Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Another summer died, as ever it was fated to, and on one particular cool Autumn evening one could watch it, in essence, shed its skin, as leaves of red, gold and orange were carried by the cool breeze down a deserted Danville street. Relentlessly they ran, carried upward then falling back down to earth, until they finally rose again, over a fence, and into the backyard of one suburban property, where finally they came to rest on the ground beneath the house's tallest window. There they lay in wait, summer's discarded skin flakes, though a far prettier lot than what the human body could shed during it's own constant stages of death and renewal.

"Soon they all turn brown and decay," Lawrence Fletcher mumbled to himself, saying out loud a thought he would have usually kept even from himself.

The father of the household, having watched the leaves' trespass, found himself musing then on man's own stages of spring to winter, and how it suddenly had begun to disturb him over the past few days, more than he could ever feel comfortable confessing to his family.

He wished now to focus on the task he could amuse his two young sons with - the raking up of leaves - instead of the feeling of dampness in the air and his fear that his bones were beginning to be affected by the weather, as he had once teased his own father about. Once fall had been his favorite season, now he found himself dreading it for the threat of winter afterwards and the increasing ailments it brought with it: a constant chill and inability to gather any warmness, chilblains on his fingers and toes, a loss of feeling in limbs...

All reminders that he was growing older.

And joining the falling leaves in their ritual of decay.

The man pushed away such musings with a show of bravery, trying to laugh that his thoughts had become so suddenly dark and morbid and blaming it on the approach of Guy Fawkes night, though the Yanks still insisted on calling it Halloween, of all things, and, as impatient as they were, they celebrated it days before as well! What possibly could be so frightening or funny about the hallowed, afterall? Weren't they intended to be revered, all the Saints and the dead that had passed on before? But Guy Fawkes! Now there was a chap always worth a bit of a shudder or giggle. What a ripper that whole affair had been, a regular right old trick, involving explosives and failure.

At least, a bit of fun for those whom considered themselves still young.

Leaving his place by the window, Lawrence Fletcher walked into the kitchen, where his family was settling in for their last meal of the day, blissfully unaware of the dark places their father's thoughts had taken him. "Boys!" he began cheerfully, taking his seat at the table and looking between his youngest and eldest sons, "I noticed that the leaves are starting to fall from the trees again...you know what that means, don't you?"

"Gee, dad," the smaller of the two, a boy named Phineas, replied, turning his triangular shaped head to smile at his stepfather, his fork and spoon still poised and ready in his grasp. "That means it's time for Ferb and I to devise a device to gather the leaves and then turn them to mulch in an ecologically friendly way. Then, if we have the time in between doing our homework and chores, we can see if there's any way to use the mulch to grow super-sized pumpkins after creating a serum that accelerates their growth cycle! Plus we can use the seeds to give to the Fireside Girls to sell at their fall charity drive."

Ferb gave a thumbs up to his brother's suggestions, his hands obviously free from any silverware, though he was the one most often associated with tools and other such instruments.

"Righty-Oh, my lads!" Lawrence beamed at his sons, feeling a little buoyed by their youthful enthusiasm. "I knew I could count on you to solve our pesky little leaf problem, all while promoting seasonal enjoyment too! My, it does the heart good...I suddenly feel so very young at heart myself!"

Despite his words of encouragement, the father waited for Candace - the only daughter in the family and now a ripe old age of 18, making her years older than both of her brothers - to say something in revolt, but her thoughts seemed as secretly downcast as his own, the somber mood catching it seemed, or at least partially so. Perhaps it was the change in the offering of light, Fletcher mused, his having heard that the shorter days depleted people of some necessary chemicals and made them prone to depression because of it.

Yes, surely that was it, there being a logical explanation for the dark thoughts suddenly creeping in.

"Supper is served," Linda, the mother of the Flynn-Fletcher household, announced, carrying a tray over to the table, managing to effortlessly step over Perry, the now sleeping platypus in her way, and placing it at its center, showing off a meal of some indeterminate fowl, encircled with baby potatoes and cut up carrots, as well as a bed of spaghetti beneath it all.

Even now, with the older woman more present, Candace would not separate herself from her own melancholic study to realize that her mother had conveniently missed hearing her two little brothers outright discussing their often outlandish schemes right behind her back. Whilst normally the young woman might yell a loud, "Oh c'mon" or set free a chorus of "Mom! Mom! Mom!", now she merely stared at her empty plate, as if entranced by its pure whiteness or her reflection held within its core. Lawrence Fletcher could not help but wonder then if it had anything to do with the job Candace had busied herself with all summer and which she must soon decide if it were finally time to reach its conclusion, come November, or become something she longed to stay at, though her mother never missed the opportunity to suggest she move on, having never quite supported the very idea, especially not after discovering whom it was her daughter was working for.

"Okay everyone, dig in!" Linda instructed and watched in delight as her two sons leaned eagerly over the table to pile their plates high, but less impressed with her daughter, whom only partially covered her plate in food, and not pleased at all with her husband, whom hesitated to serve himself any of it at all!

He had been going to, Lawrence thought, defending himself within his mind. Only...then...he had begun to see the noodles as worms and not pasta, and the bird, whatever it had been, as being the dead thing they were feasting on. Even now, staring at Candace's plate, the girl pushing everything around without eating any of it, Linda's husband struggled to gather any for his sup, it too reminding him of the circle of life and its inevitable outcome. When he did reach across to take a forkful, making his wife happy enough to begin filling her own plate, he did it with the last bit of strength he possessed and his desire to remain the flawless and fearless father he believed they wanted him to be.

Then, he could only eat with his eyes shut behind his pair of spectacles too, making him unable to see what he was feasting upon as the leaves all rotted outside.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Candace gave some indication that she had been listening afterall, still moving the food around on her plate as she appeared somewhat more brighter, "What were you saying about homework again, Phineas?"

Here it comes, Lawrence thought, Candace going back to what she did best, or should he say worst: busting her little brothers.

"Oh, just that we would try to help the Fireside Girls out with their charity drive, if we had enough time after raking and doing homework."

"Aww, is that ever sweet," Linda remarked, the spaghetti like worms spinning themselves around the tines of her fork and her then stabbing the piece of meat with them.

"How is school anyway?" Candace asked, to her stepfather's surprise, not becoming upset that her brother had actually unintentionally rephrased his earlier statement, making it sound more innocent than it perhaps was. "You know, for you and Ferb and Isabella and the rest of the gang."

"Oh it's great!" Phineas stated. "We've just begun our multipart entry on what we did this past summer, and inbetween that, we are learning about a whole lot of cool things we already know about. You know, like Egypt and archeology and fossils and things."

"You know, Candace," Linda stated, her eyes on the meal on her plate. "You could see for yourself what school is like if you actually decided to enroll...like you said you might when summer was over. From what I see, it's well past over now, the leaves even starting to fall."

"That's not the same thing," Candace said, her shoulders drooping even more, so her chin was almost about to end up on her plate with the rest of her untouched supper. She suddenly appeared to be revisiting her Emo phase, though her clothes and hair color were still typically Candace Flynn.

"What do you think, Lawrence?" Linda asked, turning to her husband for confirmation. "Don't you think Candace, if she's so interested in school, should sign up for those college classes we all talked about?"

"What?" Lawrence Fletcher asked, his thoughts having drifted off so he had little clue what they were now talking about.

"Shouldn't Candace stop wasting her time working over at that building and actually start taking steps towards her career?"

It sounded right and proper, just more of the natural progression of things. And yet when he was about to agree, Lawrence looked up to find Candace staring at him in such trepidation about what he was going to say, he couldn't say anything really. Rarely had his stepdaughter's eyes looked so imploringly at him, not even when she had sought his help to get her brothers into trouble.

"Oh...I don't know...She's still young enough for all that sort of thing," he answered, feeling so very old in comparison. "She has her whole life in front of her..."

All the talk about fossils and archeology had made his mind go again down that pit of mortal despair, not that it had ever stopped.

