It had been swift.

Time passed; how much, or how little, was unknown to him. Most things were unknown to him. He became a shadow on the fringes of the universe, a lone consciousness drifting through the nether with neither shape nor memory. What happened in that time may as well have only been a dream. He had dreamed the nothing, and now...

He was awake again. Only instead of being in his bed, he was somewhere darker, somewhere smaller, somewhere filled with machines and wires... That couldn't be right. None of this was right. With growing alarm he remembered where he had been, remembered that he had not slept, that he had been in the belly of a metal beast -

Someone else was there. They were silhouetted by the lights, a shadow of a person, yet their form was unmistakable even for its subtle changes. The longer hair. The apron.

"...Phineas...?"

And Phineas smiled at him, smiled like his voice was the greatest thing to hear, as if all was right in the world and this strange place was just a humble part of the scenery. Phineas's fingers, so light on his cheek, radiated warmth - was he that cold? He couldn't tell.

"Welcome back, Ferb."

Ferb. Yes, his name was Ferb. And he had gone away.

"Back?" He said it slowly, testing it on his tongue, which felt like a lump of dead meat between his teeth. Everything was so dry. Even the air felt alive with electricity. Alive, but also dead, dead and dry and rotting.

Ferb put a hand to his aching head and sighed.

Phineas moved away from him, but was back in an instant, his fingers spidering their way to Ferb's throat.

"Yes, back," said Phineas, still smiling as though this were the happiest day on earth. "You've been out for a while. I thought... Well, never mind what I thought. You're back now."

The ache in Ferb's head subsided, and as he pulled his hand away, he saw the stitches along his forearm and over his wrist, knew then that what he remembered had been true. The sculpture they were building (a platypus, of course, everything was platypuses with them) had fallen, had sliced open his arm and who knew what else.

Phineas would know, though.

"Is that better?" Phineas asked as he drew away, a thick cable in his hand. "Your head was hurting, right? I'm sorry about that, I should have shut off the switch as soon as you... Never mind. How do you feel?"

There were heavy bags under his eyes, and his hair... Ferb knew it was shorter last he saw it. He knew that beautiful boy like the back of his own hand, only better, because it was Phineas. Time had passed and he had known that, but how much time? Had he been in the hospital, that would be one thing, but he was here...

Ferb raised his arm again and inspected the stitches. His vision seemed better; he could make out the very fibers if he focused hard enough. Phineas had done them, surely... And this building was probably the shed. Phineas had taken his unconscious body into the shed and treated his wounds.

"You didn't take me to a hospital."

Phineas surprised him by laughing.

"A hospital? Oh, no. I mean, the ambulance came, and they treated me because I tore myself up looking for you..." Phineas shook his head and looked away, to the windows. Unease blossomed in Ferb's stomach as he realized they were boarded up.

"Check out your other arm," Phineas said. "Then maybe you'll figure it out. I know you like to do that, make things out by yourself."

Of course he knew that. Ferb offered his brother a small smile, then lifted his right arm - only it didn't really lift. It was more like a slice through the air, and then it was still, gleaming in the lights above in an almost picturesque way.

It was gleaming.

Because it was completely metal.

Ferb quickly sat up on the table, his arm flexing and twisting effortlessly before his eyes. He clenched his fist and found that he could feel his fingers in his palm as though they were still made of flesh... Only he could feel the metal, too, and it was smooth and cold and not human at all.

As he considered this modification, Ferb realized how much heavier his body felt. Not only at the shoulder, but within his body, in his gut and his chest... The arm was not the only change.

Phineas's grin seemed much less endearing in the wake of this revelation.

"What happened to me, Phineas?" Ferb asked in a whisper. His throat was as dry as his tongue, and he rasped when he spoke. "Why is my arm like this? What did you do?"

"Do you like it?" Phineas was practically bouncing in place, obviously brimming with excitement. "You have no idea how hard it was to build without you. Everything was hard. It took me an entire month! Can you believe that? And I was working nonstop, too!" His hands were moving now; he was really into his spiel, like he had been waiting to talk for ages. "I mean I didn't realize how much I couldn't do in a day before! I never really had to think about it, but then there I was, working on the same thing more than once. I mean -"

"Phineas!"

