"And that's really all I can tell you."

Irving stared at Isabella as she lifted her water bottle to her lips and downed the rest of its contents in a few heavy gulps. The crackle of plastic as her grip tightened, perhaps out of anger or anxiety, reminded Irving of electricity.

"Wow," he said as he leaned back against the cough cushions, eyes wide and expression awed. "Wow. This would be so cool if he hadn't went berserk like that."

"I was ready to go along with it," Isabella admitted as she set the bottle down on her coffee table. "I just... wanted Phineas to understand that he couldn't go dragging Ferb in public like nothing was wrong. And next thing I knew..." She shook her head and ran an unsteady hand through her hair, somehow catching no snags and making it all the way to the end. "Baljeet was asleep last time I visited, and Buford refuses to talk about it. I've never seen him so… I don't know... vulnerable."

"The whole world's turned upside down, huh?" said Irving with a nervous smile.

Silence stretched between them as the wind outside shoved sharp branches against the windows, sending uneasy shrieks through the house. The gale had been picking up in the rain's absence, turning into a storm all its own; the weather was so chaotic these days. Irving wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened.

Maybe God was mad.

Internally he chastised himself for the thought. Religion wasn't a strong point of the DuBois family, no sir. Especially when it came to Albert, who'd taught his younger brother all his skeptical and so-called "superior" ways before eventually moving out of the house (with much prodding from their parents). And even without that... Phineas and Ferb had done so much before then, before this, and hadn't that all flown in the face of nature too? To "play God" was simply to be Phineas Flynn. It made sense to Irving, and to Isabella, and certainly that meant any possible deities could see it the same way.

Irving reached out to set a hand on Isabella's shoulder, then pulled back at the last second and clasped both hands in his lap. Without asking he knew he was the last resort. Though his relationship with all of the other kids had grown stronger through their teen years, Isabella was not someone who considered him a close friend, and she'd surely exhausted all her other options before coming to him. Though upon further thought it seemed odd that any of the Fireside Girls would turn their backs to this...

A new thought occurred, an exciting one.

"How many people are you telling this to?" Irving asked. "I mean, I don't really think this would be a private matter between us..."

Isabella crossed her arms and sighed. "People who are... close enough. This is obviously an extreme danger, and if Phineas can't get it under control - "

"You're forming a team!" Irving blurted in his excitement. "The Phineas and Ferb Defense Squad! Containing and maintaining our psychotic and zombified friends!"

Under normal circumstances, Isabella may have laughed, but now she only gave Irving a firm glare. "This is serious. Phineas has so much power, and he's in a prime position to start abusing it - we need to gather all of our resources and take care of this ourselves."

Irving nodded, now grinning like an idiot, and bounced on the couch cushion. "I know it's serious, that's the best part! This is, like, a crazy action-adventure with the best guys ever at the heart of it!"

"You're a little old to still be holding onto that obsession," said Isabella with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, you're their friend. You don't need to be a fanboy."

Irving was just about to make a comment about Isabella's own lasting obsession when something in his peripheral vision demanded his attention instead. He turned towards the nearby window, which faced the street and the house across from it, and observed none other than Phineas walking down his driveway before turning onto the sidewalk.

"Somebody's on the move," Irving said, and Isabella turned her head to see what he meant. Silence fell between them yet again as they observed Phineas first looking both ways, then heading to the right and disappearing from their view.

It wasn't long before Isabella was standing and heading for the coat rack by the front door. "He looked like he was in a hurry," she said as she yanked on her jacket. "This is the exact kind of thing we need to keep an eye on."

Irving clapped his hands together and jumped to his feet. "Hell yeah, tailing the target! Should we take photos? Maybe bring along a recorder? I have -"

"Just shut your mouth and come with me," said Isabella. Irving was more than happy to oblige.

Phineas zipped up his windbreaker all the way to his throat, then reached into the pocket of his jeans and removed a small, handheld GPS system pointing in the direction Ferb had gone. Any scientist worth their salt put tracking devices into their projects.