Maybe the antique business was not good for his mood either, Lawrence pondered. It was not good to spend so much time among the items that people discarded because they deemed them too old and irrelevant or whom owners had died, being so very "antique" themselves. When people died their belongings were divided and given to either family or to some estate or the like. When people died, their bodies were either buried or burned...What had meant more to them than any trinket was essentially lost...while some of those trinkets lived on, being coveted by others...whom then died in turn. It hardly seemed fair.

Oh dear.

But his thoughts were becoming dark, about as dark as it was outside of the window now. Lawrence grabbed his teacup to help settle his nerves, hoping a spot of warm Earl Grey might help. He wasn't usually this sort...well not so much at the forefront. Such thoughts might have occurred to him while he was dusting off the antiques at the store, but he had always pushed them away. He was known as a jolly, good fellow, the type the song might have been written for...a cheerful father and husband whom was doubtlessly called on to soothe the members of his family when they were out of sorts.

But whom was there to help soothe him?

Not currently his wife, whom was glowering at him for not coming to back her up where their daughter's professional future was concerned.

"Lawrence...I think what Candace needs now is focus. Sure, she has plenty of time but her career, any career that matters, that is, really depends on getting an early start at it. Believe me, I know all about it," she gave a bitter laugh, obviously referring to her time as a One Hit Wonder named Lindana. "Sure, I might have became an astro physicist afterwards, but it was a scramble, let me tell you. Besides...didn't you want to become a lawyer, Candace? For that you need actual experience in a court of law or at least the judicial system, not some disreputable scientist's lab! A disreputable scientist, I might add whom stuffed me in his trunk during a date once and then suggested I pay for half of his ticket."

Lawrence noticed the way that Candace sighed, more visually seen then audibly heard and was equally aware that Linda's speech was directed at the girl as much as it was at himself. His mind didn't so much latch on to what she was trying to get him to agree with, however, so much as the realization that the years of Lindana were also so far away in the distant past...my goodness, both Linda and he had gotten old without them ever realizing it...

"Lawrence!"

"Oh, yes, dear..." he snapped out of it to try to be what everyone needed from him again. "What I mean to say is that, while I see your point, I don't see a few months mattering, Candace's grades being quite good and many of the Universities and Colleges making a special case for her late enrollment, as long as she reaches her decision by mid-November. There is plenty of time from now to then. By December, this will all be worked out and we'll all be heading towards a New Year, I assure you."

Another year, passing, Lawrence thought with some sadness. Another year he could never get back.

"Sure. Fine. Now I see that you two are in league against me, let me just get back to my supper before it gets cold," Linda testily replied.

"Mom! Nobody is in leagues against you," Phineas said, reaching out to pat her hand. "We're just saying there is plenty of time."

Plenty of time you might not have, a thought, which might as well have been a whisper, ran through Lawrence's mind...

"Thank you, boys," Linda stated, patting her son's hand in return. "It's nice to see that someone's got my back around here."

Lawrence lifted his head at the sound of chair legs scratching the kitchen floor, which took some effort, considering there was a rug beneath the table. Candace had apparently lost her appetite, even more than he had.

"I'm going to my room now...I don't think I'll be missed."

"Candace!" Phineas said, watching his sister leave the room. "Don't go! You still haven't had dessert yet!"

But Candace continued walking out of the kitchen and Lawrence noted the way Linda tried to pretend that her daughter leaving, with barely touching her meal, hadn't hurt her, just as her words before it had obviously wounded her daughter.

"Okay, well now that Little Miss Mopey Pants has left the room, maybe we can all sit and have a nice supper together," Linda announced, turning back to the food placed before her.

Lawrence could have told her that Candace might not have improved his mood, but she certainly hadn't been the cause for it either. His eyes lifted to the window, where the darkness was encroaching round about even more, making things seem so...lost to shadows? Yes, he could tell Linda that he had been a right killjoy before Candace, but what was the point to it all anyway, he wondered, feeling a desperation falling around his soul like a trap?

It was hopeless to convince the woman once her mind was made up.

As hopeless as everything else.

Lawrence Fletcher brought the fork to his mouth, the spaghetti wrapped around the fowl, like worms which had coiled and then devoured the dead.

* * *

The lights were off in Candace's room, when she first stepped in and the darkness made her pause as she suffered a momentary feeling like she was being devoured by it.

Standing there, her eyes struggling to adapt, it was strange how, in the darkness what appeared to be light was really only the night outside. What had equally struck her as strange was how, passing any house, during the day, you couldn't see in - not that she was peering in and not that she wasn't neither - but during night, should the lights have been on inside, then it finally became more clearly seen.

How odd.

Maybe Vanessa's dad could explain that phenomenon to her, Candace thought, angrily flicking the light switch and making the shadows flee away.

Vanessa's dad, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Her employer for the whole summer long.

And one of the reason why her mother was so dismissive of it and her choices, or lack thereof.

Candace went to her favorite spot by the window, sitting down and hugging her knees. It was where she had always gone and sat, throughout her youth to teenage years, whenever she was thoughtful or sad or even contrarily happy. It always felt comforting, the house like shape of its hollow, the almost angelic view to the backyard and the endless sky over Danville. Now, even though the sky was more indigo than outright blue, she still saw some beauty in it and hope, the stars shining like holes popped into the dark canopy, trying to share some of their light, as if she were a prisoner to despair.

Hugging her knees, Candace rested her chin on top of one and stared out into the darkened backyard, seeing a few of the leaves that her father must have noticed too.

She really should have stayed to finish supper, Candace Flynn realized, but Phineas' call out to her was so sweet it was a fair enough substitute for dessert anyway.

It's not like she needed more actual confectionaries. Infact, she had a few of her favorite chocolate bars stashed away inside of the very storage unit she was currently perched and pouting upon. And not just chocolate bars. All summer long, with the small pay that Vanessa's father had been giving her, she'd been buying tons of junk food. There were bags of chips and Nerds and bubblegum. There was licorice and jelly beans and jawbreakers. She hadn't even begun to eat them all. Actually, she was afraid some of the expiry dates had passed, on the potato chips, at least...

And she didn't even know why she was buying any of them and continuing to do it!

Only she did.

They reminded her of her childhood.

A place she felt like the whole world (apart from Phineas and Ferb, God bless them) was suddenly trying to push and drag her out of, perhaps before she was even ready.

Even Jeremy was trying to coerce her into going to his college, so then they could be together more often, and Stacy, whom had begun her career path in doctoring - urged on by her own mother - had seemingly easily transitioned from Danville High to bigger, more mature pastures.

Only she was lingering behind, certain that she would like to become a lawyer...and yet hesitant about it now that it was expected of her.

Candace didn't want to tell her mom that there was a world of difference, it seemed, between high school and college or what she was even doing at Dr. Doofenshmirtz's lab. Infact, she missed the days when she could just be a kid again.

Why, she even regretted all of those times she had attempted to bust her brothers. Maybe she should have taken a moment and just tried to have fun with them instead.

Just allowed herself to be young.

Now there seemed to be sooo much responsibility...

Too much.

Working for Vanessa's dad wasn't exactly like a real job or working for a real adult. He was so suprisingly cute and inept most of the time. He was more likely to trip over his own two feet than to make it safely to where he was running one of his experiments. Infact, a few times he had crashed into his own inventions, destroying them in the process. When Vanessa had suggested she work for her dad as an intern, Candace had first believed it might be her first step into adulthood, but maybe it had only made her fear of it grow, working for Dr. D, as he was called, feeling more like she was...babysitting.

That sounded harsh, but she didn't mean it that way. It was really enjoyable. Like working and playing at the same time, although sometimes she got the impression that the scientist was uncomfortable having her there, like he possibly resented his daughter having taking control of his work and hired an assistant for him virtually all by herself.