He stopped abruptly, all focus on Ferb.

"What were you even doing? What happened to me?"

Ferb hated when he had to ask questions. Judging by the look on Phineas's face, the feeling was more or less mutual.

"You... You remember, don't you? The scrap sculpture?"

Ferb sighed and brought his right hand up to his forehead. Against skin, the metal was absolutely frigid. "Of course I do. It fell, didn't it? On top of me? What happened to me after that, Phineas? Why wasn't I in a hospital? What all did you do?"

"Well, what do you think happened?"

Ferb attempted to narrow his eyes and was surprised by a small, barely noticeable vibration from his left eye. He lifted his hand to feel it, then jerked it back in surprise.

Glass.

His eye was glass.

And within the glass would no doubt be more mechanics, with wires that went to his brain, implying that Phineas had opened his entire head -

"The metal tore you to shreds, dude."

Ferb returned his attention to Phineas, his organic eye opened wide. Phineas was smiling even more now. Grinning, in fact.

"But I fixed it. I fixed everything. I told them I could, Ferb, I told them nothing would keep us apart."

Ferb shook his head, trying his best to deny what was becoming more and more clear, what he was sure could not be possible -

"Not even death."

A heavy and unforgiving rain had begun to fall on Danville. Most residents had long ago sheltered themselves inside, leaving only the few stragglers unlucky enough to be forced outdoors by their obligations.

As the torrent cascaded down and turned the dirt into mud beneath the grand oak tree of miracles, Perry the platypus quietly thanked evolution for giving him a watertight coat.

His place beneath the tree was a constant reminder of what had been lost, but he remained out of a faithful duty to his remaining child, who so rarely came in long enough for indoors to be sufficient. Perry's first and foremost concern was always his boys; his own feelings, and the current weather, were irrelevant.

Not that Phineas ever really came out of the shed either. Not while Perry was awake, anyway. He was always locked away behind that horrible metal door, messing with things so important that he seemed to neglect all of his basic functions rather than leave it be. None of it sat very well with Perry. He regretted never setting up an escape tunnel in the shed, which he would have willingly crawled through in order to see what Phineas was up to. The door, being the only realistic option, was much too heavy for him to move on his own.

For the thousandth time that day, Perry lifted his head and looked towards the building with a longing sigh. He wondered, for the first time, if he could coerce Heinz into opening the door for him. He probably could. Perry knew that. Heinz would be more than willing to follow him and help out, would be happy to do anything that might repair their fractured relationship.

Perry just couldn't find it within himself to actually make it happen.

Having Heinz at the funeral was one thing; bringing him home was entirely another. Now, more than ever, Perry wanted to keep his nemesis at arm's length. Knowing he was sorry wasn't enough. The one time Monogram had even suggested he go out and stop Heinz, "to clear his mind," Perry instantly had flashbacks of the very moment that horrid machine had fired. Seeing the man who made it wasn't at the top of his to-do list.

Still... He wished he could go through that door. Phineas could be doing anything, and if he got hurt, who would know? Perry couldn't lose another child. The first was bad enough. Oh, to come home to the deafening wail of sirens... to see the body bag... It was the worst day of Perry's entire life.

Tears sprung to his eyes as he thought about it, and he covered his face with his paws. He had cried so much in the past month. Each day was more of a struggle than the last. Even after so much time had passed, he still found himself thinking Ferb might just walk out of the house and come give him a pet. He had to be there somewhere; one does not just vanish.

But Ferb hadn't vanished. He had been in the body bag, and later, in the coffin. Perry knew this. He had seen these things with his own eyes, had heard his family speak, had known their suffering without ever being able to show them that he knew.

His breath started coming in gasps, and he knew he would start to sob soon; he was glad he was alone, and in the rain, so that no one could see.

Because he had to keep his cover. If he blew it, he would never see them again, and that would be like losing all of them. He had to maintain an air of domesticity lest he ruin his life even further. And besides, Phineas needed him. Even if they barely had contact now, Perry was still the only one he interacted with at all, and when he slept, it was Perry he held in his arms. This was important.

