Disclaimer: Phineas and Ferb and all characters associated with Phineas and Ferb are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

Perry

I wait in anxious anticipation for her to finally come out.

She's been in surgery for what feels like days.

It's only been three minutes.

I shouldn't be so concerned, but I am. Her leg hadn't been as bad as I'd thought it would be. At first, I was terrified that they were going to have to amputate it. Turns out that if it had been allowed to sit around for much longer, that might've been the case.

No, Diana isn't going to lose her leg. But she does need to have the bone replaced.

I can't help but feel guilty. I had allowed her to go back to Mother's Mansion knowing full well that things could've gone as badly as they did. I had known that she was going to go through something horrible, but I sent her anyways. I feel horrible for that.

But seeing her smile when I told her that we got the cure… that was one of the best moments of my life. I saw nothing but pure joy in her eyes. It was the most beautiful she's ever been, and I am so glad that she's finally free.

The samples that I left in Los Angeles have been turned over to the chain of evidence by now. As has the sample I collected earlier today… well, yesterday.

I'm in Danville now, at the O.W.C.A.'s hospital. Having passed through multiple time zones, all of the events of 'today' are now yesterday. Time zones are weird.

I look down at my watch. Surely they're almost done by now.

They're not. She's been in surgery for only five minutes.

I groan. Is time seriously dragging itself out on purpose?

"You're gonna wear yourself out if you keep doing that."

I look up to see Pinky looking at me, holding two cups of coffee. How cliché. I give him a weak smile.

"Hola, Pinky…"

"Hey there." He hops up into the chair next to me and sits down. He hands me a cup and I gratefully accept it. It's only half full, but that's more than fine. I take a cautious sip of the hot, dark liquid. It's wonderful flavour spreads through me, calming my nerves.

"Gracias."

He laughs at me. "De nada. You know, I can speak our English equivalent, Perry."

I give him a sideways grin. "Lo sé, pero tú me conoce."

"Yes, yes I do." He begins fiddling with his cup. "So, um, sorry about… walking in on you two on the jet."

I shake my head. "We were just kissing. She was too injured for anything more than that."

"Yeah, about that… how were you kissing? You have bills, not lips!"

I laugh. "I didn't know how she did it at first either. I just sort of caught on after a while."

"You've only known her for like three days!" I shrug at his exclamation. He gives me a sly smile and leans towards me. "You wouldn't mind showing me how you do it, would you?"

I suck in my breath and raise a cautionary finger at him. He bursts out laughing.

"Kidding, I'm kidding! I'm straight as a plank!"

"Planks develop warps," I respond dryly, not lowering my finger.

His smile abruptly vanishes and he gets a look of horror on his face. "Mierda. You're right! And I've been using that phrase for…"

Now it's my turn to laugh at him. No wonder he can't keep a girlfriend. After a while, I finally gain control of myself. I let out a small sigh.

"Thank you. I needed that."

He smiles at me. "You're welcome." His expression falls and he looks at the floor. "So. Steve told me what happened in the basement."

I stare at the floor.

He turns his head and looks at me. "Perry, were you going to kill her?"

I don't answer and refuse him eye contact.

"Perry." His voice gains a force I'm not familiar with coming from him. "Would you have?"

I take a sip of my coffee. I finally respond in a quiet voice. "Yes."

"Perry," he hisses at me, keeping his voice low. "It's not our job to play judge, jury and executioner!"

I narrow my eyes, but still refuse to look at my best friend. "Maybe, sometimes, it should be."

I can see Pinky's shock in my peripheral vision. I take another sip of coffee.

"You—you don't mean that!" he stammers.

I take a deep breath. "I do. Diana could've died. Her leg could've gotten infected and she could've died. People like Mother, people who are so evil that they treat us animals the way Mother does, don't deserve to live."

"… What would Diana think if she heard you say that?"

I suppress a shudder. "Truthfully, I don't know. But considering everything Mother put her through, I think she'd agree with me."

"Perry… no one deserves to die. No one."

"Oh, really?" I turn and look him directly in the eyes, my anger starting to burn again. "What about the terrorists who murder children? Do they deserve to live? What about the rapists who assault women and men every day? Do they deserve to live? And what about the people who enable the rapists? Do they deserve to live?"

Pinky is left staring at me in stunned silence. I turn my eyes to the floor again.

"What good are we doing, Pinky? What good are we really doing? How many people have to suffer and die before we finally say that enough is enough?"

Pinky keeps his eyes on me for an eternity before letting them fall. He takes a deep, shaky breath. "No one deserves to die, Perry. No, not everyone deserves to live, you're right, but no one deserves to die. It's hard. It's really hard. But it's the right thing to do. We have to be better than them."

"We are better than them. I don't see you and me going around r—" I stop myself and shut my eyes. I take a deep breath and rephrase. "You haven't done anything so horrible you couldn't forgive yourself. Just trust me, we're better than them."

Pinky gets a look of concern on his face. "Perry, what happened? What were you about to say?"

I turn away from him. I can't say it. Diana may have forgiven me, but I still haven't found it in me to forgive myself.

"It's been a long four days…" is what I finally decide to tell him. I can tell he's not satisfied with my answer, but I don't care. It's all I'm giving him.

We sit in silence. What else is there to say? This isn't going to go anywhere. Actually, there is something else to say.

"Thank you for coming."

Pinky shakes his head. "Callie and I didn't really end up doing anything."

"You came. That's what matters. Thank you."

He finally regains his smile. "You're welcome. Thank you for reaching out."

I nod and take another sip of coffee. I let out a sigh. "How are the other survivors?"

His smile vanishes and he averts his gaze. "The doctors finished looking over them a little bit ago. That poison was dangerous stuff. It caused severe damage to their ovaries. It'll take months for them to recover. The antidote might not even work for all of them."

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath. Diana's going to freak when she hears that. I can only hope— no, I can only pray that she's going to be fine.

Pinky looks at his watch and sighs. "I need to go. Isabella and Vivian are probably freaking out right now."

I nod my head, continuing to stare at the floor.

"Hey, Perry."

I meet my best friend's eyes.

"You asked what good we do. We just saved nineteen lives. Think about that."

With that, Pinky walks off, leaving me staring after him in silence.

I finally let a small smile spread across my bill. He's right. We saved nineteen lives.

We did good.