His face and arm were still wet from his own tears when he woke up to a gentle pressure on his fur. "Oh, Puddin'."

His heart skipped a beat as he spun around. Annie was kneeling by the chair,stroking his back, tears in her eyes from what made for a pitiful scene. He blinked once, then threw his arms around her neck, recoiling in horror as she flinched in pain.

Regret filled her eyes. "Nonononono, I'm alright. Just a little stiff, is all." She got up and eased into the chair beside him with a little effort, then patted her lap and held her arms out. "C'mere."

He hesitated, then carefully climbed over, hugging her as hard as he dared. I thought I lost you. Maybe he had. Could a dream feel this real?

"You're hurt, too." The only arms that could really comfort this particular ache pulled him closer so that she could kiss the top of his head. "It's alright now." She cradled him, and rocked him silently for a few minutes, giving the ache time to fully morph into the joy of having her here, alive.

She nodded with a satisfied smile, and tapped the tip of his bill. "There's the smile I needed to see!"

You have no idea.

"Well, I take it Mr. Ego really was bluffing about disposing of you?"

Uh uh. He shook his head and jabbed a finger towards her. You first.

She chuckled. "Alright, me first. Well, for starters,I was captured long after I climbed out of that tree, so don't keep beating yourself up over that. We're going to have to have a talk about trusting each-other's skills as agents, but… considering what happened, I should have compromised and stayed behind as back-up."

He rolled his eyes. Like I gave you a choice to compromise.

"Nuh-uh. None of that now. You did what you felt you had to keep me safe."

He clenched his fists, and tapped them together. If I hadn't split us up, we could have taken them.

"Like I said, we'll work on it. Um… this is going to sound really calloused after everything you've been through, but… I haven't eaten anything but the emergency granola bar in my hat since before we left for the mission. Do you mind if I have a cookie?"

His face twitched into another smile as he nodded towards the jar. It's not sad now that you're back, nutcase.

"Hey! No need for name calling! But I suppose you're right. There'll plenty more where these came from." She handed him his plate, then bit into a cookie. "So yeah. I K.O.d a bunch of guards, got captured, same old, same old. Our charming enemy shoved me into an underground lake, and I think I lost consciousness, because the next thing I know, everything's blown up."

He was glad he hadn't told her that he knew all of this. Her version was practically comical compared to how he remembered it. No doubt what she was going for.

"Thankfully, the explosions tossed me out of the water, so I didn't drown. It'd knocked me around pretty decently, and everything was pitch black, but I noticed that the water was still flowing, so I followed it back to that broken water-main I'd stumbled upon to get inside in the first place. After that…" She shrugged, hints of fear and heartbreak in the corners of her eyes. "I couldn't find you anywhere."

He chattered softly, as he reached into his hat, and pulled out her watch. I know exactly how that felt. He dropped it into her hand.

She set it on the table, and rubbed the top of his head, and under his bill. "Still, here we are. Safe, sound, and ready to catch this creep! Right?"

He shook his head.

"Perry, I can handle it… honest!"

He took the report he'd written up for Monogram out of his hat and handed it to her… Monogram! He punched the button on his own wrist communicator while she unfolded the report. "You already got him? How long was I gone…"

His boss didn't look like he'd slept a wink. "Agent P? I thought I told you…"

He grinned, and flipped the watch around, showing the Major that his human agent was alive and well. "Great googily moogly! Where have you been, young lady?!"

She was a little preoccupied reading her partner's account of her untimely death, but in typical Annie fashion, she managed to smile. "Just got back. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble, sir."

"Oh no, not at all. We've just been busy coming up with a cover story, making funeral arrangements… that's all still coming out of your pay, missy! In the meantime…I'll get your equipment put back on-line, pronto. Not that you'll be needing it. You and Agent P are on leave until further notice, no arguments. Rest up."

She gave Perry a weak smile. "I'm not going to argue with him this time."

You argue about getting vacation time?

She motioned down at the papers, and seemed to know it was just an official duty form. "I wish you hadn't had to go through this."

He hugged her. It could have been worse.

She hugged him back. "Yes, yes it could have."

—

"I'm fine, really. We took the elevator for pity's sake!"

She looked fine, but she'd been through a lot. Still, it had been her own idea to prove to Doof she was alright in person, and he knew his friend would be relieved.

He opened the door, and chattered.

Doof banged his head hard as he climbed out from under the transport-inator. "Perry the platypus? I thought I told you that you should stay home for a few…" he froze as he saw who was following him. "AJ! You're alive! Oh, this is wonderful! Perry the platypus and I thought… but you probably know that by now, and…"

"Hold up just a sec, Doofenshmritz… did you just call me AJ?"

