A/N This is a Whumptober fic.

"But your prompts don't match up with anyone else's, Picasso!"

Yes, yes, I know. I had this idea last October and only now is it actually getting started, right at the same time as this year's Whumptober. There seems to be very little whump focused around our favorite inventors and I thought I'd rectify the problem. So, this is a collection of Phineas and Ferb (which I don't own in case anyone forgot) one-shots following last year's prompts. The stories will be focusing on Phineas and Ferb, so if you want Perry whump, Doof whump, Candace whump, etc., this story isn't for you. Neither is it for Phinerb shippers, so if you're looking for anything more than sweet brotherly love, please look somewhere else!

This is also a song fic. Each chapter is titled with a line from the song "Brother" by Kodaline (which I don't own either!). I'd encourage you to give it a listen while you read, but it's not necessary. I'm going to try to have a chapter of this up each week, so yes, it will run way after Whumptober is over! The prompts are completely out of order because I attached each one to a line from the song and I'm going through them in order.

Finally, this fic is rated T because of the potentially disturbing nature of some of the prompts. I'll be putting specific trigger warnings at the beginning of each one-shot.

Okay, after that long A/N, please read and review, but most of all, enjoy!

*Trigger warning for references to child abuse and negative foster care experiences*

When We Were Young

Prompt - Forced Mutism (You're Not Making Any Sense)

Phineas felt bad, but he was very happy when Miss Jenny walked into the six- and seven-year old's dormitory holding Ferb's hand.

He knew deep down this wasn't good. The loud woman and the tall man had been the first family to take Ferb home with them in a while, and Ferb was getting older. The older you got, the less likely families were to actually adopt you after taking you home.

But Phineas couldn't tamp down excitement as the green-haired boy made his way into the boy's dormitory at the Smile Away Group Home, clutching a pillowcase carrying his belongings. Phineas didn't like being away from Ferb. They'd both been here since they were little, and Phineas insisted that they were brothers. They had both been taken in by a foster family while their families were dealing with domestic issues, but when their parents died, they ended up in the group home run by Miss Jenny.

Ferb was walking very slowly, looking as if he'd like to leave Miss Jenny behind. His eyes were downcast. Then he looked up and caught sight of Phineas. He immediately broke away from the young woman, running over and jumping onto Phineas' bed. He grabbed Phinehas's hand. The little boy noticed his friend's hand was shaking.

"Ferb seems very happy to see you, Phineas," Miss Jenny said, smiling. "Have fun. Snack time is in ten minutes."

Then she turned and walked out of the room, leaving them behind. The room wasn't quite empty though. Baljeet, Buford and Django were outside on the playset, but Irving had been inside, trying to talk to Phineas. For some reason, the six-year-old really looked up to him. Now, Ferb, his other hero, was back too, and he bounced over to the bed.

"Hiyah, Ferb! You're back! I mean, that's bad, but I missed you! What were they like? The family, I mean. Were they nice? I hope you got the nicest family in the world!"

There wasn't a hint of jealousy or sarcasm in the boy's words, even though no family had taken him home in two years. Miss Jenny did her best to find homes for all her children, but lately very few people had been willing to adopt or even foster children.

Generally, Ferb would have smiled and answered Irving. He wasn't super talkative, but friendly nonetheless, and he'd always respond to his friends, even if he didn't talk much on his own. Today, though, he just turned away from Irving, pushing his face into the pillow.

Phineas was worried now. What had happened to Ferb? He wasn't acting normal.

"Maybe later Irving? I think Ferb's just glad to be back."

Most of the boys, and even some of the other girls, like little Isabella in the matching girl's dorm, had become pretty good at reading Ferb's body language, but Phineas was by far the best.

Irving looked a little sad, but before long Django came in, looking for another boy to play four-square with, and Irving ran out to play.

Phineas looked over at his 'brother'. Ferb still had his face in the pillow and he was shaking. Eventually, though, the shaking subsided and he got up, pulling out his pillowcase.

As Ferb set up his bed next to him again, Phineas gave him a once over. No obvious signs of injury. That was good.

Then, "You okay?"

That was always the standard question you asked when someone came back to the home. Phineas waited for the 'yeah', the stereotypical answer.

Silence.

Phineas looked up. "Ferb?"

The British boy ducked his head, nodding with his eyes downcast.

Phineas was worried. Ferb always talked. Maybe not much, but he talked plenty to Phineas, and sometimes with everyone else.

