even him he was worried about. He couldn't see Ferb. Didn't know if the boy was bruised or bleeding or hurt in any way.

Gentle, warm fingers gripped his wrist and the soft British voice that was so comforting to everyone murmured to him, "It's okay. Perry. I'm right here."

Perry shook quietly and leapt at the boy, his idea of keeping his identity a secret long gone as he latched his arms around Ferb in a hug.

"What happened?" the Brit whispered, pulling back.

He saw what had happened immediately, his gaze landing on the now completely white eyes of his apparently smarter-than-he-thought platypus, and Ferb felt a slow rage broil in the pit of his stomach. "You're fucking joking," he hissed, making Perry jump. "He did not blind my platypus."

Perry whimpered softly and Ferb immediately calmed down, dragging his pet into his arms and whispering to him soothingly as he glanced around the room he was in.

It was dark, though the part Ferb was seated in was lit by a small lamp. He figured it was an attic, and he was only glad that he had managed to come to while his opponent, Dominick, had been dragging him up the stairs, muttering about Perry. Otherwise he would never have known where he was.

He glanced at his watch and, with surprise, noted that only about a half an hour had passed. The judges would be deciding who was in the finale in about twenty minutes.

He pulled Perry away from him and studied his pet intently, moving his gaze between Perry and the boxes stacked around the room. From his pocket he pulled a small wrench and screwdriver and, telling Perry to stay put, went to work.

Nearly ten minutes later the Brit sat back down in front of his platypus cross legged. "You trust me, right?" he whispered.

Perry's head raised ever so slightly and he nodded, the smallest of smiles at the corner of his bill. Ferb tilted his head, aiming the ray gun he had in his hand at Perry's face. "Then hold still, and open your eyes."

The platypus, though wary, obliged and jumped a solid foot as a cold burst of air hit his eyes and sent an electric shock through his body.

Ferb bit his lip in worry as he watched Perry rub frantically at his eyes, until the monotreme finally managed to blink them open and, in surprise, raised his once again dark brown eyes to meet Ferb's blue ones.

The green haired boy gave a sigh of relief and laughed as his platypus tackled him in a hug. "You're welcome," he chuckled, gently pushing Perry off of him. "I wasn't certain it would work, but it was my only option. You weren't permanently blinded; this wouldn't have fixed that. I didn't have time to make one that would do that. Dominick used something to make you blind temporarily."

Perry nodded and the two studied each other warily, Ferb finally giving him a small smile and nodding to the door. "Shall we go?" he offered.

Perry gave him a nod and a grin and the two moved towards the door quietly. Ferb pulled on the doorknob and sighed in annoyance when it didn't turn. He glanced at Perry's fedora and raised a slight eyebrow.

"Are you…quite possibly a secret agent?" he questioned him softly, having been thinking this ever since the bizarre incident at the beach where everyone almost drowned.

Perry looked startled but nodded sheepishly. Ferb tilted his head. "Anything in there that can easily get us out?" he asked, pointing at Perry's fedora.

Slapping his forehead, Perry pulled off his hat and rummaged around in it, pulling out a laser pen. Motioning Ferb back, he cut around the doorknob until it fell off. Ferb pushed the door open and the two darted from the room.

As they exited the farm house, Perry tossed his fedora off and Ferb picked him up without missing a beat, the two making it back to stage just as the judges can back from deliberating.

"After much discussion, we have decided that we don't need a final debate," the announcer stated, looking a bit surprised at the declaration. "The judges have decided to award the prize of one hundred dollars to Ferb Fletcher and his platypus, Perry, for giving the most convincing speech thus far in fifty years of Debate camp history!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and Ferb clambered onto the stage, Perry at his side, and accepted the award. He whispered quietly into the man's ear and the announcer nodded, turning an evil glare in the direction of Dominick, who was sitting open jawed in his seat.

"What do you plan to do with the money, young man?" one of the judges asked him, her bright red lipstick smile fake on her otherwise bored face.

Ferb shrugged. "I'll find a charity," he responded softly.

He and Perry left the stage to cheers and congratulatory handshakes and pats all around.

Later that night, Perry darted around the cabin, looking in confusion for Ferb. He had called Candace briefly to explain the outcome, and when he had come back the young Brit had been missing.

"Oh hey Perry," whispered a dark haired, cocoa skinned boy, kneeling down and patting the platypus. "Don't worry, Ferb went to sit on the roof. He told us he wanted to have a little alone time. He'll be back soon, boy."

Perry chattered softly and licked the boys hand in appreciation and then ran out of the room, leaping up the stairs that led to the roof and pushing open the door quietly.

Ferb's voice rang quietly across the rooftops as Perry approached softly. "…no. No I promise. You know I won't. I barely speak to begin with….yes. I love you too. See you tomorrow."

Ferb hung up the phone and looked sideways at Perry, tucking his phone into his pocket and pulling out an envelope. He handed it to the animal and Perry blinked, peeking into it to see the hundred dollar check looking up at him.

Ferb tilted his head back, glancing at the stars. "Candace called. Said the agency was having budget cuts…well, after she yelled at me a bit. I want you to take the money, give it to Carl."

Perry stared at his owner, stunned, and Ferb shot him a smile. The platypus tucked the envelope into his hat and, hands shaking, pulled his owner into a tight hug, his body trembling.

Ferb winced and rubbed the animals back soothingly. "I know. I'm sorry. Losing your sight…I can't even imagine," he murmured.

Perry shook his head and pulled back, looking at Ferb intently, knowing that the relatively quiet human with whom he had bonded with this week would understand. A slow smile crawled across Ferb's face as he understood what Perry had really been scared of, and he gently pulled the platypus back into his arms.

Perry pulled off his hat and rolled over in Ferb's arms so that he was lying on his lap, staring out into the night. Ferb gently stroked his pet's head and Perry let out a relaxed chatter.

They sat there all night, not saying a word, knowing that you don't have to speak to watch the stars, that you don't have to speak to communicate love.

Well THAT was a corny ending.

Sorry, I really wanted to work with this episode (I LOVE IT) but since Candace didn't appear, I wasn't sure what to do with it. I think it worked well.

Hem….review?