"Love you too, Mom. See you in a week, then." Phineas disconnected the video call on his tablet, and looked over at Isabella, sitting at the kitchen table chatting with Colin over breakfast. He'd come over to join them for breakfast, after going out running with Isabella that morning. Phineas tried to shove down a small spike of jealousy at how much time the two of them spent together.

She looked over at him and smiled nervously. "Did I hear right that I finally get to meet Candace and Amanda in person?"

He sighed deeply. "Yeah. I...wow. I wasn't expecting them to try something like this, but they're all coming for Christmas. I have no idea how we're going to make this work. When Ferb gets back from Toronto, we can see what we can figure out."

"Are they going to stay in a hotel? I didn't catch that part."

"I think we'll see if we can put them up in the trailers here, actually. We can put one of them in the spare room, with us, and the other with Ferb. I suspect the security team would prefer that over having all of us go out to Medicine Hat every day."

"That we would," Colin said, grasping his coffee mug in both hands.

"Are you going to be here over Christmas?" Phineas asked, returning to his plate. His eggs were now cold, unfortunately, but he wasn't sure if he was really hungry. He pushed the plate away.

"You mind?" Isabella said, pointing her fork at his plate. Hers was empty, as usual, a side-effect of her implants. Using them made her especially hungry, but even without using them, her baseline metabolism was noticeably higher than usual.

"Take 'em," he said, sliding the plate over. She dove into the food with a will.

Colin shook his head at her. "Yeah, we're still here. They want us to stay with you until we've learned everything we can about fighting against enhanced soldiers."

"And then?"

Colin shrugged. "If you're ready to start testing Obelisk, they look for volunteers. If not, they may rotate in another CSOR platoon to train and keep you folks safe. Unless they decide things have calmed down enough that the MPs can take over."

Isabella swallowed down the last of Phineas's eggs, and said, "Unlikely, from what I'm hearing."

"Yeah, I know. Chicago's being uptight," Colin said.

"They're claiming we were abducted," Phineas said.

"Yeah, the slave is so upset about escaping to Canada," Isabella said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you don't count. Ferb and I are the ones who matter to them."

"Actually, Captain Desjardins will probably be away for Christmas himself. He was talking about trying to get home to Petawawa for a couple days right around Christmas," Colin said thoughtfully.

"Why?" Phineas asked.

"His daughter's first Christmas."

"Awwww," Isabella said.

"Wait, we took him away from a newborn?" Phineas said.

Colin shrugged. "Military life. His wife knew what she was getting into. They've only been married a year and a half or so."

"Yeah, if there's anything I can do to help him get away, let me know," Phineas said.

"Not on our end," Isabella said. "That's the sort of thing that his commanding officer deals with."

"Right," Colin said. "And that would leave me in charge while he's gone. Sure you want that?"

"I'm sure we can make do if need be," Isabella said with a grin.

Phineas forced down another jab of jealousy.

Isabella paced nervously around the living room, pausing to look at the Christmas tree. They'd had fun decorating it, and a few presents sat underneath - they hadn't had much chance to buy much.

The tree wasn't the problem. The fact that Christmas was in two days wasn't even the problem.

The problem was that, somewhere between the Medicine Hat airport and the base, a military SUV was carrying Phineas and Ferb, their mother, their sister, and their niece. Unless something had happened to them, and she hadn't been told yet.

She sighed. She didn't want to tell Linda and Candace what she had done, but she was sure that it was going to come up at some point. And then she was going to ruin Christmas for everyone. Even Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, whom Ferb had said was coming in to visit them over the holidays.

Outside the front door, she heard a truck turn off and the doors pop open. Showtime.

She opened the front door to see Phineas helping his mother out of the front seat, and Candace climbing out of the back seat. Amanda, almost six, was leaning out behind her, looking around at everything in wonder. Behind them, a second SUV carrying members of their protective platoon came to a stop.

"Welcome," Isabella said. "Glad you all made it."

"Oh, Isabella!" Linda said, rushing over to give her a hug. Isabella smiled and hugged her back. Linda had tried to be a mother to her, ever since she'd found out that Isabella had survived the attack on Santa Fe.

"That's Aunt Isabella?" Amanda said in her slight British accent, hopping out of the SUV. "She's even prettier in person."

Isabella laughed. "I'm not your aunt. Your aunt would be Uncle...Phineas's...wife..." She paused, as the realization of what that would mean hit her. Phineas, getting luggage from the back of the SUV, paused and smiled at her nervously.

"Close enough," Candace said. She came over to give Isabella a hug as well, saying quietly, "I know Phineas, and..." She backed off, smiling at Isabella. "He's committed. And it seems like you are too."

Isabella nodded. "I'm in for the long haul."