She could still remember the look on the man's face when she had shown up on his doorstep, prepared for her first day on the job. The look of complete dread on his face that Vanessa had arranged for a mess of a teenage girl, just fresh out of high school, to now help him on a daily basis inside of his laboratory. No wonder, he had probably had a freakout and treated her so odd and coldly that first day!

He had probably thought she was too young.

Maybe he was right.

That was just how she felt, Candace mused now: too young and wanting to stay in that place for just a few days longer. Like another 104 days that would go on and on and at times seem never ending.

Candace Flynn's cheek pressed against the glass, as she leaned against the window, aware of the seasonal chill outside of it. Her eyes drifted to the night lying outside of the glass, seeing shadows moving and wondering if they too brought with them a certain coldness.

She stayed by the window longer than she should have, feeling those same shadows on the other side, like beasts you saw at the zoo, but remained safe from. Then, deciding she should get to work early, she went to her bed and set the alarm, changing into her night clothes and forgetting all about the window and how, at night, it was more easily seen into. She then turned off the light and crawled underneath the covers. Taking hold of her Ducky Momo doll and holding it to her heart, Candace felt like in the darkness she could pretend she was still a child, at least, making believe she was a princess and saying her prayers that the monsters wouldn't get her and that she would be safely guided through that night and all the others that would follow.

* * *

At the heart of midnight, the Flynn-Fletcher supper on it's way to digestion, the group of leaves which had earned the patriarch of the family's attention, gently stirred in the night breeze, suddenly lifted into the air below Candace's window, which had become only a darkened rectangle with no glimpse offered of the room or the "princess" whom lived inside of it.

The leaves moved, rising into the air, where a patch of darkness suddenly greeted them, giving the impression that it had not been the wind that had moved them at alll but the darkness' act of breathing.

Then, with a loud crunching sound, to help compliment the crispness of the Autumn air, the warm colored leaves were quickly and hungrily devoured by the shadows.

Chapter Text

Morning found the Flynn-Fletcher kitchen surrounded by far less amounts of darkness and shadows lying in wait in the world around it. Phineas enjoyed talking enthusiastically about the various plans for Autumn that Ferb and he had planned, while Linda seemed overly happy to listen to them all, praising her sons' wonderful imaginations. Candace just seemed happier to have her mother not outright criticizing her job, for a change, even though she was already wearing the standard labcoat and had her hair neatly tucked into a bun, two requisites that her boss had insisted upon when she started the internship at the start of summer. The only flashes of disapproval came when her mom's eyes darted in her direction, at the buttoned up coat of white or the severity of her hairstyle. Other than that, she said nothing and Candace was relieved, although a little unsettled about her mother's general demeanor.

It seemed forced.

Unnatural.

Like some other time Candace had been forced to witness it...

Staring at the table, Linda Flynn-Fletcher's daughter was suffering misgivings, remembering a less ideal time of the childhood she had taken to mourn. Candace just told herself it was crazy feeling, that something like that would never happen again and she was just letting her own imagination go wild, probably because of her uneasy sleep last night, filled with nightmares of oldness, the dark and the looming shadow that stole the spaces for any light allowed in between them.

Soon Phineas was heading to the door in excitement, and Candace was following after him, trying to remember if she was supposed to bring anything in to work that morning. Not that Doofenshmirtz ever chastised her when she forgot. He was a pretty lenient that way.

Seeing movement in front of her, and hearing the resulting thud, Candace looked up from her keys to see that a book had taken a swan dive from out of Phineas' tightly packed backpack, his green haired shadow surprisingly not by his side to point it out.

Squatting, Candace picked the book up, reading the title and feeling the sensation of leaves being blown across her grave, if not exactly anyone outright stepping on it. It just seemed so eerie a coincidence, what with her thoughts and her dreams from last night, and she wondered if she was still lost in the sleep she had so restlessly fallen into, so she pinched herself before asking her little brother, what was in her hand.

* * *

"What's this?" Phineas heard his sister asking as he was walking to the front door. He really had no idea what she was talking about, it was Candace, afterall, until he turned around and found her holding the book that must have fallen out of his backpack sometime when he'd left the kitchen table. That helped explain why his bag was noticeably lighter, which he hadn't fully realized, his mind on school and what he and Ferb would be doing during recess.

"Gee, thanks Candace!" the small boy, dressed in an orange coat, said, walking back to where his sister was standing and holding his copy of Peter Pan. "I got in on loan from the school library and I'd hate to misplace it. They'd send the library police after me...at least...isn't that what you used to tell me would happen if it wasn't returned?"

Candace looked at the book, a strange little frown on her face as she turned it over and studied the back cover too, not handing it back into his outstretched hand just yet. "You have to borrow a copy? Wait, didn't dad give you his?"

"Yes. Yes, he did. It also happened to get destroyed that time we were trying to make a bookcase for him and these weird little omnivorous plants suddenly showed up," Phineas explained, some little uneasy feeling gnawing at him like the strange plants had done with the bookcase. Something had been overlooked, a separate part of his brain processed, something unacknowledged...

Phineas watched his sister studying the book some more, until she finally handed it back, a little too quickly, like it had bitten her just like the plants had bitten the bookcase too. Gee, Phineas thought, that imagery sure was repetitive this morning. He placed the book back safely inside of his backpack, pushing it down this time so it wouldn't fall out, just like his friend Milo Murphy had taught him.

"I can't quite remember the story...uhmm...I know Alice in Wonderland a whole lot better but...did Peter Pan have a shadow that got away from him in it?" Candace asked, seeming somewhat unnerved.

"Yeah, that was such an awesome part!" Phineas confirmed excitedly, his mind bouncing to the scene she was talking about. "It's how he meets Wendy! Peter loses it when it gets separated from him. Wouldn't that be great? I wish I had a shadow that could run around without me!"

Candace shivered, her eyes suddenly looking bigger while Phineas finally noticed the shadows underneath them. Was that what he hadn't noticed before? Possibly. But he doubted it.

His older sister, looked away, as if trying to remember something else now, her voice sounding close and yet oddly far away at the same time. Like when Ferb and he had learned how to throw their voices that one day a few summers back (boy, Ferb was great at it too, so much better than he was!), but not quite like that either. Like it had really only gone inside of her mind, trying to pull out a memory he didn't know of. "And...Peter...he didn't want to grow up, did he?"

"Why, no. No he didn't," Phineas confirmed. "I don't know about that part of the story though. Adults get to do such great things us kids can't. Like they don't have to go to school. Then it's like summer all year long! Why would anyone not want that?"

He found Candace just staring at him, like she had stared at the book, which was a little unnerving but not in a wholly bad way either. "Look, do you and Ferb want me to drive you to school on my way in to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's? It wouldn't be much trouble."

It was sometimes hard to remember that Candace wasn't the same girl whom had freaked out about parallel parking, Phineas mused with a smile, or whom dad had always been polishing the bike of, incase she failed her license. Now she had her own car, and had even offered to take them places in it, which had sort of come out of the blue during this past summer, but was still a welcome surprise. Candace was already the most coolest and best sister in the world! Having her actually want to play chauffeur for them was like having Princess Leia commandeering the Millennium Falcoln to take them planet hopping.

Still, he had to turn her down this time, priorities falling where they must.

"That's really nice of you, Candace, but I think Isabella, Buford and Baljeet would miss us, if we didn't go on the bus."

There that same thing was nagging at him again, Phineas felt, something to do with the word missing? However, then he saw Ferb approaching and it disappeared swiftly enough, Ferb easily communicating with him that they really needed to try to revamp the whole schoolyard's playground by second recess of the end of the week, at least. Besides, there was Perry going up the stairs, presumably to their bedroom, where he would spend the day sleeping, so it hadn't been about him, the usually missing family member, in any case.

Candace seemed actually disappointed, a far cry from what her past reaction would have been, when she was more intent on getting mom to share the wonder of their cool inventions or trying to wring out signs of Jeremy Johnson's affection and complete devotion. "Well, if you guys change your mind, and need a ride home, don't hesitate in calling, okay? You have Dr. D's phone number in your contacts, don't you?"