"A straight line isn't very strategic," Phineas said to himself as he zoomed out to observe the entire map. "He must not be thinking properly… maybe this is related to the problem he's having…"

A particularly strong gust of wind blew past and Phineas swayed and stepped back in an almost comical fashion. In this brief moment of annoyance, he decided the wind was an inconvenience - something that would definitely have to be stopped at some point in the future, or at least until it calmed down a little. He hated wearing windbreakers and he hated being distracted from his extremely important goal, which was Ferb.

The knowledge that this was nothing like it used to be - that he was thinking like a person even he didn't know - was lost to him. He had a brother to find.

On he marched along the sidewalk, carefully watching the waypoint that was his brother as he went - it was still moving, but had not deterred from its straight path and would likely continue in this fashion for some time, though Phineas continued to stare at the map just in case. Prepared as he was for such a situation, it was still unexpected. The possibilities of what could happen were absolutely endless. That was where his mind remained for a solid block - what exactly had caused this? What was Ferb thinking? What might Ferb do? What might the world do in response?

Eventually, however, Phineas's mind - always a chaotic place - began to sift through other topics as the line he followed remained the same. It wasn't long before he had gone back to before Ferb had run, when secrets he'd never have expected had been revealed.

So… he's got a thing for me, Phineas thought, his internal voice slow and going over the words again and again. Didn't see that coming. Not really a big deal, I guess, just… sort of a shock. I'm so used to being prepared for things. Of everything he could have said… I just always thought we had this cool brother thing going on. He frowned down at his GPS as though it were the source of his frustrations. We do have a cool brother thing going on! I know Ferb, it's not like he'd forget we're related just because he wants to kiss me… Well, not related related, not by blood, but - it's not like I'm suddenly not his BROTHER. He wouldn't see me as something else…

The waypoint came to a stop, then jittered around as though Ferb was doing some sort of complex maneuvering. "About time," Phineas muttered at the screen. "I almost thought he'd never stop." He moved the map around, checking out the general layout of what he would be passing, then pulled it back to a place where he could see his location in relation to Ferb's. There were still several blocks to go; even before the new leg, Ferb had been quite the runner, had even been on track for a time when their high school stopped offering soccer.

Phineas ducked his head as the wind picked up again, throwing his own hair into his face like tiny whips. When it slowed he continued on in his steady pace, his mind returning to its previous topic of interest.

Nothing's changed - nothing has to change. I've seen best friends start dating before. It's not always some radical shift into romance town - it's just a little more to the relationship. Like… heavier affection. And I'm pretty sure I could handle that. This really isn't a bad thing… I completely overreacted. No wonder Ferb ran off. Phineas sighed and looked up at the sidewalk, and all the houses beside it, then over to the other side where the neighborhood had long ago turned away and given space for a park. The plan was to turn off his inhibitions and get him angry, see if he would respond the way he did before. Good thing that's not what happened, since he tore right through the straps… but I still shouldn't have done that. Turned them off after asking some invasive question.

A dog behind a gate jumped up to bark at Phineas as he passed, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked at it for a moment, admiring its glossy coat and sleek shape, then turned his head to the left to look back the way he'd come. In his peripheral he swore he'd seen somebody else…

But there was no one. And why would there be? It was a miserable day to be outside.

Phineas returned his gaze to the GPS. The waypoint hadn't moved, which was both a relief and a bit alarming. Was it possible Ferb had been hurt?

He allowed the dog a sniff of his device through the gate before he continued on his way.

Either way, I know now, whether my knowing is justified or not. And there's no reason to make a huge deal about it. I have Ferb back, and that's what matters, isn't it? He's back in my life, and he's staying. Forever. So what if he wants to kiss or hold hands or whatever. I mean, I know he's respectful - he said he wanted to kiss me, and I bet he's felt that way before, but he's never done it. Never just grabbed my shoulders and planted one on me.

A faint glimmer of a memory sparked in his mind, and then it was gone, as if it had never been there at all.