"Then Amanda? Come give Aunt Isabella a hug," Candace said.

The little girl ran over as Isabella knelt. Amanda threw her arms around Isabella's neck, and Isabella picked her up, swinging her around. "You're so big," Isabella said.

"I turn six in March."

Ferb's phone beeped, and he excused himself from the group chat around the Christmas tree in Phineas and Isabella's house to check it. Everyone had ended up there that night, spending Christmas Eve together. He and Phineas had been catching up with Candace on the sofa, with Linda sitting nearby getting to know Doc and Colin. Isabella and Amanda were busily coloring pictures on the kitchen table.

Just touched down, the message said.

Sergeant Hathaway should be there presently. We're in unit #2 now.

Hathaway just got here. See you in 5.

He smiled at it. Phineas looked up at him. "Vanessa's on her way?"

"Just landed," he said.

"Nice. I haven't seen her in..." Phineas paused, thinking. "Since her father's funeral, I think."

"So are you two...an item?" Candace asked.

Ferb grinned enigmatically.

"That was my assumption, although I'm not sure what kind of item," Phineas said.

"We're just good friends," Ferb said. "Who happen to be staying together over Christmas."

"Given that I've got your spare bedroom, one wonders where she's sleeping, then," Candace said with a smirk.

He was spared further discussion by a knock on the door. A quick check showed that it was indeed Vanessa, so he opened the door and was practically tackled by her. "Missed you," she whispered, kissing him gently.

"Missed you too," he murmured in response. "I take it you don't want to keep this quiet?"

"Not really," she said.

Isabella looked over. They'd had a large Christmas lunch, and now everyone was sitting around recovering. Doc had headed back to his place to take a nap. Colin had had to go out and deal with the security detail, with Captain Desjardins back home for three days. Ferb and Vanessa had gone off for a ride to see some of the sights - Isabella suspected it was just an excuse to get some time alone together, since there weren't really a lot of sights to see. Phineas was sitting on the couch watching Amanda play with her newest toys. And, Candace and Linda were sitting at the kitchen table talking.

It was time.

She walked into the kitchen, wishing once more that she had an implant to help calm her down. Taking a deep breath, she took a seat at the table.

"What's up?" Linda asked, turning to her. "You look upset about something. It isn't anything we did, was it? I know we sprung this visit on you folks at the last minute. It's just that we hadn't had a Christmas with everyone together since..."

"Since Jeremy died, and I went to visit Grampa Reg," Candace said.

"It's too bad he couldn't come along," Linda added with a sigh. "He's getting up there in years. Maybe once this research project is done, you folks can all come to England to see him. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

"I..." Isabella paused, trying to find the words. "I need to tell you two something that might make you mad at me. I need to apologize."

"Oh, honey, I'm sure it'll be alright," Linda said. Candace looked at her, a bit confused, and a bit concerned.

"I told you I was in Ops during the war. I was lying," Isabella said. "I was actually...well, the full details aren't important, but they're part of why we're here. But, they used me as an assassin."

Candace's eyes narrowed in recognition, as if she realized where Isabella was going with this. Linda didn't seem to catch on, though, and covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh, my. I mean, I know there was a war, but..."

"In particular," Isabella continued, "they sent me on missions to take out leading researchers on the other sides. Please understand, I didn't have a choice. They drafted me, and put...things in me that could kill me on the spot if I disobeyed."

"How horrible!" Linda said. "That's not right. Did you ever figure out how to get them out?"

"Ferb figured out how to disable them, and told Phineas," she said, dodging the question a bit. "But...that's not the important part."

"What is?" Candace asked warily.

Over on the couch, Phineas noticed the conversation. He kissed Amanda on the top of her head, then came into the kitchen to join them.

"They sent me to take out Central's top researcher. The man in charge of Fletcher-Flynn Research. But Intelligence messed up. They told me the person to kill..."

"Was Dad," Candace said.

"What?" Linda asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry," Isabella said. "They told me to kill Lawrence Fletcher as owner of the company."

"How could you?" Candace asked, her eyes watering.

"She didn't have a choice," Phineas said. "They would have triggered the remote kill. She wouldn't have lasted a minute beyond saying 'no'."

"You're on her side now?" Candace asked, turning toward him.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Linda said. "You were the one who set the bomb?"

Isabella nodded numbly.

"I don't think I want to stay here right now," Candace said, standing up. "Amanda, pick up your things, we're going back to our place."

"Now, Candace," Linda started as Amanda, confused, put her new toys in the new backpack she'd gotten.

"Don't 'Now, Candace' me, Mom," Candace said, turning toward her. "He was your husband. Won't you stand up for him?"

"Always," Linda said. "When he needs it. He's gone now."