And really, he needed Phineas, too. He needed all of his family. Losing them because he showed too much emotion just wasn't worth it.

Anger replaced the sorrow as Perry pounded his fists into the mud. Damn the O.W.C.A. and their rules! They were the only reason why he couldn't comfort his family like a human! And still, they were also the reason why he even existed, and to wish they had never been would be to wish himself away. If only they would just relax their rules a little. Phineas would believe any story they gave him! He could be made to think Perry was some one-of-a-kind government experiment! Phineas was trustworthy - they knew he was! They had watched him grow up alongside Perry himself!

With a heavy sigh he sat up and stretched out his legs, massaging his knees as tears continued to drip from his bill. There was no use in being mad. He could do nothing, and he knew he could do nothing. That was the beauty of the O.W.C.A., really; he was screwed with them and screwed without them.

"Perry?"

Alarmed, Perry fell onto his back and assumed a helpless stuck-turtle pose.

It was Candace who came to "free" him from the mud, and she surprised Perry by pulling him into an embrace. She was getting mud all over her nice sweater!

"Oh, Perry, what are you doing out here?" she asked as she pet his back. "You should be inside. And you probably need a bath..."

Perry pushed himself away from her and chattered. Though if he was honest with himself, a bath sounded wonderful.

Candace laughed and cradled him in her arms. He realized then that she was on her knees, in the mud, and was getting absolutely drenched - since when did she expend so much effort on him?

"I know you don't like baths, but you're filthy," she said. "Besides, wouldn't it be nice? Getting all clean and warm? I wouldn't mind a bath myself! Maybe I can wear my bathing suit and we can take one together."

Oh, that sounded so nice. Perry relaxed into Candace's grasp in the hopes that he might encourage her to do as planned.

Then he remembered the door.

Perry leapt from her arms and ran over to the shed, chattering as he went. Candace pushed herself to her feet and followed. He watched her as she walked, found himself amazed as ever by the swing of her hips. Even when depressed she walked with confidence. Becoming an adult looked good on her.

"You want in there?" Candace asked in a worried tone of voice. "I don't know, Perry... Phineas has been pretty clear about no one going in." She hesitated, then bit her lip. "I am worried about him, though... I bet you just wanna check on him, huh, Perry?"

He chattered in reply.

Candace leaned over to pick him up, and he allowed it, even relaxed in her grip right away. He could feel her shaking as she pet his head. Whether it was because of the rain or her anxiety, he wasn't sure.

She seemed hesitant as they stood before the door, and Perry could feel her heartbeat as it pounded out of control.

Then she raised her hand to knock.

"Everything is functioning properly. To be honest, I was expecting worse than that - but you always subvert expectations, huh, Ferb?"

Ferb remained silent as Phineas milled about behind him. The electric cables hooked into his back twitched momentarily, and he refrained from glancing back to see why. He was trying his hardest to pretend they didn't even exist.

Unfazed by the silence, Phineas went on. "Now, you mostly run on electricity, plus a little motor oil to keep everything running smoothly. But here's the neat part - you've also got artificial blood! That one was a doozy to figure out, believe me. I wanted to just use oil, but keeping your skin alive just wasn't going to work out with that. You better start wearing sunscreen, because if you get skin cancer after all that work I went through, I'm gonna be pretty ticked."

He laughed at his own morbid joke, loud and clear and happy. Ferb remained silent, his fingers tightening on the edges of the table.

Phineas reappeared before him and looked into his eyes before scribbling his apparent findings on a clipboard. "Optic performing flawlessly... Organic working..."

If he had seen any of the anger or pain in Ferb's eyes, he made no mention of it. Nothing in his body language suggested he had known. That was typical, really; Ferb hadn't expected any less.

As Phineas set down his clipboard on the counter and untied his thick butcher's apron, Ferb found himself falling into the familiar old habit of admiring his brother's body. Only this time, instead of being excited by what he saw, he was dismayed; the black sweater and jeans Phineas wore hung loosely off of his frame, which was significantly thinner than Ferb recalled it being.

The anger began to ebb as worry took its place.

"...Phineas?"