I bet things would barely change. It would all be the same as it used to be, except maybe we'd kiss sometimes. And there's the cyborg thing, which is cool, so maybe this will be cool too… Thought of Ferb's improvements reminded Phineas more of the matter at hand, and he looked at the GPS once more even though nothing had changed. The waypoint was stationary and the line leading to it was straight as an arrow.

He started freaking out… and he tore through the straps… but he didn't attack. He ran. But that didn't happen until I reactivated the chip in his prefrontal cortex… He must have made a conscious decision to run. But he had that blank look in his eye…

There was obviously some sort of explanation here, something that would bring it all together. It just wasn't coming to him - he was thinking in the wrong places. Perhaps literally.

What if the prefrontal cortex has nothing to do with this? Phineas thought as he rubbed his chin with his free hand. His inhibitions probably aren't the problem, if this running away is related to his attacking -

Phineas paused in the middle of the sidewalk, his eyes wide in realization.

"The fight or flight response!" he shouted in his new excitement. A cat several feet ahead jumped to its feet and ran at his outburst. "That explains everything! It was a stress response brought on by being put on the spot… gosh, I should have known better than to do that to him…"

Once again he looked down at the GPS. "And the straight line - tunnel vision! He was just trying to get away as fast as possible, and he had no peripheral vision, no higher brain functions - this is great! Now that I know what's wrong I can handle it just fine!"

He did a little spin on the ball of his right foot, kissed the GPS, then continued on his way. Things always had a way of working themselves out, didn't they? Phineas had never really had a problem with situations being resolved - half the time he didn't even need to do anything. It was like the world revolved around him and Ferb, like it catered to their every whim… What a pleasant thought.

The world is an oyster and life is tastin' sweet, he thought. He wasn't sure where that had come from… maybe a song they'd done in their youth, based on the musical feel of it. There had been so many, he couldn't always keep track (especially not without Ferb's help). And they had still been doing them up until Ferb's death - the newer ones he remembered better. They retained much of their past selves' innocence while occasionally splicing in the odd innuendo. Still just as fun as ever.

This train of thought continued on for some time, lasting long enough for it to still be going by the time Phineas began to approach Ferb's position. Mind, it had strayed off into several tangents and he had somehow arrived on the topic of the movie Titanic by the time he arrived, but his thought trains ran on winding rails that intersected all over the place, so it wasn't too much of a surprise.

The GPS clearly showed that Ferb was very close by - supposedly right in front of where Phineas had come to a stop - but all he saw was an empty street, as the sidewalk he'd been walking along had finally turned away, and beyond that was another lawn with a rather large oak tree on it. Phineas had always liked oak, for obvious reasons, and there certainly was a lot in the area…

A few more steps brought him right into the waypoint, which happened to also be directly in front of the oak tree. A scraping sound - metal and wood, but that wasn't what Phineas immediately thought - drew Phineas's attention upwards. Above him, straddling a branch and tightly gripping a vertical offshoot, was the missing brother he'd been searching for. Well… not really searching. Just trailing behind, if anything.

It came as a relief to see that Ferb's eye was not vacant and staring forwards as it had been, but rather was trained on Phineas, not really wide but definitely very observant. To others it may have been a blank expression. To Phineas, it was a filled canvas of emotion - worry, fear, even a hint of sadness evident in the subtle tilt of his brow.

"Hey buddy," Phineas greeted with a wide smile. "Whatcha doin'?"

Ferb's pupil twitched back and forth ever-so-slightly as he searched Phineas's face for… something. Probably something bad.

Poor guy, thought Phineas.

Ferb leaned back from the vertical offshoot of the branch and looked back at the trunk of the tree. "I'm… sitting in a tree, apparently." He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then covered it with his metal hand and sighed. "I don't remember anything after… I…"

"That's to be expected." Phineas gave the tree a more careful look, now noting the deep gouges Ferb's metal leg must have made as he exerted all of its force into the wood. "I've figured out what's going on. See, it's… would you mind coming down?" He looked back up at Ferb and was surprised to find that his brother's expression had changed to one of firm determination, though that fear was still present underneath.

