~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Midnight. Perry rubbed his now human eyes and collapsed onto the couch.
He always forgot why he never slept in his apartment, only to be brutally reminded every time he decided to take a night to himself. Every moment, cars or pedestrians would screech, shout, or honk, and it drove him absolutely insane.
The agent stood and reached into the fridge for a pitcher of water. He'd been tracking Vanessa Doofenshmirtz on his phone for about an hour now, but despite her conversation from the day before, she hadn't left her friend's house.
Maybe there were doing something there? But wouldn't there be adults around? Should he go and check?
Apparently, his mind had been running in circles for about an hour now, too.
It was unfortunate he hadn't been able to get access to Orville's GPS location. His father must be very up to date with those O.W.C.A. techniques and was blocking his access somehow. There was no time to hack through, either.
Infuriated, Perry finally decided he would check on Vanessa and put his mind at ease.
The agent grabbed a hoodie and jumped into his 2012 Mustang, fedora and grappling hook set in the passenger's seat, ready just in case.
He completely forgot he was only wearing another black t-shirt and black skinny jeans; that combined with his teal hair and snakebites, he basically looked like a mentally ill criminal. But all his thoughts were focused on making sure Vanessa was okay.
When suddenly, his phone began to alert him. The girl was on the move.
Now filled with adrenaline, Perry punched on the accelerator and began to follow the trail Vanessa was leading him down.
They're leaving Danville?
The path led him right on the outskirts of the city. Once he was sure she had stopped somewhere and was now still, Perry waited till he was only a block out and parked on the side of the road next to a dark neighborhood. This was definitely a bad side of town; whatever the girl was doing here, it couldn't be good. The agent continued his path on foot, one hand with his phone, the other in his pocket, clutching his grappling hook.
Vanessa had to be somewhere close by.
Perry carefully watched his surroundings as he continued. There was nobody in sight, and nothing seemed to move, except for a couple squirrels in the branches.
Only half a block now.
Perry turned another corner. Just as he was sure he was about to land eyes on her, the ground underneath him suddenly collapsed. From just a few feet away, a massive explosion sent everything before him up in flames, and flung him against the road.
The man hit the ground and everything went black.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Silence.
Holy chihuahua, there was silence.
Perry awoke, feeling like his head was split in two. All he could see was a massive building literally burning to the ground with huge licks of flames spitting out from all sides. The agent forced himself to stand.
Vanessa.
He tried to run forward, tripped on a fallen branch, and winced as pain shot through his arm again. The agent clutched the ground, pushed himself up, and forced himself to continue.
When he turned the corner, the building was revealed in all its blazing glory. Half a dozen teenagers were running away on motorcycles and junky cars. Perry circled the building, looking for a possible entrance where he could check for the girl.
Wait, his cell phone.
Perry breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the object in his pocket. His GPS traced Vanessa far from here. Thank goodness.
The man ran as fast as he could back to his car, which had thankfully been undamaged, and raced towards the girl's signal. People from the neighborhoods were running about, screaming and calling the authorities.
Vanessa was headed back towards town, but she wasn't moving fast. She was probably on foot.
Agent P finally drew close enough to where he was sure he could spot the girl. Leaving his car, he ran towards her position, shouting her name. However, he was still too far away. On the ground before him lay Vanessa's phone, shattered and broken. He looked to his right, to see her one street over, frozen, like a deer in the headlights.
Perry's stomach was starting to tie itself in knots, as he realized he was one second too late.
"Hey, Missy. Is everything okay?"
A gruff voice shattered the silence like glass china, rumbling low and threatening. Three men waddled forwards, obviously drunk, and clustered together, blocking off Vanessa's only open escape. She eyed them warily, her hands trembling.
"I'm going to the police station." She spoke evenly, despite her obvious fear. "My dad is working late."
The apparent ring leader howled with laughter, cueing his cronies to do the same. "You almost made that sound convincing, darling. But don't go so soon. Let's have some fun. What do you say?"
The girl snarled. "Not interested."
"Oh, don't be that way! My boys and I mean no harm! Jus'a little.. fun.."
"Fuck. Off."
The drunkards stepped closer. The girl let out a fierce kick, hitting one man in the groin. He barely got to scream in pain before the other two, enraged, jumped and trapped her, pinning her to the ground. She squirmed, waving her legs desperately.