"Was the family nice?"

Ferb shrugged, not looking up.

Phineas opened his mouth to ask another question, but just then Buford, Baljeet, Irving and Django came running in. Evidently, Irving had spread the word that Ferb was back.

"Ferb!" Baljeet cried, and all the boys made a beeline for Phineas and Ferb's corner of the room.

"You're back!"

"They treat you good, Bean Pole?"

"What are you and Phineas gonna build?"

Kids at the home usually bathed in attention like this. Ferb just looked like he was going to be sick.

Thankfully, Miss Vanessa came into the room, the four and five-year-olds in a neat line behind her. "Hey, kids. Snack time."

All the other boys hurried to line up by the door, ready to join behind like routine. Phineas hesitated.

"'Nessa?" he asked. "I want to stay with Ferb here. Please?"

Vanessa was very nice, so she just winked and left the room, the others following her. Buford looked over at them curiously, probably wondering how anyone could miss snack time, but he just shrugged and left.

Phineas turned his full attention to Ferb the second the dormitory was empty. What was wrong with him?

Or, what had those bad people done wrong to him?

Phineas tried one more time to get an explanation. "Ferb?"

Ferb just squeezed Phineas' hand hard.

"Okay. You don't want to talk about it?"

Ferb shook his head. Phineas knew better than to push the subject.

"Okay, then you don't have to talk. Can I talk?"

Ferb nodded. He still hadn't met Phinehas's gaze.

"Let me show you what I planned!" Phineas reached under his bed with one hand, his other hand still tight in Ferb's, and found his most recent plans, this time for training giant flying eagles. The dorm had just learned about the Revolutionary War, and Phineas thought the army might have been much more successful if they had ridden on what had become their national mascot.

It had been almost a week since Ferb had come back from the L'enges and he still hadn't spoken a word. Miss Jenny had tried to talk to him but hadn't managed to get anything out of him. She seemed very worried and had even called the police about it. Phineas knew all of this because he'd started listening at her door this week. He knew he shouldn't, but he was so worried about Ferb that he didn't care.

Phineas wondered if he should talk to her. He knew he was only seven, but he had a guess about what was going on. When Ferb lined up with the other boys to take a shower, he kept his clothes on until he got in. None of the other boys bothered with privacy anymore, and Ferb hadn't either, until now. He always wore long sleeves too. Miss Vanessa had tried to take him to the nurse yesterday, but when she told him so and gently took his arm, Ferb had let out a blood-curdling scream, the only sound he'd made since coming back to Smile Away. Vanessa had immediately let go of his arm and went to get the nurse herself.

Ferb turned to Phineas, his eyes wide and pleading. So, Phineas had hidden Ferb in the closet and told Miss Vanessa and the nurse that he didn't know where he had gone.

But now Phineas didn't know what to do. Ferb hadn't spoken a word since coming back. He always kept his shirt on, avoided the Misses and any other adults like the plague, going so far as to hide when any came to visit, and wasn't inventing anymore. The last several lunch times had been flops because Phineas was awesome at inventing ideas, but he wasn't quite as amazing at building them.

That, and there were the nightmares. The first night, Phineas woke up with a start, unsure what had woken him or what was wrong. Then he heard whimpering. This was unsurprising. Many of the kids here had nightmares. You didn't end up at the home through any happy circumstances. Baljeet would cry for his home in India which he and his parents had left behind, only for his father to die and his mother to be unable to support him. Buford, whose mother had been abused by his terrible excuse for a father, would sometimes cry out for the pet fish he'd lost. Irving would mutter the name of his older brother, who was out of the home and trying to make enough money to support them both, in his sleep. Phineas had been told by his friends that he was always asking, "Where's Perry?". Phineas couldn't remember who Perry was anymore, but he must have been someone important.

Phineas looked around to see which one of these people was making all the whining, crying noises. But Baljeet next to him, and Irving, Buford, and Django across from him all seemed to be sleeping peacefully. That only left...Ferb. But Ferb never had nightmares. Or if he did, they were always silent ones.

Phineas turned to see the British boy in the bed next to his whimpering in the back of his throat, tears slipping down his cheeks. What was making Ferb so sad and scared?

Ferb twisted a little in his sleep, cowering from something.

"Who is that?"

Phineas jumped. Baljeet had gotten out of bed and crawled onto Phineas' covers, his breath tickling Phinehas's ear. "Ferb?"