"Yep. It's saved on speed dial, sis," Phineas said, grabbing the loops of his backpack as Ferb stood beside him, keeping his attache case perfectly still.

Candace had nodded, and then thinking that was the end of it, the two boys had hurriedly rushed out of the door together, trying not to be late for the bus.

All the way to the bus stop, Phineas still couldn't outrun the feeling that something had been wrong at breakfast. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it was there all the same. The feeling like something was missing. He was almost certain, when they arrived at school, it would be to discover that he'd left his homework behind on the desk in his bedroom. So convinced of this, the moment Phineas took his regular seat on the bus, he'd delved right into his backpack, trying to find the sheets of papers and the unrequested illustrations and diagrams he'd added, just to be on the safe side.

"Hi Phineas. Whatcha doin'?" Isabella Garcia-Shapiro soon was heard asking, as she slid beside him on the seat, pushing Ferb even closer to the window.

"Oh, hi Isabella!" Phineas greeted cheerfully, only pausing for a second as he continued to rummage through his backpack. "I'm checking for my homework. I don't want to have left it behind."

He must have placed the copy of Peter Pan beside him, because soon Isabella was holding it and leaving through its pages. "Peter Pan! Are you reading this, Phineas?"

"That stuff's for babies," Buford Van Stomm quickly introduced himself for the day in his usual blunt way, standing dangerously in the aisle beside them and having brought his nerd along with him. "I gotta say that I thawght you mighta moved on to Poe or Bradbury, by now. And if not them, at least Stine or King."

Phineas ignored the criticism, taking it just as Buford's brutal attempt at small talk. It was like he still assumed he had to play the part of bully if he wanted to join them. "Actually, I was thinking about going out as Peter Pan for Halloween this year," Phineas confessed, still distracted.

"Ohhh!" Isabella said so happily that Phineas thought she must be humoring him, because why would a girl as cute, cool and wonderful as Isabella get so excited about his silly, little choice for a Halloween costume? "That sounds great, Phineas!" Her hands were clasped together and she was offering him a smile so blinding he couldn't really focus on it for too long or else he couldn't see long enough to keep searching for his homework.

Baljeet Tinder finally decided to enter the conversation, having continued to look at Isabella when Phineas had felt too shy to. "I would make a far better Peter Pan, do you not think?" Baljeet now asked. "I have the proper amount of whimsey, plus I am still wonderfully light and boyish to pull the whole thing off."

"Not to mention, you'd be used to the time in a harness after all of dose wedgies I've given ya," Buford remarked, punching his nerd in the arm when he'd caught him staring at Isabella for a second longer than he approved of.

"Actually," Phineas said, his brow furrowing as he located his homework afterall, "the whole harness-flying effect is what's making me lean towards it. I think that Ferb and I can devise a much better, and less visible, mode of flying around the city on Halloween night than what they attempted on the stage."

Ferb quickly whipped out a few blueprints and unrolled them across both Phineas' and his laps so that their friends could see.

"Wow!" Isabella, Baljeet and Buford all said in unison, gathering around the designs.

"Well, I think that Phineas would make a wonderful Peter, with or without these," Isabella praised, her eyes on the triangle headed boy and smiling at him again in a way that made him feel warmer than the sun shining in through the bus window, even though she was just being nice.

"Thank you, Isabella," he said sincerely.

"Ya know..." Buford stated, his eyes still on the blueprints. "I nevah really asked ya before, but where do you two get all of this know how from anyway? Where does something like that come from?"

"It's genetics, I suppose," Ferb casually said, studying the blueprints so closely that his nose was almost touching them.

Phineas stopped and considered Buford's question for a little while, certainly longer than his brother had. He'd never actually thought about it before. Where did it come from? Neither he nor Ferb actually shared any of the same genetics, so something about Ferb's answer suddenly felt wrong, something he thought impossible coming from a brother he usually viewed as being the smarter between them. Although maybe Ferb's mom had been a genius, Phineas thought. He had never met her afterall. And maybe his own father had been some kind of prodigy too, although nobody really talked about him too much.

Which only made sense.

Because dad, their real dad now, was the most perfect dad in all of existence anyway and why should they bother with someone who wasn't there and didn't want to be either?

That was when Phineas suddenly managed to pinpoint the very thing that had been missing.

The red head boy turned to his green-haired brother and suddenly asked, "Hey Ferb? Did you see Dad this morning?"

Ferb blinked.

"I didn't either," Phineas replied.

Ferb's eyelids remained raised.

"No, I don't think he was at the Antique store or away on business, but that's probably why I didn't notice it at first. He usually always tell us that sort of thing, though, and he always says goodbye or leaves a note when he's just going to the store?"

As Phineas and Ferb's friends still were admiring the blueprints for the Peter Pan costume's flying device, Phineas Flynn asked the question he usually reserved for their pet and not for their father: "Where's dad?"

* * *

When the bus pulled up to the school and everyone was filing out, Isabella lingered behind, gathering all of the Fireside Girls present and leading them to the back of the bus, so they could share a few words without the rest of the school overhearing them.

"I just found out that Phineas is planning to go out as Peter Pan, this year," the young girl with the raven colored hair whispered, her spirit feeling like it could fly just as well as the boy she'd been in love with for as long as she could remember would be doing this Halloween night. "That means that I can go out as Wendy!"

It was a possibility she had been thinking about the moment Phineas had told her his plans, the most wonderful idea! And the good-natured boy would probably have no problem with it, and neither would Ferb, them being easily able to create another flying device for her too.

Only, now all of her friends, her fellow Fireside Girls, looked at each other as if they thought this wasn't a good idea at all, some of them even whispering to each other, a fact Isabella finally noticed when she left Phineas Land and stopped daydreaming of flying over Danville with the boy of her dreams.

"Wait! You don't think that's a good idea?" she asked, a cold morning breeze suddenly blowing through her hair.

It appeared that Gretchen had been the one chosen amongst them to deliver a confession that nobody else seemed willing to make. "Isabella...don't you think you'd make a far better Tinkerbell?"

Isabella opened her mouth, truly shocked by the comment. Hadn't they all watched the film together at the Lodge and giggled about Peter and Wendy and what a great couple they made? Did this mean they didn't support Phineas and her getting together? "How come?" she asked, remembering too how they had always liked Tink, and even clapped their hands for her when her life was in danger, but had generally considered her not as good of a choice for Peter because Wendy and him seemed absolutely made for each other and Tink seemed more dangerously possessive, kind of like how Candace used to be with Jeremy?

"Well, Tink's been in love with Peter all that time and he's just as oblivious to her as Phineas is to you!" Gretchen further explained.

"Wait! Is this how you've really felt all along?" Isabella asked, her spirit crushed.

The girls all looked sheepish and ashamed. Then either because they had mistakenly heard the bell ringing, or because they hated standing there after having delivered the bad news, most of the Fireside Girls flocked to the schoolyard, making excuses about not wanting to be late for class and leaving only Isabella and Ginger behind.

Ginger Hirano, perhaps the smartest of the Fireside Girls - despite Gretchen's glasses - placed her hand on Isabella's shoulder, trying to offer some comfort. Meanwhile, Isabella's mind was still racing in confusion. Was she Tinker Bell, Phineas' best friend, who was a girl, asked herself? She had never really thought of it before. Now the possibility dug straight to her heart.

"If it makes you feel any better," Ginger said, "it doesn't make any difference. Not really anyway. In the book, Peter can't remember Tink because she died so soon and he's too busy thinking about himself to even notice that Wendy's grown up without him."

No, actually, it didn't make her feel any better, Isabella thought. Not in the slightest. As if aware of this from her friend's sad and down turned face, Ginger suddenly squeezed her shoulder and then slowly walked off to join the other Fireside Girls, feeling like she had done more harm than good by staying behind. She just hadn't liked the way Baljeet had looked at Isabella, anymore than Buford had...

Holding on to the back of the bus for strength, Isabella turned away, hearing the sound of her peers playing in the school's playground but in no hurry to join them.

