Set during Cheers for Fears. TW for violence (nothing explicit, but better safe than sorry) Ft. a sympathetic and apologetic Heinz
We as the audience know for a fact what Perry's biggest fear is, because he's lived through it on screen - losing his kids.
"Let's fire this baby up and see what scares you!" Doofenshmirtz cackled.
Perry froze, eyes tracking his nemesis across the floor to the -inator, which was pointed directly at him. Any other time, almost any other -inator, he wouldn't be worried. Except this one…he had one fear, one major fear, and if Doof saw it-
"Cause, you know, it's gonna materialize right over there."
No, no, no, he was a secret agent, he was trained for this, he was trained for this, it wouldn't-
The beam hit him and Perry slammed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as a tingling feeling moved up and down his body, dissipating almost as fast as it had arrived. For a moment, there was silence, and he thought his secret agent training had kicked in and blocked out his mind from the ray's effects.
"Perry!" Phineas' voice yelped, filled with terror.
Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
Perry wrenched his eyes open against his better judgement, twisting in his rope bindings and searching the room, his heart pounding in his chest. Across the lab, his boys – his kids – were being dragged away by several people who Perry assumed were evil scientists, if the coats were any indication. They were unidentifiable to the agent, but his focus wasn't on them anyway – Phineas and Ferb were kicking and twisting in the grasp of two of them, and Candace in the hands of two more.
He was frozen – in the back of his mind, his brain was screaming at him that this wasn't real. This wasn't real. His boys were at home, in the backyard, with a giant bucket of popcorn and their best friends. Candace was up in her room, on the phone with Stacy like always. They were safe, they were safe, they were safe.
The boys hit the ground hard, and seconds later Candace was thrown after them, and Perry tensed in the ropes, struggling to get his arms free. The kids looked up at him, wide eyed. Candace gathered her brothers into her arms, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at him, pleading. She almost never cried around him. Perry's heart lurched.
They were safe, they were safe.
"Last chance, Perry the Platypus," one of the faceless scientists cackled. "Or they eat it. Give us the location of OWCA."
A gun safety clicked off and Perry whimpered, straining his arms against the ropes in vain. He wasn't free, he couldn't talk, he couldn't give them the information they wanted. He would give them the information in a heartbeat if they'd just let him, if they'd just walk over and untie him, give him a pen, give him his kids back and let them escape. Hell, he'd draw them a damn map if they would just let his kids go.
They were safe.
Ferb's eyes were teary. "Perry, please."
The gun pressed to Candace's head, finger on the trigger.
They were-
A bang, and Perry jumped a mile, a panicked chatter slipping through his teeth before he realized that it wasn't the vision, it wasn't his kids in trouble, that the sound was Doof's -inator exploding, and he gasped out a breath as the vision vanished, rippling into nothingness. The rope went slack around him and Perry toppled to the floor, barely managing to hit it on his hands and knees instead of his head.
"Perry the Platypus, I-"
He stood so fast he almost headbutted Doof from where he was kneeling next to him, turning away from the man and pulling up his watch to his face, frantically clicking through the apps until he found the one that showed constant video feed from his backyard. His heart slowed it's racing as he took in his kids, perfectly safe, still in the backyard with their friends and some parts that hadn't been there when he left. As he watched, Candace entered on screen with a box full of trinkets, and his shoulders slumped in relief. He shut the watch off and pressed both hands to his eyes, trembling.
"Are you-?"
He whirled on Heinz, tears clouding his vision and hands fisted at his sides, only to find the man, somewhat charred and disheveled looking, sitting on his knees on the floor with a haunted look in his eyes. He put his hands up slowly and Perry swallowed, shrinking back. "I'm sorry, Perry the Platypus."
Perry let out a tense breath, glancing back to the remains of the -inator before returning his gaze to Doof. He furrowed his eyebrows in a question.
Heinz rubbed his jaw. His eyes flickered to the -inator, to the corner where the vision had been, back to Perry. "You were uh…you were panicking. And that scene was…" he trailed off, lips twisting. His nose wrinkled. "I didn't want to watch it either. I'm sorry. That I made you see-"
Perry shook his head, cutting Heinz off. He hadn't known that that's what Perry would see. He couldn't blame the scientist. He took another shaky breath. Pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes again. In the morning, he'd find some way to wipe Doof's memory of his kids. But right now, it was all he could do to stay standing without bolting for home.
"Go home, Perry the Platypus. It's okay," Doof promised, like he'd read his mind. "I'm not…I won't…after that, I don't really want to uh…see what else anyone else is afraid of. Even if I still could."
Perry searched the man's face, finding nothing but sincerity, and he gave the scientist a weak smile and a salute before racing for his jet pack.
They were safe. They were safe.
But it wouldn't hurt his heart to check.