The ring leader, still holding his crotch, crawled up and reached under her skirt. "You asked for it, Missy…"
Perry jumped. His fist hit the man before he had a chance to blink, knocking him to the ground. The other two pulled away from the girl and attacked, but Perry was too quick, dodging their drunken blows with ease and punching them both in the face.
Suddenly, he felt a meaty hand grab his leg, and a fist punched his stomach. Black stars circled his vision as he hit the ground. The ring leader had pinned him down, and his face leaned so close that Perry could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"You're next, bastard!"
The man was choking him and it hurt. He struggled, but to no avail. He felt his lungs beginning to deflate, and his eyes were shutting. Anger began rising up in his chest, almost as if he were burning with the extreme force of it.
Don't loose control. Don't loose control.
Something slammed the man's face to the pavement.
Vanessa stood over him, her purse in hand.
The ring leader gasped as he stared in shock at the two of them, but that didn't stop him from getting up and raging. But again, Perry was faster. Bare hands tore into the drunkard's gut, until they ran away, bloody and beaten.
Perry collapsed on the ground and massaged his sore throat. The girl tiptoed forwards, eyes wide with fear.
He choked, just now feeling the blood dripping down his forehead and lips. He stood and motioned for the girl to follow. "Please, come with me. I won't hurt you."
The girl backed away.
"Vanessa." Perry replied smoothly. "It's me. Perry."
He glanced up. Brown eyes met brown eyes. For a moment, he didn't dare speak, but as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz stared at his human face, he watched as her mouth slowly began to drop in recognition.
She gasped, "Oh my god. You're human."
"I can explain later." Perry choked.
"I'm sorry.." The girl gasped, hyperventilating. "I just happened so fast, there was fire and then screaming and then I was running and.."
"Vanessa." Perry gently grabbed her shoulders, ignoring her flinch. "I know. It's okay. But right now we need to go."
Thankfully, the teenager pulled herself together and wasted no time in jumping in his car. The two watched the neighborhood disappear as they headed back into Danville. Perry watched the growing stream of smoke and soot rising into the air from behind them. Vanessa didn't say a word. She looked traumatized, but like she was trying to hide it.
"What's your mom's address?"
"I'm living with a friend right now."
Perry eyed her. Did he dare mention anything? He decided to tiptoe around the subject. "Your father seemed rather upset today."
Vanessa sighed. "My dad is a lot of things, but he would never hurt me. Like I said, I'm living with a friend right now."
The man decided not to argue. He followed her directions to her friend's house and parked in front of the building.
"Are you going to be okay?" Perry asked hesitantly. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Vanessa looked him in the eyes for a second, before quickly looking away. "You aren't going to tell dad, are you?"
"Only if you're in danger. If not, it's none of my business. I just want to make sure you aren't in any trouble. I can help, you know." Perry murmured, trying very hard to be calm and soothing.
Vanessa's lip trembled. "I'm pretty sure O.W.C.A. would throw me in jail for this. I didn't mean to do it, I swear!"
"O.W.C.A. doesn't throw minors in jail, Vanessa." Perry spoke.
The girl sniffled. "I accidentally got.. involved with this group of people who weren't exactly the greatest. It's not that I want to be one of them, they just.. get me, you know? Being my dad's daughter can be weird and difficult, and they just get it."
Perry let her pause, not daring to interrupt.
"Anyway, they invited me to this party they were having. It sounded pretty cool, so I thought I'd come for just a few hours. I swear I didn't know they were going to try and make this dangerous weapon. And then it started overheating, and the place caught on fire, and I was running for my life and.."
The girl was hyperventilating, so Perry put a hand on her shoulder. She winced, but didn't pull away.
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. I promise I'll make sure your name doesn't come up in the report."
Vanessa swallowed. "Thanks, Perry."
"Just please promise me you'll stay away from those kids, and let me know if they try and contact you?"
The girl hesitated, but she finally gave a meek nod. "I promise."
She went to get out of the car, but stopped and looked at him. "Thanks for saving my life. Are you going to tell me how you're human, sometime?"
Perry nodded. "And I won't tell your dad if you won't."