Peter Pan hadn't even noticed Tinkerbell's death? And he was so self absorbed he couldn't even see that Wendy, his Wendy, had outgrown him?

Blaring through her thoughts, about the only thing that could at the moment aside from Phineas' voice, the horn of the bus began to sound, alerting her that it was about to move on and she should get out of its way. Frantically, trying to appear okay, just like usual, Isabella ran into the schoolyard.

There she saw Phineas, Ferb, Buford and Baljeet examining the See-Saw, with Van Stomm on one end, stranding poor Baljeet (on the other) in the air. She also saw the Fireside Girls all gathered together talking openly together now. Before they could notice her, before any of them could see her, the girl ran towards a space in the school where there was an enclave she could hide herself away in.

She needed time to think...

Like about how all the girls had just looked at each other, and shared a few whispers, but hadn't really needed to go too deep into conversation to discuss how she was Phineas' sad little pathetic Tinker Bell.

Like it was something they had discussed before...behind her back.

Or in the shadows.

Isabella leaned against the wall, the bricks harsh against her hands, while her slight frame was saved by the thickness of her Autumn coat.

She was supposed to be their leader, a thought came to her like someone else's whisper...she wasn't supposed to be someone they pitied.

They were supposed to fear her, like everyone did for those whom were in charge.

Isabella's hands clenched in to fists, trying to fight the thought and think of something else, something that felt more like herself,  something sunnier. She peeked around the wall and back at Phineas. What was he doing now? Oh, he was looking at the swing set with Ferb. Was he planning on fixing the whole schoolyard up? Didn't he realize they wouldn't be here too much longer? They were moving past the time to enjoy it even now.

Was he really like Peter Pan and not only going to dress up like him? Was he excited about growing up only because he thought he'd be given more freedom to still act like a little boy then?

Doesn't that make you hate him, just a little, the intrusive thought was speaking softly again. Was it her thought or someone else's, Isabella couldn't tell; she was suddenly too frightened to, lost in the darkness of the enclave where no one had seen her run off to.

If it were to swallow her, they wouldn't even know where the last place she'd been was...

The thought suddenly horrified her.

Isabella was suddenly saved from the darkness of such musings by the actual ringing of the school bell, which cut through them just as the horn had earlier. She suffered a single moment of pain, as she thought of it being a bell and that being just like the last name of the light, airy creature whom had loved a perpetual child, until she heard Phineas calling out to her from the school steps.

"C'mon Isabella! We don't want to be late!"

We.

He had said we.

Isabella brightened, the two letter word casting the shadows farther away from her, as she flew up the school steps to be by Phineas' side.

Chapter Text

Across the city, Heinz Doofenshmirtz was staring outside of his apartment's window. The fact that the leaves had begun to change colors went right over his unusually shaped head, as opposed to how they had become a point of obsession for the far more calm-in-disposition Lawrence Fletcher. Neither was Dr. Doofenshmirtz concerned at all with the raking of them, living deep in the heart of Danville's urban area where they rarely ever trespassed - and if they ever did, the Mayor, his very own brother, had regulations for the city to tend to their gathering.

Instead, the man's focus was purely centered on making sure that he saw no sign of Vanessa's little friend's car pulling onto the street down below, fearing every second he would see its approach. He stood there, nervously wringing his hands and keeping watch, jumping at the sight of any vehicle that remotely resembled hers and then sighing in relief when it turned out not to be the dreaded one. Still, it was perilously close to when she would arrive and he did not want any chance of her overhearing the heated conversation he was currently having with his daughter.

Most especially since it involved Vanessa's little friend, Candace Flynn, herself.

"But what don't you like about her, dad?" Vanessa was asking in complete frustration. "I don't get it."

Turning away from the window and hoping they had enough time to resolve the discussion before his intern showed up - he, did live in the penthouse of a very tall building, afterall, and oftentimes the elevators didn't even work - so that she would be spared from the awkwardness and pain of ever knowing about it.

Besides, Vanessa was not grasping the problem at all.

She did not truly understand.

"It's not that I don't like her..." Doof defended, wringing his hands some more. "I just wish you would have asked me before you hired her! You know? Is that too much to ask? Would that have been so hard? That you run it by your old father first before going and hiring one of your young friends to intern for him? Was that really such a terrible thing, sweetie?"

"I didn't think you would mind!" Vanessa countered, folding her arms in annoyance. "I mean! C'mon! You know Candace. She's been here a few times and you never had a problem with it before. Besides, weren't you the one always complaining that since I've been working at OWCA and hanging out with Monty Monogram, you really needed a new assistant? Weren't you always guilt tripping me? Well, I found you one. So what's the big problem?"

"She's too young," Heinz replied, feeling the pathetic pout on his face growing with every word of the sentence, his hands no longer being endlessly wrung but falling slackened to his sides.

"Wait...you roped me in to helping you when I was just 15!" Vanessa balked, obviously offended.

Heinz instantly tensed up again, fearing he had hurt his daughter's feelings, making him feel even a little more sour at her little friend for having caused it. In frustration he ran a large hand over his tall forehead, catching a palmful of sweat.

"Yeah, but you're family," he argued. "You're not someone else's child. That's different. That's a completely different house, with their own set of goals and values. Need I remind you, Vanessa, I was always vainly hoping you'd turn out evil, just like me. And you turned out to be a massive disappointment on that front, joining in with my enemies, let me also remind you."

He spun around so as not to face her, his eyes back on the streets below, frantically searching for something he thankfully did not see.

"Well, you aren't evil," Vanessa had the nerve to tell him, coming up to hug him from behind even. "No matter how hard you tried to be, remember."

Doofenshmirtz sighed, seeing their reflection clearly in a window that his robot, Norm, had only just recently polished. His daughter was looking at him so happily, so proud and yet he felt like an overwhelming failure on so many different levels.

"Yes. You don't need to remind me. I failed so miserably, now I bowl with my former enemies. I actually bowl with them. And I make useless inventions now too. Completely harmless things. Ones that your little friend has been employed to help me construct."

He rolled his eyes at the mere thought of the orange-haired girl and then felt his body slackening for a second time. "It's just that...that...I don't feel like I can be myself around her. I'm so old and she's so young. It's like that old song by that Canadian guy, what was his name? Paul Bunyan? No. Paul Yanka. That was it, Paul Anka. Like he sang, only with the sexes switched around and not romantic, I mean, not like that at all. Like inside of a purely working relationship, Vanessa, one where I am not a babysitter, inspiring teen pop hits of lust. Lust has nothing to do with it. But...It's like I'm always on guard or something."

"Why?" Vanessa asked. "Candace might be a little high strung sometimes...

"A little?" Heinz scoffed. "She can make me seem positively placid."

"Okay, a lot, but she's really really nice. Besides it's just because she spent years trying to bust her brothers and it never worked out for her. Like never. And always in the most humiliating way, like something was out to punish her for some reason."

"Maybe she was just crazy," Heinz Doofenshmirtz darkly suggested in a tone much lower than his usual one.

"I don't think so, dad. I saw a few of them and I know her brother Ferb very well. He's a genius! Infact, both he and Phineas are kind of like you, except their stuff works." Heinz glared at his daughter, whom continued regardless. "But their inventions always disappeared. Always. And her mom and everyone always ended up thinking she was crazy. You'd act a little nuts if that happened to you too, wouldn't you?"

Heinz turned around, his daughter releasing her grip. "Hello? Where were you these past few years? Remember a certain Perry the Platypus and several hundred self destruct buttons and exploding inators?"

Vanessa covered her mouth as she obviously restrained a giggle. "Oh sorry. You are a little nuts yourself. That's why I thought you and Candace would work so well together."

Heinz recoiled at the mere suggestion, his eyes nervously darting to the window.

