I do not own any of these characters. Also, this chapter could be similar to chapter 15 of Taikopigeon's story "The day that I Died." So I will give him credit for this one.

I do not own any of these characters besides PJ and Winnie. They are my OCs.


Phineas cracked open a can of his brother's favorite brand of beer as he lazily laid on the couch in his messy living room. He took a sip while flipping the channels on the TV until and came across the news. He sighed deeply as he accidentally spilled a drop of his drip on his already messy tank top. He rubbed his chin and realized that he was growing a quite scruffy beard, which could be because he hasn't shaved in a while, or perhaps since the day he and the rest of the gang found out about Winnie's tragic death.

As of right now, PJ is still out like a light. Phineas had a hard time fathoming on how life could be so perfect on this day the previous year when he would catch his son and niece wrestling for the last of the British Biscuits his stepfather would bake. Now, Winnie Fletcher is no more, and PJ is in a deep state of unconsciousness.

As he was in the middle of his daily routine of watching the news, there was a knock on the door. Phineas rolled his eyes.

"Who could it be this time?" He exclaimed. He set his beer on the coffee table before getting up and walking through the front door. Honestly, he did not care if it was anyone, even if it was his own mother. He just wanted to be alone.

He opened the door and answered. "What?" He said contemptuously.

Then he felt his heart skip a beat. His entire world felt as if it had stopped spinning. His eyes widened at the sight laid before him. There standing before him was a young boy. He was wearing a hospital gown. He had the bluest eyes Phineas had ever laid upon. He also had freckles, black hair, and braces. But the one feature that caught Phineas' eyes, was the boy's unique triangle-shaped head. The boy looked absolutely exhausted, but still wore a sad smile at the 35-year-old man.

Phineas stammered as he finally found his words. "P-P-P-PJ?"

"Hello, dad."


Fred drove him and his brother 30 minutes towards their uncle's apartment. With each passing house, the two grew increasingly nervous. They both had no idea what's to come if they face Ferb for the first time in months. Fred was willing to back out, but Xavier was urging him to push forward.

The street they came across looked rather gloomy and slum. Danville was known as a peaceful and wonderful city, so the inner city would not look as bad if you were to compare it to many other cities in the Tri-State Area. However, both Xavier and Fred knew their uncle was better than to move here. There was trash all over the streets, people wearing woods as they walked past looking rather depressed, and the lamp posts were almost all broken.

"Okay, now take a left and park in the nearest parking space." Xavier directed his brother. Once Fred finally parked the car, he and his brother stepped out. They both stood in front of the car, staring at the worn-down apartment building.

"Uncle Ferb lives here?" Fred asked incredulously. Xavier nodded and said.

"It's now or never." He and Fred walking up 4 flights of stairs to reach Ferb's floor. As they neared Ferb's door, the strong stench of alcohol began to violate their nostrils. They began to cough up at each step they took towards their uncle's apartment. By the time they reached the door, both boys had their shirt collars over their noses in a desperate attempt to keep out the stench.

Xavier gave his brother a nod. Fred reluctantly knocked on the door. No answer. One last attempt and they have waited for about 3 minutes before someone answered.

"What?" Ferb answered contemptuously, carrying a bottle of beer in his hand/ Both Xavier and Fred were shocked. Their uncle had changed...and not in a good way. He looked horrific, he hadn't shaved in months, showing off a scruffy green beard. His hair looked horrendous, it was all over the place. Ferb also wore a tank top, stained with grease, beer, and vomit. His black khakis were stained pretty badly. Lastly, a terrible smell emanated from his body, attracting a multitude of flies. The man standing before the two boys did not look like the beloved uncle they grew up with.

Xavier managed to speak up. "Hey, Uncle Ferb. Do you remember me?"

Ferb squinted his eyes at the teenage boy. Xavier's blond hair looked very familiar to him, but the alcohol did a number on Ferb's memory. It took a while before an imaginary light bulb shot up from Ferb's head.

"Xavier." He said with a bit of light in his tone. "Good to see you again."

"You too," Xavier replied. He prodded his brother to move slightly forward, which made Fred feel quite uncomfortable. "Do you remember him also?" Xavier asked.

Fred's face turned red as his uncle Ferb began to examine him. Ferb nodded and said. "That's your brother...Fred."

Fred nodded with a nervous smile. "May we come in?" He asked politely.

"Sure boys," Ferb answered, letting his two nephews in.

When the two boys entered the apartment, the smell of alcohol grew increasingly worse, and they couldn't make a clean step since there were beer cans and bottles that littered all over the floor. The boys were utterly disgusted by the apartment as a whole, as there were food stains all over the walls, the kitchen was nothing more than a greasy mess, and the living room looked like a clip from the show Hoarding: Buried Alive.

Ferb sat on the recliner not the adjacent side of the room, while the boys sat on the couch in front of the broken TV. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Fred spoke up.