The intimidating factor of such a look was shattered as Ferb said, in a quiet voice, "I don't want to."

Phineas tilted his head. "Do you like it up there? Our tree is better… I mean, not to insult this tree, if you like it, but… you love our tree, don't you? Wouldn't you rather be there?"

There was a brief moment wherein Ferb stuck out his lower lip in what might have been a pout, but it was quickly gone. "I forgot what happened after I told you. I didn't forget what II… Are you just going to pretend nothing happened?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Phineas waved his hands, noticed he was still holding the GPS, and pocketed it before going on. "I want to discuss that too. I've had a while to think… I don't know how long you've technically been conscious, but you ran pretty far, dude. And I just walked. I've got everything figured out."

Ferb didn't seem satisfied, but he did seem to relax the tiniest bit, and then he swung his other leg over the branch before dropping down to the ground. It was a pretty decent fall - Phineas was delighted to see Ferb putting faith in his improvements.

"You sound optimistic," Ferb said as they came face-to-face (or face-to-chest, really, but Phineas was looking up). "I guess you always do, though. So… what do you figure?"

The two began to walk away from the tree, back the way they'd come, their steps in time with one another as always. With his brother back in his sights, Phineas felt his body loosen considerably, though he hadn't noticed how tense he'd been since Ferb ran off. And why would he? He was too focused on Ferb.

"First of all, I was entirely wrong about the problem," Phineas began with a flip of both wrists. "It had nothing to do with inhibition. I'm sure you've come to that conclusion yourself… I'm sorry about what I did, by the way."

Ferb shrugged, but he was looking away from Phineas and he didn't look happy. "It was bound to come out sooner or later. It's been... overbearing as of late. So what's the problem?"

"It's actually not really a problem at all, believe it or not." Phineas reached up to sling an arm around Ferb's shoulders, surprising him, and then tapped his temple. "It was there all along! It's just… reacting poorly with the new computer systems. As in, your brain sends out a signal to shut down, and the computer bits take that signal and… do what it says. So you shut down. Well, I mean, besides the 'reptilian brain.' I've always loved that, reptilian brain. Like we were all lizards once. Wouldn't that be neat? Of course, it only applies if the triune brain theory is correct..."

Ferb raised an eyebrow, then lowered it in thought. "Wait… you mean the fight or flight response? You think I'm blacking out and trying to kill people because I feel vaguely threatened?"

Patting Ferb on the back in a manner that could possibly be considered condescending, Phineas said, "Think about it - doesn't it fit? You got stressed out, so the stress response happened, but it conflicted with your new brain and you literally went into fight mode. It happened again today - you got stressed, there was a response, and you ran like a freakin' gazelle."

"...I guess it does fit, when you put it that way." Ferb made a move as though to pull away, then remained close to Phineas instead, presumably because of the hand still resting upon his back (though possibly because he really did want to stay near). "So… the other thing…"

Phineas came to a halt, and Ferb followed suit in his usual fashion of somehow doing it at the exact same time.

"You still think of me as a brother and a best friend, right, Ferb?"

Once again, the subtlest changes in Ferb's expression alerted Phineas to his brother's feelings - he was nervous, now, perhaps even anxious. This conversation had to go smoothly or he was likely to run off again. The trouble wasn't in finding him; it was in minimizing the damage done. From their current position Ferb could go any number of ways leading him directly into soft, squishy people he could obliterate just by shoving them aside. That would be one hell of a mess to clean up and Phineas was in no mood to come up with a cover story for that.

"I… yes, of course," said Ferb. "Just because I… nothing's really changed except - "

"Except you want to kiss me and junk." Phineas smiled and patted Ferb's back again. "That's what I thought. You wouldn't just abandon everything we have because you want to hold my hand or something. You're not like that. I just had to make sure."

Ferb stared at Phineas for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck and glanced off to the side. "Well… it's more than just hand-holding… But where exactly are you going with this? Are you saying you're... okay with it?"