"Besides..." Vanessa now said, sweeping her long brunette hair over her shoulder and suddenly adopting a far more casual attitude towards what she viewed as her father's seeming unreasonabIeness. "I don't know why you're so fussy about it. From what Candace told me, her mom's pressuring her to take those college courses and become a lawyer. With the way that girl obsesses over what her mother thinks, that means she'll be driving off to college before you know it and she'll be out of your still brown, starfish shaped hair come November."

Heinz's face remained frozen, even though his eyes did another darting to the window. Vanessa's little friend had mentioned that possibility once or twice...although he had never taken it seriously before. "Good...I mean, I'll be grateful to see her gone," he stated through clenched teeth, his hands beginning a more frantic series of wringings his daughter interpreted as an anxiousness to get past October as soon as possible.

* * *

Outside of Heinz Doofenshmirtz apartment, Candace Flynn's hands did their own set of movements, first going to her mouth, not to conceal any giggle but rather a gasp, then a few clenches at the sides of her own labcoat and finaly her holding them clasped together in front of her in silent and sad resignation.

She had been listening to most of father and daughter Doofenshmirtz's argument from outside of the partially opened doorway, their words drifting out of it like a sad sort of melody she could not get out of her head.

She's been forced to park on a more distant street when her car wouldn't start; That was after she'd dropped into a nearby store to pick up a treat for her boss. Now her hand drifted into her pocket to look at the bought item, the cause for her overhearing what she shouldn't have, although she didn't know it, as she remembered the engine refusing to start, probably because of the drop in temperature. It could be finicky that way, something her father had warned her about.

Candace had then run all the way to the DEI building, not wanting to be late and finding herself early instead and on the verge of interrupting Vanessa, whom was talking with Dr. Doofenshmirtz, when she'd opened the door, unnoticed, and went to come inside.

The subject had been her, and to Candace's horror none of it had been particularly pleasant. That was when she had backed back out and stood listening on the other side of the wall to the rest of the fight.

She recalled her mother warning her once, "Never eavesdrop on a conversation about yourself, Candace, because it won't ever be something that you want to hear."

Even then, that had been after she had come across her mom telling Isabella's mother about how crazy her own daughter was getting, fabricating stories about what her little brothers were doing in the backyard every summer. And how she was really getting to old for that sort of nonsense.

Having overheard those words at the start of this past summer, it had been one of the primary reasons she had gone looking for a summer job to otherwise occupy her mind, one which had led to Heinz Doofenshmirtz's doorstep, after Vanessa suggested he would be overjoyed to have her as his new intern.

A claim that had obviously been a lie now.

Not that it had ever seemed otherwise, if she was being honest with herself.

Through her tears, Candace stared at the item in her hand. The same thing he had sent her out to get, her very first day on the job, probably as an excuse so he could get mad at his daughter for hiring her in the first place. 

Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz just didn't like her for some reason.

And the feeling sadly wasn't mutual, making it even more painful for the young woman.

She had always been fond of Vanessa's dad, even when Vanessa herself hadn't seemed to be, or Stacy for that matter too. He always seemed like a nice enough person and interesting also. Actually, he reminded her a little of her own father, both men even having pictures of themselves kicking oranges, which was unusual. The idea of working for him didn't seem too horrible and he'd always treated her nice enough, even if he didn't go out of his way to interact with or notice her or even seem to pay attention to what she was talking about in his presence. Sure, they had once almost ended the world together, but it had all worked itself out more or less, so they couldn't cause too much damage together, she had always reasoned.

So what he also had a room marked "INATORS" that she wasn't allowed to go into, ever, and he could snap at her on occassion like she had done something horribly wrong. She still thought he was a cool person.

Someone she possessed a strong affection for, although it embarrassed her to admit it, what with him being so much older than she was and how her mother felt about him.

"Now, look! See! She's late on top of it! It doesn't matter if she happens to go! I won't even notice she's gone because she isn't here to begin with. You see what I mean. She can't stay here working for me! She's unreliable, completely unreliable, a CHILD!" Heinz's screechy, shouted words, filled with disdain and impatience, as well as a certain vindication, returned Candace to the present and she stuffed the other sort of present deep into her pocket and tried to wipe the last bit of dampness from her eyes, hoping to regain her composure.

At least, her boss had unknowingly settled things for her, Candace thought. She should be grateful for that. By November, she'd buckle up and finally choose a college. That would be the end of that and everyone would be the better for it.

Wiping her eyes again, Candace Flynn put on her best smile and walked through the door, readjusting her purse on her shoulder. "Sorry, I'm late," she apologized, expecting to see the clock telling her it was way past nine, but surprised to see that it was only a minute past the hour, hardly worthy of Heinz Doofenshmirtz's supreme annoyance.

No matter what he'd told his daughter, or how he acted with her sometimes, Candace thought the man really must hate her, afterall.

"See, here she is dad," Vanessa said, kissing her father on the cheek. "Now, I really have to go. I promised to speak to Major Monogram about some file reports when I got there."

The brunette walked casually past her younger friend, obviously not worried about being late herself. She even let her hand slide over Candace's shoulder along the way in a friendly goodbye. Candace barely noticed, however, her eyes solely on her boss, whom refused to look at her at the start.

"So...you're late," he mumbled, going to a desk and picking up some papers. "I will not pay for the whole hour, I hope you know. I refuse to promote tardiness. When I was young, and forced to be my family's lawn gnome, I was never late standing in the garden. Probably because they kept me standing there all night."

"It's okay," Candace commented, aware by now of the abuse he had constantly suffered at his parents' hands, mostly because he broke into a backstory themed monologue about it whenever possible. "I didn't expect to be." It wasn't like it completely mattered anyway. She wasn't paid much. Still, it was something. Some organizations that didn't want to be named wouldn't even pay their interns, she had heard.

As if her obedience won his attention, Dr. D raised his eyes to hers and he frowned almost immediately. "What? Have you been crying?" he asked, obviously having seen the telltale signs she had tried to conceal.

"Allergies," she replied.

He looked relieved by her words. Infact, he seemed to momentarily forget how much of a pain it was to have her as his intern, beginning to ramble on, as he was apt to, about the difference between spring and fall allergies. "You see, spring allergies are caused mostly by tree pollen while allergies in the fall are truly evil...perfectly fitting with this dark season. They come from ragweed pollen and mostly the mold spores of decaying leaves and other vegetation. You could say that spring is life and autumn, well autumn is the process of dying."

Now he really did sound like the pharmacist he was often mistaken for. That with a touch of a coroner for good measure. Didn't they wear labcoats too?

Settled on a subject he now felt completely comfortable discussing with her, despite a general air of morbidity, Doofenshmirtz dived into it with zeal, following the thread of science it led him directly to. He began to move around his laboratory, expecting her to follow him everywhere and directing her on what they were doing that particular day, even though several things were already scrawled on his blackboard.

Essentially, she supposed that the scientist was a shy man at heart. And lonely as well. If he had trouble with human interaction, well she guessed she should probably overlook his cruelty to her and chalk it down to being anti-social. He just probably found it would be more comfortable if he was on his own and didn't have to worry about pleasantries or his own eccentricities. He would probably be that way with anyone, Candace told herself. She wasn't to take it too personally. It was just whom Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz naturally was.

The teenage girl fell into the morning's routine easily enough, trying to forget what she had overheard and finding it easy to, burdened pleasantly as she was with the varying tasks Doofenshmirtz entrusted her with. It was easy to ignore until one unexpected moment, while he was looking closely at his machine, using a blowtorch on some part that he had become obsessed with, he suddenly remarked, "I hear you are considering leaving for college in November."

With the scientist's simple statement, his displeasure with her being there at all rushed back, and though it hurt her to say, Candace quickly replied, "Yeah...well it's no longer considering, actually. I definitely will be. So...I guess, this is my two weeks notice, or rather four. Four weeks notice. Or however long it is."

"That sounds about right," Dr. D commented, a strong hint of relief lying on his tongue.

The blowtorch, which had been turned off while she had been speaking, was now turned on instantly again, casting odd sorts of shadows throughout the scientist's laboratory that danced and spun like gnomes whom had broken suddenly free from their prison like gardens.