"So you just forget him? Like you forgot my other father?"

"Never. I have not and will not forget them."

"But you're going to side with his killer. Fine. I won't." Candace walked over and took Amanda's hand, pulling her outside.

Isabella winced, her eyes watering. "I'm sorry. I wanted...I hoped...I..."

Phineas squeezed her shoulder. "You didn't want to keep lying."

Isabella nodded dumbly.

Linda rooted through her purse, pulling out a tissue. "Here," she said, handing it to Isabella. "I...I can't say I'm not upset about it, but..." She turned to Phineas. "Did you know?"

"Not until the night we ran," he said. "That was why. Ferb found out too, and his reaction was...more like Candace's. He called in General Archer."

"Why did you run?" Linda asked.

"I can't go into details," Phineas said. "Security. But...there were other reasons he wanted Isabella. He would have used us as leverage on each other. And..." He looked at her, a fond smile on his face. "I wanted her to be free. She never really was. The orphanage to the military to a slave collar. Now..." He sighed. "Not quite there yet. Stuck on another military base."

"We're getting there," Isabella said.

Linda turned back to Isabella. "Did you really have no choice?"

"None," Phineas said. "Ferb showed me the footage. They would have made her girlfriend execute her."

Isabella nodded confirmation, wiping her eyes with the tissue. "Like I ended up having to do to her when she got caught."

Linda covered her mouth with her hand. "That's horrible."

"The man who gave the orders is dead," Phineas said.

Linda looked at the two of them for a long moment, tears in her eyes. "Thank you for telling me," she finally said. "Thank you for trusting me enough to give me the truth."

"I'm sorry about...everything, really," Isabella said.

"I know, dear," Linda said. "Really."

A light snow was falling as Phineas left the house to walk three doors down. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door of mobile home #3, rubbing his arms to warm himself up. I should have grabbed my heavy jacket, he thought.

The door jerked open, and Candace glowered at him. "What?" she asked.

"Can we talk?"

She took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing, and exhaled slowly. "Fine. Come in," she said.

He walked in, and she closed the door behind him. Amanda was curled up on the couch watching the TV, and waved at him. He waved back.

"Is Aunt Isabella not going to be my aunt after all?" Amanda asked.

"That's what we're going to talk about," Phineas said.

"Okay," Amanda said, returning her attention to the TV.

He followed Candace to the kitchen table, so similar to the one that had hosted the earlier conversation.

"So...?" she asked as she sat.

"So. What...?" he trailed off, unsure what to say.

"How long did you know?"

"Less than a month now. I found out the night we left Danville."

"Why did you go with her?"

He shrugged and gave her a thin smile. "Look, if I'd known from the start, we would have captured her and used her as a research subject. I bought her because I wanted to protect just one would-be slave, but Dad's killer wasn't the one I wanted to protect."

"But you did."

"Yes. We spent time together. I got to know her. And by the time I found out, I had fallen in love with her."

"More than you loved Dad."

"That's not fair and you know it, Candace," Phineas said.

"She's a killer."

"How many medals did Jeremy have when he got captured? If his plan had worked, how many of the factory guards would have died?"

"That was different. That was fighting."

"So was this. She was fighting the war. On the other side. Sometimes that means killing people."

"Dad wasn't a target," Candace said.

"No. But Ferb and I were. And Southwest intelligence thought Dad was...well, us. So they told her to kill him."

"And if she hadn't?"

"She had...has, but it's disabled...a system in her body that would let them remotely kill her. Painfully."

"Ew." Candace wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Why?"

"There were reasons, but I can't go into detail. Her girlfriend - her lover - was watching her camera. If she hadn't gone through with it, her lover would have had to execute the remote kill."

"That's...ew."

"I agree."

Candace sighed, leaning her arms on the table, then rested her head in her hands. "I just...all the guys in my life are gone. Dad - our bio dad, Tim - had that heart attack. Jeremy got captured, and then executed. And then Dad - Lawrence - got blown up. And now Ferb's with Vanessa, and you're with...the woman who killed Lawrence. And..."

"I know. I am sorry. I told her I wasn't sure telling you was a good idea."

"I'm glad I know, but...I'm not sure I want to talk to her about it."

"That's fine. Are you willing to talk to her in general?"

Candace stared into his face for a moment, then smiled a bit. "You really do love her, don't you?"

"It's like...when you married Jeremy, you said that it was like half of you had been missing all your life, and then suddenly, there it was. Remember?"

Candace nodded.

"It's like that. I didn't know to miss her until she was there, and then it was like a hole had been filled."

Candace reached up to tousle his hair. "I suppose, if she's going to be my sister-in-law, I need to be on speaking terms with her."