"More than that, bro!" Phineas grabbed Ferb's shoulders and pulled him down and sideways so they were more eye-to-eye. "I'm saying it's a-go! I mean, if we can stay the way we are, why should it really matter if we kiss or cuddle or whatever it is you wanna do? I bet it'll be fun!"

"H-huh?"

"In fact, if you want, you could probably kiss me right now - I've never actually done that before. You have though, right? You probably know what to do."

Phineas waited patiently for the kiss to happen, even puckering his lips a bit as an invitation, but all that actually came next was Ferb staring at him in shock, then pulling back and wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"Someone could see us…" he said, but Phineas had a feeling his reluctance had to do with something else entirely. "We should get home. Then we can… we can at least talk about this a little more…" When Phineas didn't immediately respond, Ferb made eye contact with him again and sighed hard through his nose.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment, and though Phineas was usually one to break such a silence as soon as possible, he sensed that Ferb had something he wanted to express. This feeling proved to be correct when, after another round of opening his mouth and closing it a few times, Ferb held his arms out for a hug - something they hadn't properly done since that first day in the shed. Phineas was more than happy to comply, and was almost instantly wrapping his arms tight around Ferb's midsection and burying his face in the thick fabric of a shirt bought only last Christmas. Phineas could feel the wires and plating beneath the cotton, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. After all, he was the one who'd put those things there.

Ferb did kiss him, now, though not the way he'd expected - it was a soft, light kiss on the top of his head, something Phineas might not have even noticed if it wasn't already on his mind as a possibility. Ferb followed this by holding him tight, but only with the arm covered in stitches and scars - the metal arm was light across his back, surely out of fear of holding on too tight and… breaking things. He was certainly strong enough.

The embrace lasted a long time, and each time Phineas thought it might be time to let go, he was overtaken by the sudden urge to hold on even tighter - or Ferb would do the same. Somewhere down deep, Phineas didn't really want to let go at all. Ferb had left his life too much as of late. Phineas wanted them to be together for the rest of forever, until time itself ceased to exist and universe imploded and sent their souls into a place where nothing existed except for their neverending love for one another.

Ferb was his everything.

When they finally parted, Phineas made sure to take his brother's hand and hold it tight - it was a little odd, gripping hard metal that way, but it was still comforting. It was still Ferb. And soon enough, he would have the time to work on synthetic skin covers, and then everything would look and feel the same as it had been before, and it would be as though nothing had ever happened at all and they could go back to adventuring and building and just being themselves.

"Everything is gonna work out fine," Phineas said with a smile. "We're gonna be okay, bro." He squeezed Ferb's hand, and Ferb squeezed back, though it was gentle and didn't last long. Either he was unenthusiastic or still afraid of holding on too tight and breaking bones into tiny little pieces.

Their stroll home was spent in comfortable silence, their fingers interlaced all the way to the front door.

Isabella peered around the trunk of a large pine tree in the park opposite the sidewalk, a pair of binoculars in hand and held up to her eyes. Irving peered around the other side and, having no binoculars of his own, squinted at the receding figures walking back the way they'd come.

"I couldn't see him that well from over here," said Irving with excitement evident in his voice, "but I gotta say Ferb looked pretty awesome. What's up with that blue lightbulb where his left eye's supposed to be, though? Does he see through it?"

"Probably," Isabella said. "I didn't really get a chance to ask." She handed the binoculars over to Irving, who fumbled with them for a moment before putting them up to his glasses.

"What the hell was that?" Isabella went on. "Did Ferb just… run off? Does Phineas have any idea how dangerous that is? Why would Ferb be running in the first place? Every time he's gone off on his own, as far as I remember, it's been for personal introspection or some debate thing. He can't do either of those in a tree."

"You'd be surprised by what you can do in a tree," said Irving. "But you're right, it doesn't really seem like a… Ferb thing." He adjusted the dials on the side of the binoculars and oooh'd at what he saw. "Wow, check out the detail on that arm! The silhouette is almost perfect! Almost like he's… not actually a walking corpse!"