* * *

Lunchtime came, at last, and Candace was sitting at the cafe close to the DEI building, eating a sandwich and wondering what Phineas and Ferb were up to. Was it bustable in anyway? Was it something she would now like to join them with? Wouldn't that be wonderful? To either bust or become accomplices with her brothers, one last brilliant hoorah before college.

Her eyes focused on the trees in the background of the city, bursting with their autumn colors, as she sipped on a pumpkin latte, the fresh cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkle sending it over into a mug of fall comfort, something she needed desperately right then. Normally, she ate at Dr. D's, but aware of how the man felt about her being there all the more now, she decided to give him a hint of the joy he would experience when she was gone forever and he needn't worry about her ever again.

With about thirty minutes of time to kill before returning to the lab, she phoned up Jeremy, only to discover that he was at the library studying with Stacy, both of them attending the same college. At one point that might have filled her with insecurity, now the three of them had a nice conversation without Candace once experiencing a moment of jealousy.

Not that other darker emotions didn't shadow the mood every now and again.

"You okay, Candace?" Jeremy commented. "You sound kind of depressed."

"Naw...it's just the season, I guess. Isn't the lack of light supposed to make you depressed?"

"Totally!" Stacy replied. "I learned all about this the other day. Shorter days decrease mood-regulating brain chemical levels, you know, like serotonin. It also effects melatonin production which is bad. You take care girl."

"You both too," Candace said. "The season is all over the country, afterall. Luckily, you two are way out of the Tri-State area."

"We wish you were here," Jeremy and Stacy said in unison and Candace smiled picturing them hovering over the cellphone together.

"Sure you do," she whispered and then asked them outright what they were going out cosplaying as that upcoming weekend, it kind of being a thing for the two of them, dress-up not relegated to just the last day of October. She listened to them talking with enthusiasm with only a vague interest in return. It wasn't a good sign that she was actively hoping that one day they'd go out in a couples costume together and then have to break it to her that they had fallen in love besides. Candace could clearly see it happening, even if they weren't admitting it to themselves.

And the strange thing was, she was absolutely fine with it.

She was rooting for it infact. Afterall, they had both managed to put up with her for years, they were kind of perfect for each other.

Just as Vanessa had said she was for her father.

In a work oriented way, of course.

Stacy and Jeremy though...Candace was picturing their faces close to the phone they were sharing and it was bringing her pleasure thinking of them being like those two from It's A Wonderful Life, when they are both so close it is making them uncomfortable and then they start kissing passionately...

Beginning to feel like the proverbial third wheel, Candace made the excuse that she needed to head back to the lab because Doofenshmirtz needed her, which actually couldn't be farther from the truth.

"How is the old guy doing these days?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, is he okay?" Stacy piped up, although her tone was different, as if she had a unique sort of meaning behind her words, revolving around some secret knowledge she possessed while the rest of them didn't. Candace wondered if it had anything to do with the weird talk she'd overheard about Doofenshmirtz's old enemies. From when he was trying to be evil. But she swiftly pushed it to the side. She wasn't trying to bust anybody these days. She was just trying to sort her own life out.

"He's fine," she tried to say cheerily. "He hasn't blown himself up this week."

"Candace. It's only Monday," Stacy Hirano reminded.

"See, there you go!" Candace laughed.

A few minutes later, the call, her latte and sandwich were all done, and Candace was walking out of the cafe, pulling her labcoat tightly around her. It was colder than it had been in the morning, a chill in the air that bit without mercy. She hoped that her brothers and their friends were warm, comforting herself with the knowledge that their coats weren't made from thin polyester. She began to run towards the DEI building, not wishing to be late a second time that day, but blissfully unaware of the darkness at her back which followed closely behind her, a shadow impossibly big for the slender girl that she happened to be and the time of day that it was, when there was no logical explanation for how black it seemed either.

* * *

Upon disturbing Dr. D at his worktable, she soon discovered that he had not eaten. This was a pitfall of her not having her lunch there, Candace realized, for he was so often absorbed in his work that he lost track of time and neglected his meals and health, one of the probable reasons for the shadows under his eyes and the sallow complexion of his skin.

Busying herself with preparing a sandwich for him, something he protested against but eventually equally relented to, Candace realized something which had seemingly escaped her notice before, when she'd been mourning her dying childhood.

She had somewhat grown up afterall, although without ever realizing it.

At least a part of her had.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz's part.

Whilst Heinz Doofenshmirtz did act like a child sometimes, and she had often spent the summer more or less playing the part of his playmate, hadn't she also become akin to his mother? It was she whom was there to make sure he didn't hurt himself, or that he remembered to eat, or whom put away his "toys" or helped to sweep his invention up after it had exploded, afterall.

By some strange extension, did that make her his wife as well?

This last thought gutted her in some small way that the thought of Stacy and Jeremy falling in love didn't.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz was her friend's father.

He was also far older than her.

What would her life be like watching him grow older, unable to do anything about it until he was taken from her completely?

It was far better to see them both as children.

Or she as his mother.

Like Peter Pan had turned Wendy into in the book that Phineas was reading.

In so many ways, Heinz Doofenshmirtz seemed like Peter Pan: a child whom had never grown up, even if that was only because he was forever trapped inside of his own painful childhood.

She liked thinking about him this way more than a man a great deal older than she was. A man who would possibly die long before she had ever even gotten old.

Maybe it was a good idea she was leaving soon, Candace realized, fearful of such thoughts.

She served Heinz his late lunch, and he barely even acknowledged it, yet when she came to fetch the tray, after taking care of removing the shredded paper from the waste can as instructed, and sweeping up the wire shavings on the floor as he had also ordered, it was clean except for a few crumbs. She took it away and washed it, going back to the lab to keep herself busy with several other things he had added to his blackboard, obviously when she had been down at the cafe.

Pausing for a minute, she had looked out the window, noticing that it had started to drizzle, and hoping that this wouldn't interfere with whatever Phineas and Ferb had cooked up to keep themselves busy with during recess, when suddenly, behind her back, a flash of light and a loud KABLAM!!! rang out as various springs, bolts, nuts and sockets went flying, some hitting the window in front of her, but luckily not breaking the glass.

"HEINZ!" Candace cried out, rushing to her boss, where he was lying amongst the rubble of his latest destroyed creation, and unaware that she had even used his first name.

Lying there, his body sooty and covered in debris, he looked just like a child whose good idea had gone horribly wrong, which it had probably always been all along. "I think I used too much voltage," he remarked as Candace reached him, her hand going to his back to help prop him somewhat into a sitting position.

Still, despite his failure, and possibly because he had sustained a concussion, he offered her the sweetest little smile, one free from the earlier contempt he had shown her - once again probably because of a head injury.

"Oh Dr. D," Candace whispered, staring at his youthful and innocent face.

It was so very hard to stay mad at him, she realized then.

He barely, if ever, knew what he was doing half of the time, even though he could create the most wonderous inventions she had ever seen. Sometimes it seemed hard to reconcile that someone so brilliant could also be...such a complete and utter idiot.

Candace Flynn helped him to his feet, him leaning on her shoulders for support until he realized whom he was letting carry his weight. Then he tried to back away, but Candace wouldn't allow it, moving back to meet him again and pushing him towards the chair.

Once he was sitting in it, a blanket around his shoulder and a cup of coffee in his hands - actually a bit of the pumpkin spiced latte she'd picked up to bring home with her - Heinz Doofenshmirtz had looked at her from over the mug and actually managed to mumble a "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied. Then, her hand going into her pocket, she pulled out the small box of Almond Brittle and handed it to him, watching his face momentarily light up.

Then, without another word, she went to clean up the mess, aware that now it really did feel like a Monday working for Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, afterall, one of the very few she had left.