"So, Uncle, how have you been the past few months?" He asked.

"Swell, I guess."

"I see you have resorted to drinking." Xavier pointed out.

"Yeah...it helps with a lot that I have been going through."

"I see.." Fred said.

"So why are you boys here? Do your parents know you're here?"

Xavier answered. "No, we were just driving around town and we wanted to see how you were doing?"

"Don't mind me asking, but what resorted you to drinking, Uncle Ferb?" Fred asked with curiousness.

Ferb sighed. "Well lads, it started when your cousin...you know."

Xavier nodded. "I thought that would be the case, but uncle, you do realize the consequences of this, right?"

"Yeah...but.." Ferb began.

"Right?" Xavier pressed.

"Right, but..."

Fred interrupted. "Right, and you know that this isn't what Winnie would have wanted, right?"

"Boys, let me explain..." Ferb tried to, but Xavier spoke up.

"You know there are better ways to cope."

"But-"

"Other healthy ways to cope, right?" Fred said.

"Enough!" Ferb yelled, hopping from his seat. "Listen, boys, I get what you guys are trying to say, but why can't you realize that I can't just stop!"

Both Fred and Xavier were taken aback.

Ferb continued. "Trust me, boys, I have tried! I just..." The tears kept choking Ferb, and no one could blame him if he broke down and cried. He lost his daughter, he lost his wife, he lost his father, he lost his job, and he lost his house. To put it shortly, Ferb basically lost everything.

"Uncle Ferb, we're sorry. We just wanted to help." Fred exclaimed.

"You guys wanted to help?" Ferb asked with eyes narrowed. "How come your parents haven't answered my calls?"

Both boys shrugged. Xavier stood up and said. "Uncle Ferb, I know this is hard on you. In fact, I honestly have no idea how much it had to hurt to lose everything you hold dear. But we came here because I and Fred have had enough of this. We just want our family back!"

Ferb stood there with his eyes wide. Xavier continued. "Why can't we just go back in time and relive those days when it was us, our parents, you, Aunt Vanessa, Aunt Izzie, Uncle Phin, PJ, and Winnie? I know it hurts to lose Winnie, and I know how much you miss her because we miss her too...very much." Tears began to form in all three pairs of eyes as Fred stood up and spoke.

"Winnie was our friend, and this entire travesty should have brought this family together, but now it's falling apart. The point me and Xavier are trying to make to you is that drinking is not going to make these problems disappear. I'm sorry we weren't there for you before, by Uncle Ferb, we are here."

Ferb wiped the tears off his eyes, he then collapsed on the recliner and buried his head into his hands. He cried out his vain as his two nephews went over to embrace and comfort him the best they could.

This was all Ferb needed. He didn't need daytime drinking, or binge drinking, or having a vicious cycle of drinking, getting sick, blacking out, and waking up with his head throbbing. All he needed was his family, including his own nephews, to be there and comfort him the best they could while he was struggling with this mass amount of grief.

Xavier sniffled in his uncle's ear before whispering into it. "You know, Baljeet's wife is a rehab therapist. She can help you out, y'know."

Both boys pulled back from the embrace as their uncle nodded. "Yeah, I'll call her up."

Xavier and Fred gave huge smiles. After an hour or two of talking about whatnot, they decided to say farewell. The same day, they have told their parents of their meeting with Ferb and both Candace and Jeremy were more than happy to help Candace's grieving brother out. The next day, Fred and Xavier went to pick up their uncle, and they were both impressed with how Ferb had cleaned himself up. He had showered, shaved, combed his hair, and his attire assisted of his usual shirt, vest, and tie that he wore to college every single day.

Fred drove his brother and uncle all the way to Ginger's clinic. Ferb was happy to see his old friend again in a while, and the entire appointment consisted of Ginger explaining how the rest of the Fireside Girl alums are doing, as well as Ferb expressing his feelings from his daughter and his father passing away, to him divorcing his wife and losing his house. Ginger gave an overwhelming amount of support by offering Ferb some advice as to how he can repair his relationship with Vanessa, to learning other ways to cope with the loss of his beloved daughter Winnie. It was a rough process, but the Johnson Family knew that Ferb could do it. Ferb then thought of calling up Vanessa shortly, but he figured he would wait until he believed it was the right time.

Ferb completed his therapy after two weeks, and everyone was so proud of him. In a few short days, he found himself relaxing in the Johnson living room with his sister, brother-in-law, and his two nephews. They joked around until Candace's phone rang.

"Hello...yes..." Her eyes grew wide as she jumped from her feet. "Oh my god, we will be right there.

Jeremy stood and went over to his wife. "What's wrong, babe?"

"That was Phineas. PJ...he's awake."

Ferb, Fred, and Xavier all jumped from their feet as they exclaimed in unison. "WHAT!"


To be continued. Ha, I love these cliffhangers.