"I guess."

Both boys watched as Ferb twisted and cried, unsure what to do. Should they wake him up? Get Miss Candace or Mr. Jeremy, the night workers? But as they sat there, conflicted, Ferb gradually calmed down. His breathing evened out and he rolled over, away from them.

Phineas and Baljeet exchanged a look of relief. "Hey, 'Jeet?" Phineas said, "Let's not talk about this tomorrow." He instinctively knew that Ferb would not like being fussed over. Besides, this was probably just a random, one-night occurrence. The other boy nodded before slipping back to his own bed.

But it wasn't. A week passed, and before long, everyone in the dorm knew Ferb was having nightmares, but none of them knew what to do about it.

Finally, by the eighth day, Phineas had had enough. When he woke up to hear Ferb crying again, he glanced around to make sure no one else was awake yet. The small, blue-painted dorm was quiet, three beds on each side holding sleeping boys.

Phineas threw back the covers and got up, wincing as his bedsprings creaked loudly. He looked around again. No one had stirred, even with all the noise coming from Ferb.

His bare feet shivered when they hit the cold floor, but Phineas quickly hurried over to where Ferb's bed was and climbed in. He grabbed the British boy's shoulder. "Ferb."

Ferb recoiled at the touch, pulling away. Phineas shook him a little, but Ferb continued to resist Phineas' hand on his shoulder, trying to twist himself out of Phinehas's touch. As he rolled onto his stomach, the arm of his pajamas slipped. There was a dark bruise there.

Phineas quickly released Ferb's shoulder. Oh no.

Where had he gotten that bruise? Not here. Ferb had been so quiet and withdrawn that he hadn't had any chance to get hurt. Besides, whenever they built things they were always very careful. One of their first inventions had been safety helmets that looked like hair, for goodness' sake!

He gently reached up and pulled the back of Ferb's pjs away.

Bruises. So many bruises covered his brother's back. Phineas' vision went red as he recognized the shapes of handprints and a belt buckle. Marks showed all the way up and down Ferb's back, bruises in all sorts of ugly colors.

Phineas couldn't help himself. He turned Ferb, who'd calmed down, around gently and unbuttoned the shirt.

More bruises. His torso was completely covered in them. There looked like there had been even more, but most of these had healed.

Phineas gasped. Then looked up to see two blue terrified eyes staring into his.

"Ah!" Phineas fell back away from Ferb, who hurriedly clutched his shirt to his chest.

"Ferb! What was that?"

Ferb shook his head. Nothing.

"That wasn't nothing!"

Ferb's expression turned from a fearful one to one full of suspicion. He gestured toward Phineas' bed, then his, as if asking what he was doing out of bed.

"I'm sorry... You were having a bad dream and I wanted to wake you up."

Ferb wrapped his pajamas more closely to his chest, still eying Phineas with a guarded look.

"I...saw one bruise on accident. So, I looked for more. But that's not the point! How did you get hurt?"

Ferb's anger fizzled out, and he looked down, avoiding Phineas' gaze while buttoning up his shirt.

"This is important! Was it your family?"

"They're NOT my family!" Ferb's voice burst out, but he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and looked around jumpily. No one had stirred. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He looked helplessly up at Phineas, who wrapped an arm around him. It was always hard for kids here, some of whom had known their real parents, to think about replacing them. But if the replacements were abusive, that was even worse.

Phineas held Ferb while he cried, but he couldn't really focus on Ferb's sadness. Whenever he looked at Ferb, all he could see was those bruises. He couldn't let Ferb avoid the subject.

"Ferb. Where did you get those? You need to tell Miss Jenny or one of the other Misses, they'll help them feel better AND take care of whoever did it. Wait. It wasn't one of them, was it?"

Ferb looked jumpy at the mention of adults, but he shook his head no. Phineas took note, but kept going.

"Was it one of the boys? I know Buford can play pretty rough sometimes…" Phineas knew this couldn't have caused what he saw, but he had to get Ferb to keep responding.

This was met with a vehement shake of the head from Ferb, accompanied by a glare.

"Okay then. Was it your… the family who took you home?"

Ferb quickly shook his head, trying to duck his head away from Phineas' gaze, but Phineas could see his eyes anyway and the tears collecting there told the story on their own.

Phineas sat back on his heels. "It was them."

Ferb just shook his head again.

