Disclaimer: I don't own Phil of the Future or any characters

"So, what are you off to now, Phil?" Ted asked as he, Phil, and Keely stepped out of the diner. The reason why he'd asked Phil exclusively was obvious to both Keely and Phil: Ted was hoping to somehow provoke Phil into quickly excusing himself that that Ted could be alone with Keely. While Keely wasn't comfortable with the idea of Ted trying to run Phil off, she didn't much care Phil's smug response.

"I don't know, I've got all day," Phil replied. Then, he grunted, "Why? What's it to you?"

While such a reaction was unusual for Phil, he was already quite agitated with the fact that Ted had spent the last hour and half talking Phil's ear off about what a fantastic anchor Keely was. He hadn't even bothered to take breaths between his brown-nosing, let alone actually bothered to eat his food. And so, Phil was forced to wait another 20 minutes after finishing his own meal to be able to leave. And then Ted had gone and showed off by not only picking up all their tabs, but also by tipping twenty whole dollars. Of course, all of that was just the cherry on top of the fact that Phil was becoming increasingly concerned for Keely's safety. He worried about the old man who'd he'd witnessed hitting the older version of Theodore. He worried even more about the fact that Theodore had told him Keely hadn't exactly lived happily ever after liked she described in the journal.

Phil glanced over his shoulder at Keely, only to receive a scolding frown. Even so, Phil just thought about how amazing she truly was. Clearly Ted thought much the same thing, as he was going to such great lengths to keep her for himself, including the length of ensuring that his younger self and grandson were doing everything they could to keep history from changing.

"I'm sorry, Ted," Keely apologized on Phil's behalf. "It's just…you see, Phil and I kind of have something going on between us, so…"

"Oh, no," Ted murmured, "That wasn't a date that I just intruded on, was it?"

Keely insisted, "No, no…not really anyways."

Ted just nodded. All that needed to say had been said. It seemed as though Phil was just jealous even though he didn't really get that Keely wasn't his girl, despite the fact that something was 'going on' between them. And even though none of it was actually said aloud, Phil was still left branded the fool.

Well, I'm obviously not winning any points by being hostile toward the guy. I need to remember that the only person I'm really hurting by acting this way is Keely.

"Yeah, Keely's right," Phil admitted with a sigh. "I shouldn't have reacted so harshly."

"Hey, don't worry about it, man," Ted shrugged, then, clearly still playing the same, turned to Keely and said, "Well, what about you? Do you have any other plans?"

"No," Keely replied. "I mean, I have to prepare for tomorrow morning's broadcast, but that they can wait if you've got something else in mind."

"I don't know," Ted shrugged. "I guess I was thinking maybe we could go for ice cream or something."

"Sure," Keely. "Well, Phil, what do you think? Are you up for getting some ice cream?"

"Yeah, sure," Phil agreed. Even though he wanted nothing more in than moment that to take Keely someplace as far away from Ted as he possibly could, he realized he was just going to have to play along if he was going to keep from losing Keely's trust. And so Phil suffered through another two hours of Ted's flirting before the three finally left the ice cream parlor.

Keely glanced at her watch and said, "Oh, no, it's almost four! I'm sorry, guys, but I really need to get home to I can get some work done and still be able to go to bed at a decent hour."

"Sure, that's no problem," Ted spoke, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

Keely shook her head and smiling, said, "I only live a couple of blocks away. I think I can manage. You should go relax for a little while at home so you're ready for work tomorrow too."

"Yes, ma'am," Ted replied with a grin, which just made Keely grin back.

"Oh, and, Phil, you should be sure to come to tomorrow's broadcast too," Keely offered, "Just…don't show up early this time, okay."

"Okay," Phil replied as Keely walked off. He stayed quiet for a minute, waiting for the right opportunity to excuse himself. When he realized that the right opportunity wasn't going to come along, he finally muttered, "Well, see you tomorrow, Ted."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Ted replied. Phil had his back to him, as he had already started walking away in the opposite direction. He lifted hand casually to bid one final farewell.

Phil spent the evening anxiously awaiting then next broadcast. He slept for a few hours, got up and paced for a while. He ate dinner at one point and then took a shower around midnight. He tossed and turned all night and by dawn, he was resisting the urge to walk to down to the studio as he had done the day before. No longer able to stay in bed, he opted to get up and go for some coffee. After killing another hour just walking around the town and reflecting on the times he'd spent in that tiny little place, he was realized when the time to go to the studio finally rolled around.

When he arrived and the studio gate, the guard announced, "Sorry, but the morning news had been cancelled."

"What? How do they just cancel the morning news?" Phil wondered.

"Well, it seems that the main anchor is missing," The guard stated.

"Missing?" Phil cried.

"Yeah, not to mention, the usual cameraman never showed up this morning," The guard said. "Of course, when he didn't show up, they just called in a replacement. But when the anchor didn't show up, they called her home and her mother informed us that she never came home last night."

Phil started making a mad towards Keely's house without a second thought. Even though he knew Ted was desperate and dangerous, he naively had allowed himself to never even imagine that Ted would go so far as actually kidnapping her.