"Hm?" Phineas turned on his heel and stepped to Ferb's side, his hands already going for the cables. "Are you alright? Everything feeling okay?"

"Have you been eating?"

Phineas faltered and took a step back.

"Uh... no," he said as he busied himself with the clipboard again. "I haven't been doing a lot of things, actually... Sleeping, brushing my hair, changing my clothes... Bathing... I know that's gross."

Ferb frowned, his shoulders slumping under the unseen weight of his brother's health. Phineas noticed and turned away completely.

"It's really gross, I know, I'm sorry. I... I'll take a shower tonight, promise. You don't have to -"

"Phineas."

They made brief eye contact, and then Phineas was looking at the floor. It wasn't often that he neglected himself, but it had happened in the past - it was always Ferb who reminded him to care for himself when things got hectic.

Now...

"You have to eat," said Ferb as he held out a hand. "And all of those other things. Aren't you hungry?"

Phineas took his hand and held it firmly, his eyes wandering up until they made contact again. "I... I know. I'm sorry. I get hungry, I just... I had to finish this..."

"I know you did. It's finished now. Go eat."

The laugh that left Phineas was uplifting, and Ferb found himself relaxing as his brother squeezed his hand. "I will, I will! Don't have a cow, Mom."

Phineas was still giggling as Ferb rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away. It was all in good fun; he'd have punched Phineas if he weren't afraid it might shatter his entire body.

They were hugging before he knew it, and Ferb was more than happy to melt into the embrace, his metal arm tracing the contours of Phineas's body with new interest. The nerve endings worked so well.

"I missed you," said Phineas as he pulled away. "A lot. I'm so glad you're back, Ferb."

Ferb opened his mouth to reply when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be Mom!" Phineas grinned and clapped his hands together, then ushered Ferb from the table. "I knew she'd come out here eventually - oh, she's gonna be so excited! Wait until she sees your new eye!"

"Phineas, I'd rather not -"

Phineas was already heading for the door, leaving Ferb to back away into the shadows, praying he wouldn't be seen.

He hadn't even begun to consider the rest of the family. The day the strange machine landed in their backyard, the one they reverse engineered, their mother had gone completely crazy trying to get rid of it or get their father to see it; Ferb had always known she would have much the same reaction towards anything else of that nature, especially one he and Phineas built. This... this was so much more than that in all the worst ways.

He had been dead.

She couldn't see him revived.

When Phineas opened the door, it was not Mum standing there in the rain - it was Candace and Perry. Ferb's heart sank even lower as he pressed himself against the back wall. In the darkness, he could clearly see the blue glow emanating from his left eye reflecting off of the metal surfaces and cables around him.

"Candace! Hi!" Phineas put a hand on his sister's arm, then on Perry's head. "Oh, there you are, Perry! How are you guys?"

"Well, you're in a good mood," Candace said with a tired smile. "We were just checking on you. Perry was..."

Ferb stilled his body as much as he was physically able in a desperate attempt to become one with the wall. Still, she saw him, even made eye contact with him. Through the optic he could see the color drain from her face.

She turned her head until her eyes were back on Phineas. Her mouth opened, but for a few moments, there were no words.

"Phineas..."

"It's great, isn't it?" Phineas asked with a gleaming grin. "My best work yet. I told you guys I could fix it, didn't I? You have to trust me."

Candace shook her head slowly, her eyes drifting back to Ferb, locking onto him.

"What have you done?"

Perry wondered how he had not known what was happening.

It all fit. All the hints and clues from the day it happened onward, all the little puzzle pieces picked up along the way, fit together to form a picture of Ferb. He was at the dead center of it all. That one cog that made the entire machine work.

And here he was.

Candace was shaking harder, and now Perry knew it was definitely the anxiety. She had every right to be upset. What she was seeing was right out of a horror film, a monstrosity cobbled together from pieces of her dead brother. His face was gouged and scarred, his right arm a metal skeleton, his left a stitched gray mess...

But in the remaining eye, Perry could see Ferb. And that was all that really mattered.

He jumped down from Candace's arms and looked up to her, pleased to have her attention for just long enough to toss his head in an indication for her to leave, get away from this mess. Perry would handle this. He had to.