"Okay, Ferb, I don't know why you don't want to talk to me. But we can work this out! Just...you don't have to talk. I'd never make you do anything! Just keep nodding or shaking your head. But please...be honest. Please."

Ferb just looked at him.

"Did the L'enge family do this to you?"

A long pause. Then, slowly, but very distinctly, Ferb nodded.

Phineas felt a surge of hatred, but outwardly, his expression was calm. "Okay. Okay, that's bad, but thanks for telling me. But why?"

Ferb looked helplessly at Phineas.

"Okay, okay, I'll guess. They were beating the crap out of you for kicks." The anger came out in Phineas' words more than he intended, and he winced. Ferb just shrugged.

"Maybe? I'll try again. Um...they were punishing you."

Ferb shakily nodded yes.

The surge of hatred gushed into full-blown fury. Ferb was an obedient child, and even if he wasn't, nothing could justify what Phineas had seen.

"I... I'm sorry Ferb."

Ferb just shrugged again.

"But why? What could make them so angry?"

Phineas sat there, his mind in a storm. Had Ferb broken something? Had he unwittingly done something that messed up a rule? What, what, what could have made anyone so angry?

Ferb hesitantly tapped his lips.

"Your...mouth. You were eating too much."

Shake of the head.

"You were...talking too much."

Nod.

That...that was impossible. Ferb hardly talked as it was. How could he make anyone angry by talking?

It was the look of utter confusion and distress on Phineas' face that broke Ferb's silence. His voice was dry and raspy, but it was Ferb's. Phineas could have cried at the sound of it.

"Any time I made a sound, they hit me." At the sound of his own voice, Ferb cringed and looked around. Phineas opened his mouth, but the look on Ferb's face made him shut it again. He just settled in next to Ferb and hugged him.

The lack of eye contact seemed to help. Ferb continued. "They'd just scream at me if I said anything. I don't know why! They said I was just a whiny baby, and I needed to shut my mouth and be grateful for what I had, and that they shouldn't have to deal with my mouth. That they were taking care of me, wasn't I grateful? I must have been breaking rules… I must have messed up!"

"You wouldn't," Phineas said fiercely.

Ferb looked at Phineas with anguish, his voice dying away to a whisper. "What if he's right? What if that's why I'm here? What if that's why no one wants me?"

"No. You know that's not true. You had a good dad, and I had a good mom." The tears came as Phineas pulled up the picture of his mother, with her red hair and soft eyes, and her smell of pie. That was all he could remember now.

"But my mum didn't like me talking either! This wasn't the first time I got hit!"

Phineas fell back into the pillows, stunned.

"She hit Father when she didn't like what he said. He tried to protect me, but he couldn't always be around, and she didn't like anything I said! That's what all homes are like!"

"What if Miss Jenny is angry if I talk? She takes care of me; what if I annoy her? What if she hits me?" Phineas was shocked at this idea. How long had Ferb been with the L'enges? Five weeks? How much damage had they done to him? How much damage had his…mother…done beforehand that Ferb was now afraid of everyone who took care of him?

Well. Not everyone.

"Ferb. I promise Miss Jenny and the others won't hurt you. They just want to help…" Seeing the frightened look on Ferb's face, Phineas plowed on. "But you know that I like to hear you talk, right?"

Hesitantly, Ferb nodded.

"And that I always have your back, right?"

Ferb nodded again, this time more confidently.

"Then you can always, always talk to me. And trust me."

Another nod. Phineas restrained the feeling of sunshine in his stomach from becoming a smile as wide as the sun. It wasn't appropriate.

"I...I'm sorry, Ferb. Then trust me if I say that Miss Jenny and the others would never hurt you?"

Ferb looked hesitant.

Phineas frowned inwardly. He was asking too much. "Okay, never mind, though I think that's true. Trust me when I say that if anyone ever hurts you like that again, you won't be alone. If that ever happens here? We'll run away. And you're not going anywhere without me ever again. You're my brother!"

Some of the fear that had clouded Ferb's eyes slipped away. He nodded but stopped short of a verbal response.

"That's okay," Phineas said, a little sad but understanding all the same. "Come on, let's go back to sleep. Move over." This was something to talk about more in the morning.

He pushed Ferb over until there was room for him to burrow under the covers, making him smile. Then the two brothers curled up, trusting each other to keep the nightmares away.

A soft voice broke the silence. "You're my brother, too, Phineas."