…. "No-o."

"You did! You called me AJ! All this time, you've been messing with me!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a nickname. Duh. And like I said, two letters are two letters. Now don't change the subject! Do you have any idea what you did, disappearing like that? Perry the platypus woke me up in the middle of the night, a broken mess, him, not me, for once, and I…"

Perry stepped in between them and the fight stopped before it could really start.

"Well, thank you for being there for him."

Doof nodded. "Thanks for, you know, not really being dead. Try to stay not that way, will ya?" He cleared his throat, then took a step forward to wrap an arm around her shoulder in an awkward hug.

Hmmm… they are both single…. He shook his head when he saw the look on Annie's face. He was pretty sure he'd never have to worry about his two best friends falling for each other. Annie seized the opportunity to step back when Doof blinked down at his chuckle.

"Great, now you're laughing at me? Well excuse me fore not being good long enough to understand social boundaries, Perry the platypus! Anyway! You two can have a seat on the couch if you're tired from your trip over here, and let me grab some… I don't know, I might have some crackers or something. "

Annie looked at the couch doubtfully, then shrugged. "Okay, but before you get some sort of complex, I have to warn you that I'm on pain meds for my ribs, and they're making me drowsy, so if I drift off…"

Doof's voice sailed back cheerfully. "You'll just be being your normal, rude self. I understand."

She crossed her arms with a sigh of exasperation, and he climbed up next to her, knowing she wasn't kidding about the drowsiness since she'd slept most of the way over here. She cuddled him close like a teddy bear. In a few second, her even breathing and the way her fingers stopped stroking his fur let him know she was out again.

Doof came out with the world's strangest assortment of snack foods. "I just grabbed a little of everything…" he stopped and smiled. "Hmmm, this is very familiar, Perry the platypus. You look a little trapped to me. Well, I didn't plan it, but I can't pass this opportunity up! I'm going to take advantage of this and force you to watch… old, home, movies!" He started to do his evil laugh, settling for a quiet version when Perry pressed his finger to his bill.

He set down the tray, and walked over to pop a tape into the VCR, continuing quietly. "Yep, it's too bad I didn't think of this back when I was still evil. A trap you can't hurt! Brilliant!"

He rolled his eyes. Sure, Annie's grip was snug, but he was hardly trapped.

"Oh yeah Perry the smartypus? Then how come you're letting put these on? Oyster cracker?"

He reached for some cheese instead, ignoring the cranberry sauce, peanut butter, and crushed bread completely.

"Here, try it with the crackers. It's really good."

Perry rolled his eyes again.

"I'm serious!" Doof lowered his voice again when Annie shifted a little in her sleep. "I'm serious. It should totally be a more widely accepted combination. Cheese and crackers. They just go together! Oh good, the movie's done rewinding."

He hit the play button, and Perry winced, expecting to see black and white shots from Drusselstine, or different angles of D.E.I. with Doof talking. Instead, the image that came up had a more security like quality to it. He smiled as he realized that it was a conglomeration of their daily routine.

Doof munched happily. "These are sooo funny. Painfully so, maybe, but there are quite a few funny shots of you, and I look hilarious when I'm being thrown through a wall!"

Perry reached for another slice of cheese, and an oval cracker.

You didn't need to trap me to get me to watch this.

A small inator they were fighting over exploded, leaving them booth standing there staring at each other in shock. Doof howled with laughter. "Your face!"

And your's?

"Hey, watcha doin'? Perry, you brought your security tapes?"

Doof grinned. "You have copies, too?"

Perry waggled his hand back and forth as he reached for another cracker. Not the same shots.

"Oh right, your hat cam. I've been asked to modify those…. Wait for it… Bam! Right there!"

On screen, Perry ended the fight with a spin kick that sent Doof into a wall.

Annie giggled mid yawn, and Perry offered her the snack tray. She looked at it uncertainly, then took a cracker and dipped it in some peanut butter.

Doof's howl brought his attention back to the screen as and over-caffeinated Doofenshrmitz accidentally kicked a shoe at him, knocking him over.

It was good to be alive.

—

A/N: I know, I know. None of you actually thought I was going to kill Annie. But who can pass up a cliff hanger like that? Besides I'll have you know that if it hadn't been for Perry the platypus, she totally would have been, at least shipped out, as punishment for taking over the story so often.

Anyway, that's that, and I'm sorry to everyone who wanted AJ out of there!

Thanks for reading!