Candace did not seem to wonder why he was suddenly acting in such a way; she only did as she was told and made her exit.

"Candace, where are you going? Are you going to get Mom?" Phineas waited for a reply and only got the back door slamming shut in response. He shrugged, then looked down to the ground and smiled.

"Hiya, Perry," he said. "You wanna say hi to Ferb?"

Perry looked at Phineas for a moment, then took a hesitant step towards the shadows in the back of the shed. They shifted in unease and attempted to back away from him, but there was no more room to back into.

Perry chattered to let his boy know it was alright.

The blue light on the left side of Ferb's face flickered, then dimmed as he sighed and closed his eye. Perry could tell he was afraid. Of course he was; who wouldn't be? Perry was scared too. Of a lot of things. But he could still see his child in that eye, knew this was the same boy who had been alive only a month prior, the same boy he slept with every other night.

What Phineas had done... was abhorrent.

But Perry did not disagree with it.

Finally, Ferb knelt to the ground, one of his legs creaking as he did so; there was more metal than just his arm. Of course there was.

Ferb held out his arms, and Perry broke into a run and thudded against his chest.

"Perry!" Ferb said, laughing as Perry pawed at his neck and face and licked his nose. This was absolutely Ferb, one-hundred percent. His boy. His precious baby boy who had been in that awful body bag, who they had hidden away in the coffin, who he never got to say goodbye to - this was his boy.

"Somebody missed you," said Phineas from his spot by the door. "See, Ferb? You've got nothing to worry about."

Ferb held Perry up above his head and laughed again as Perry struggled to reach him. "If everyone thought like our platypus, the world would be a much different place."

"That it would." Phineas approached them and sat down on the floor, cross-legged, so Ferb could pass Perry to him. Perry had so dearly missed being loved on by the both of them. He missed them. He missed their being together, missed everything they did and even the things they didn't do. There had never been one without the other, never been just a Phineas or a Ferb; it was Phineas and Ferb, and it had been that way since they were four years old.

Fifteen years of love and imagination almost cut short by a stupid machine and a useless fight.

Ashamed of himself and overwhelmed by his emotions, Perry laid across Phineas's lap and buried his face in Ferb's offered hand.

They stayed that way for several blissful minutes, their silence broken only by Perry's occasional chatter when Ferb dared to stop petting his head. He would have been content to stay there for the rest of forever if he could. The world was back in balance and he was happy.

"We should go see mom," Phineas said.

Perry lifted his head and frowned, but it went unnoticed between them.

"I... don't know about that." Ferb reached for the head that was no longer there, then set his hand on his lap. "I doubt she's going to take this well..."

Phineas shrugged and lifted Perry's tail before letting it drop back on his legs, an action with no real meaning behind it. "You can't live out here. It's gotta happen sooner or later, and I'm sure she'll be happy."

No, she won't, Perry thought, but he didn't otherwise object as he was lifted and carried to the door.

Ferb turned out to be waterproof; that was good to know. Perry wouldn't expect anything less from Phineas though.

He wondered, as they reached the back door, if he should have been more afraid.

"M-Mom... Mom, you have to... see what Ph-Phineas did..."

Linda tightened her grip on the wash cloth she held and exhaled hard through her nose. Not now, she thought to herself, but the tears were already starting. She turned from the sink with some already trailing down her cheeks.

"Candace, no," she said, her voice as firm as she could manage. "Unless your brother has shot himself in the head, I don't want to hear it." It was harsh, and a bit gruesome; but in that moment, her head ringing with a thousand memories of Mom, Mom, come see what Phineas and Ferb did!, it was all she could manage to say.

Upon closer inspection, Candace was shaking and pale, her gaze unfocused. For a moment, it crossed Linda's mind that perhaps Phineas had shot himself, but then his voice broke through her thoughts and the idea was pushed away.

"Mom, guess what I did," he said, his voice chilling, filled with something she didn't want to admit was there.

A plate crashed to the kitchen floor and shattered into a thousand pieces in the ensuing silence. No one moved to clean it up.

"Hello, Mum," said Ferb.