"It would be appreciated. We're hoping to swing things so we can visit you next year, maybe the year after. Depends on the Americans more than anything else."

"Do I want to know why?"

"Nope."

"I'm sorry I make everything awkward," Isabella said to Ferb. He and Vanessa had returned just after Phineas had left to go talk to Candace, and now the three of them sat in the living room.

"It's the usual thing, after a war," Ferb said. "People who fought on different sides get to learn about what each other did, and it's a bit uncomfortable for everyone for a while."

"I know. It's a bit worse as an assassin, though."

"It's less than ideal as a researcher, too," Ferb said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to invent the bomb that blew up your house."

Vanessa, sitting next to him, laughed. "Of course you didn't."

Ferb grinned back. "Well, I did, but I didn't have your house in mind at the time. Just...kind of a generic house. Or armored structure. Or tank."

Linda came in from the kitchen, carrying a mug of tea. "Well, it's certainly been an eventful Christmas, wouldn't you say?"

The three of them laughed. "Sorry," Isabella said.

"Don't be. It's done," Linda said, sitting in the remaining chair. "I don't know that I've worked through this yet, but..." She smiled at Isabella. "You said it would have been your girlfriend who had to kill you if you'd refused?"

"Yes," Isabella said, confused.

"Tell me about her? Was this Sophie?"

"Yes, it was. Sophie Carter. She was..." She paused, looking for the words. "She was my first friend in the orphanage. She'd gotten there just the day before, another orphan of the Santa Fe attack. She was my best friend. We were as close as sisters. And then...we got drafted into the program together."

"What program is this? Was this?" Linda asked.

"Can't tell you, Mum. Sorry," Ferb said.

"That secret?"

"More than that, actually," Ferb said. "We shouldn't even be telling you this much."

"Wow. You boys are in pretty deep, huh?" Linda asked.

"Yes," Vanessa said.

"Okay. Keep going, Isabella," Linda said.

"We kept each other sane through all the training. And then...it was just after the team's first mission. We were celebrating. There was champagne. We got...pretty drunk. And she kissed me."

"And?"

"It was good. It was...more than either of us was willing to admit at first. It was just physical, we said. Neither of us really believed it. I don't know if we could have made it work normally, but we weren't living normal lives. It was training, or missions, or being mission control for other team members. We arranged it so we were each other's mission control most of the time."

"I'm surprised they let you do that," Ferb said.

"They figured we'd work harder to get each other home that way," Isabella said.

Linda hmfed disapprovingly. "What happened to her?"

"She got captured on a mission - finishing the one I messed up. She was sent to kill your sons, and I was her mission control." Tears came to Isabella's eyes unbidden.

"And?" Linda asked gently.

"It was a trap," Ferb said. "We captured her."

"I had to push the button. And then listen to her die. They gave me a promotion for it. Another fucking stripe when all I wanted was to hold her again and tell her everything would be alright."

"I'm sorry," Linda said, reaching across to clasp her hand.

Isabella offered her a faint smile. "I'm sorry too. I think I'm past it, and then..." She took a deep breath. "I do love Phineas, but..."

"I understand," Linda said. "Lawrence was my second husband. Candace and Phineas's biological father, Tim, died when Phineas was just a year old. Heart failure. I thought I'd never find a way to fill the hole that he left. And then I met Lawrence, and...it wasn't a hole that needed to be filled, it was a whole new part of me to explore. Who knows, maybe I'll find a third."

"I hope you do," Isabella said.

The door opened, and Phineas came in as a blast of cold air followed him. Just behind him, Candace looked in hesitantly.

"Get out of the way, Mum, I'm freezing," Amanda said from behind Candace.

"Come on in, folks," Ferb said.

"You're letting all the cold air in," Vanessa said. Ferb put his arm around her and held her more closely.

Candace came in, followed by Amanda, and Phineas closed the door.

"I'm sorry I flipped out..." Candace began.

"Don't be," Isabella said. "I'm sorry I kept it hidden for so long. I'm sorry I told you so poorly. I'm sorry about..."

"Can we talk?" Candace asked, nodding toward the kitchen.

"Sure," Isabella said. She took a seat at the kitchen table, where Candace joined her. "What's up?"

"I get that you didn't have much choice in what happened. And there was a war on, you were drafted, and all that."

Isabella nodded. "Thank..."

"Don't thank me yet," Candace interrupted her. "I get that they did something to you that lets you do more than most people. I'm not sure if it's just training or more than that. Phineas wouldn't say."

Isabella nodded again.

"Okay. I don't give a damn about that. I don't care if they turned you into Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Hulk. You have choices now. And if you hurt anyone in my family again, I will end you. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes," Isabella said. "And I will promise you this - you will never have to."

"I hope so, for both of our sakes."