The look on Isabella's face was a perfect opposite of the look on Irving's - she was confused, angry, and more than a little pessimistic about the entire situation. "Before he got to that tree, Phineas yelled something about the fight or flight response," she said in a careful sort of way. "Maybe that explains some of what's been going on…"

Irving looked away from the binoculars and over at Isabella. "Makes sense," he said. "I mean, if you think about it… Ferb always struck me as an anxious guy."

Isabella blinked, opened her mouth, then turned to Irving with an incredulous look. "Ferb? Ferb Fletcher? Anxious? Where in the world did you get that idea?"

With a shrug, Irving raised the binoculars back up to his glasses. "I guess I can see how you'd miss it. Y'know, just push it off as being part of his introversion. But I've been watching both Phineas and Ferb for a long time, and let me tell you, there are a lot of situations that make him really freakin' nervous. He hides it pretty well most of the time, but… He's got some tells. I'll tell you more about it later. Right now, we should probably try to catch up."

He handed the binoculars back, and Isabella stared at him for a moment before looking through them again. Sure enough, the boys had gotten pretty far away and they needed to get closer if they wanted any sort of chance to see more.

Isabella took the lead, as usual, and Irving followed behind her as she did her best to make sure they wouldn't be seen. There was a stealth patch, and she'd more than earned it several years prior.

"You know, I can probably set up some hidden cameras," said Irving as they slid behind a fence. "I mean, only in their backyard, but that would probably help keep tabs on them. You know?"

The way Isabella's lips pressed together and made a straight line was an obvious sign of her discontent, something Irving found quite uncomfortable to see. "I… appreciate the idea. It's a good one. But…" She hesitated, her head tilted, looking for the right words. "I… I don't think they would go unnoticed. No matter how well you hid them. And even if they did, things have a weird habit of vanishing within a day if they're put in that backyard."

"Ferb didn't vanish," Irving pointed out. "Neither did that shed. Or the… the, um, sculpture. Maybe that weird force doesn't work anymore."

Isabella shook her head. "No, it does. Or at least it did right up until they made that… thing. The shed was an exception for whatever reason, but everything else still went away. And… I hate to sound superstitious here, but the universe has always seemed to be in their favor."

There was a tense silence as they watched Phineas and Ferb continue their walk, and then they were on the move again.

"I guess you're right, Iz." Irving frowned and raised a finger to his chin as he thought. "There's just got to be an easier way to do this than by tailing after them…" He went quiet for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I got it! That GPS Phineas has!"

Isabella came to a halt and rounded on Irving. "Are you kidding? You think we can actually get that from him? It's not just as easy as asking to borrow it - you saw the news report. He's starting to cover things up, and giving something that sensitive to one of his friends who witnessed that attack…"

"I could -"

A slender hand thrust in front of his face silenced Irving. "No, you can't. I don't think Phineas has ever lent you anything that wasn't leftover scrap or homework answers. If we want something like that, we have to steal it."

"Steal from Phineas and Ferb?" Irving crossed his arms and looked down at the ground in shame as though it had been his idea and not Isabella's. "I dunno if I can do that…" He considered Phineas's incredible talent for a moment, then added, "But that GPS would be really handy."

Isabella looked down, then in the direction the boys were going, right at their receding silhouettes. "Yeah… it would be."

Without another word, the pair continued their stealthy mission with a reserved sort of enthusiasm and determination.

Perry thrust his head out from under a shrub and frowned at Irving and Isabella as they went on their way. He was never one for unexpected obstacles; over the past several years he'd become rather familiar with a rigid formula that only changed on the rarest of occasions. Having not been invited on the quest for Ferb, Perry's plan had been to secretly trail Phineas and make sure that both he and Ferb got home safely. He hadn't accounted for the presence of other people intent upon doing a similar thing.

Hiding from both Phineas and Isabella had made it all but impossible to catch any of what Phineas said, or really even see what went on between him and Ferb when they were reunited. Damn those nosy friends of theirs! Not that he didn't like Isabella or tolerate… whatever the other one's name was, but they were interfering with super-secret family pet/parental figure business! If he'd had more time to prepare, perhaps he could have easily avoided them, but there wasn't really any time before Phineas was leaving the back yard…

A rather strong gust of wind ruffled Perry's fur, and without thinking, he snapped his teeth at it. Moments later he realized how foolish this was and mentally berated himself for acting like some kind of mentally-challenged dog.

With a growling sigh, Perry crossed the road to the sidewalk his boys were walking on (though they were now dozens of yards ahead of him) and slipped into the front yard that was there, his plan behind to traverse the battlefield of picket fences and lawn gnomes so that his chances of being spotted were lessened. He would still have to hang back behind both groups, but at least he was protected from any of them turning around for whatever reason.

As he climbed his way over a fence, Perry was surprised by a vaguely familiar bark that was saying his name.

"Hey P!" barked Beau the Doberman. "You on some kind of recon mission?"

"Sort of," Perry chattered back. "It's not easy having teenage owners, B. You wouldn't believe the trouble they get into."

Beau nodded, then perked his ears and stepped forward with a tilted head. "Hey, the one with the crazy red hair - is that yours?"

Perry sighed and dropped down to the ground of Beau's yard. "Yes, that's Phineas."

"Cool!" Beau wagged his stump of a tail (so inhumane, cutting their tails off like that, but Perry couldn't do anything about it) and crouched down so they were face-to-face. "I barked at him! He had this device on him - some kind of tracker, I think." He stopped wagging, tilted his head the other way, then let his rump thump onto the ground with the rest of him. "He just came back this way, didn't he? I was in the living room with the old man, I totally missed him."

Sometimes Perry wished all he had was an "old man," but even now, he wouldn't trade his boys for the world. "It's better that you didn't, B. He had… someone else with him. Someone frightening. You probably would have gotten scared."

"The Agent in me is pretty offended by that," Beau whined. "But the dog in me knows you're right. I still get freaked by those teenagers sometimes, with their chains and piercings and spiky hair…"

"The Agent in you is a dog," Perry chattered as he began to climb the other side of the gate. "All of you is a dog. Unless you want to tell me you're part gazelle?"

Beau laughed and put his nose under Perry's rump to help him over the gate. "Good one. Dunno why everyone else calls you such a stick in the mud, P. You seem pretty fun."

"That's because you barely know me. Give it a few months." Perry shook himself off, then lifted a paw to wave at Beau. "See you at the O.W.C.A., B."

Beau barked a goodbye, and then Perry continued on his way, trotting a bit so he might catch up before anyone reached home.

It was good to know the entire O.W.C.A. didn't know the horrible secrets of his family. Sure, Beau had probably heard about Ferb's demise, but from the start he didn't seem the type to commit things to memory for long. Or, at the very least, he didn't associate that particular memory with his knowledge of the infamous Agent P. With luck, there were many others like that, and this could stay quiet until…

Until what?

Perry sighed and slowed to his usual ambling walk. He had high hopes for what Phineas could do to restore things, certainly, but… could everything really return to normal? Wasn't this the exact sort of thing that could shatter everything around it irreparably?

No, no, he had to continue having hope. He had to have faith in his boys. They would fix this… things would be fine.

And maybe, in time, Perry could face Heinz again.

He sped up again, knowing he was getting closer to home and wanting nothing more in that moment than to curl up in one of his boys' laps and take a nap. When he was asleep… it was easier to pretend everything was okay. Despite a history of nightmares, Perry had found his dreams somewhat pleasant since Ferb's reanimation, and hopefully this would continue. Mostly they were dreams of the past - half-days spent together and the greatest adventure of all time that only he remembered - but sometimes they were dreams of the future, where Ferb looked like an adult Ferb and he and Phineas lived together with Perry forever and ever and ever.

Those were the best dreams of all.