* * *

It was dark by the time Candace arrived home and dry once more as well. She'd stopped by the Super Food Stuff Mart to buy a few things, so her mom wouldn't need to. Something about her mother's attitude at breakfast had started to bother her more and more as the end of her workday had neared, although Doof had kept pushing that back, remembering something new for her to do, one chore after the other. But remembering her mother at home, something had not seemed right, to Candace, and that old familiar feeling had returned, the one she didn't like.

One of abandonment and helplessness.

The things that scared her most in connection to childhood.

Memories of her mother putting on a brave face, although she was full of fear and worries inside.

Darkness.

Her mind on that dark time in both of their lives, some movement by the trash cans caught Candace's attention and she looked in that direction, expecting to see a cat or a racoon, some nighttime creature, looking for sustenance in the growing moonlight. When all she saw was the cans standing perfectly still, her nerves weren't soothed in any way, but rather her unease only grew.

"Perry? Is that you?" she asked, but didn't hear any familiar chatter back in return.

Although her hands were full, the young woman went out of her way to near the trash cans and peer around them, peeking over the grocery bag, at the same time. Nothing was there,  though, not Perry nor any other animal.

Just the shadows of the garbage and the cold ground they were lying on.

"Pull yourself together," Candace chastised herself. "You kept it together over what Phineas and Ferb concocted all summers long and you see a man blow himself up on a regular basis...don't go falling apart at the sight of a shadow!"

Shaking slightly, she walked into the kitchen, discovering that supper had already been enjoyed without her, the remnants of it still on table, no less, the plates of Phineas and Ferb baring the tell tale signs of their different tastes, peas left behind there, potatoes on the other. The plate on their father's place was pristine, however, supper having not been served for him at all. Meanwhile, her place had not been set at all, Candace realized, the tablecloth beneath where the plate would have been the only visible thing there.

As hurtful as this seemed, however, it was not the most disturbing sight.

What chilled Candace to the very marrow of her young bones was the sight of her mother still sitting before her own plate, her head hung over it, tears falling from her eyes and collecting on the plate, as if washing it clean or comprising the main course of a meal she had been waiting to devour that very night.

"Mom?" Candace said, her voice sounding haunted in the eerie setpiece the kitchen had been turned into.

At the realization that she was not alone, Linda Flynn-Fletcher lifted her head, showing the redness of her eyes as well as the somewhat crazed look inside of them too.

"Oh Candace," the woman said. "You're finally home. I think it's best that I tell you before the boys get back. It's happened again. Another of your fathers has left us...now how about some pie?"

Chapter Text

It wasn't that Buford Von Stomm was angry to see Phineas and Ferb come to the Tjinder house.

He was just rather disappointed, that was all.

It wasn't even for the first time that day that it had happened, so the bully just supposed the general mood for the day was disappointment or rather a certain malaise.

A darkening of mood.

Afterall, they'd all been so excited to fix up the school's rather uninspired playground, only to have it spoiled and incomplete by last recess, when it had up and started to rain. That sort of thing got you all excited and for it to suddenly get interrupted, you were generally left with a feeling of pent up stuff you couldn't properly release.

Buford had needed to let off a little steam after school, and so he had been hoping that a visit to his nerd's house could fix that up nicely for him. He'd start off with a little Indian (wrong word maybe or right in this case, he wasn't sure what the standing was, Buford only knew he liked giving them to Baljeet) burn and maybe slide up into a good old-fashioned noogy. Eventually, he'd give him the classic wedgie, but possibly only after lulling him into a false sense of security. Then, if he had enough motivation, he might end things off with a novel swirlie, possibly at the same time as giving an extra wedgie. He had been invited into the guy's house, afterall; might as well honor the fact and show a little gratitude by using the family toilet.

But then Phineas and his mostly mute brother Ferb had shown up, sending his good mood straight down the toilet instead of Baljeet Tjinder's head...and possibly his calculator, if it wasn't secure in the boy's pocket, that was.

So, if Phin and Ferb caught him glowering at them, after their unexpected arrival, what did they expect? Could they really blame him?

He liked having a little alone time with his nerd, was there a problem with that?

Another pop math quiz of the day had been the bus trip that had virtually started it off, Von Stomm frowned at the memory. He hadn't liked the way Baljeet had told Isabella he'd make a better Peter Pan than Phineas would, which hadn't started things off on the right foot, or wheel in this case.

And Phineas and Ferb suddenly showing up at the Tjinders could only mean one thing, what with how his day was going.

That soon Isabella would show up too.

It was okay if it was just the two bros, he guessed, but usually that inevitably meant that Phineas would pull the love struck girl into his orbit, especially if she wasn't with them Fireside Girls that she hung out with sometimes, when obligation entitled it.

And sure enough, no sooner had the two brothers come a knockin on Baljeet's front door, then Isabella Garcia-Shapiro had turned up too, and Baljeet's cute little face had brightened like it never did when he came over, Buford grumbled.

If there was one bright side, it was that tonight Isabella didn't seem her usually cheery self. She was all dark and kind of moody and it was nice seein' her acting like he felt a lot of the time, Buford thought to himself. Come to think of it, she hadn't even really joined in with the playground stuff either, and when it had started to rain, she had looked sort of happy instead, like it suited her mood and she wanted an indoor recess instead.

Now, she was still moping a little, and Phineas, whom was usually oblivious to how the girl hung on his every word and looked at him like he was the "beau" she hoped to be wearing someday, instead of the big pinky purple one on top of her head, noticed it even, turning to her once and asking in his usual kind and gentle way, "Hey Isabella...you seem down...Are you okay?"

What the triangle headed kid hadn't noticed was the sad little furtive glances she'd been throwing in his direction since she had got there. If he had, maybe he could have understood it had somethin' to do with him.

Unfortunately, someone else was equally interested in how Isabella was feeling and it wasn't the green-haired Ferb this time either.

"Something is wrong with Isabella?" Baljeet immediately popped up asking, making Buford's fists clench in irritation.

"I...I'm all right," Isabella had answered, seeming embarrassed for her sadness to have been noticed, a feeling that Buford could surprisingly emphasize with too. "It's just the weather has sort of got me down."

Buford knew it was a lie from the moment she'd said it. But everybody seemed to buy it and, this time, he didn't bother to tell them all how stupid they all were being.

Anything to get Baljeet's attention off of Isabella.

Which made Buford feel like everything was covered in shadows.

Usually he was in a dark mood anyway, Buford realized, he was at home there, but seeing his nerd paying all of that attention to the one girl in their group was really getting on his nerves for some reason. It was heightened, like those music apps online you could use to bring out the bass or the lower end instruments, the dark ones, in a song. It was like something was changing the frequency inside of his mind to do that, so it was all he could hear.

Like something telling him now that Baljeet actually felt for Isabella what he couldn't ever feel for him and it was all a lost cause or somethin' that his nerd would ever be so happy to hang out only with him when there were other options.

It whispered that he should eradicate the other options, so they weren't no options any more.

He reasoned it away as simply being because he'd been interrupted in his bullying of the boy. Their special alone time together had turned into just another one of their usual gatherings.

And all because Phineas and Ferb had just wanted to come over because something was bothering them too.

Right now that was all they insisted on talking about. Some nonsense about how their father wasn't there anymore and how they thought their mother was lyin' to them about it. Mrs Flynn-Fletcher was a pretty cool mom, like she'd ever lie to her kids about somethin'. Other than maybe where babies came from or what hot dogs were made out of.

Still, the brothers were convinced that somethin' was wrong in their house and it all revolved around dear old dad.

"I'm telling you, there was something just not right about it all...even Ferb's worried out of his mind and he's usually more level headed about these sort of things," Phineas stated.

Buford, Baljeet and Isabella all turned to look at Ferb, whom was just sitting calmly next to his brother, the same expression on his unreadable face as there always was.

"But why would your mother lie?" Baljeet asked.

"Maybe she killed him and buried him in the back yard," Buford suggested.

"BUFORD!" Isabella snapped.

"Why would she do a thing like that?" Baljeet asked his bully, obviously terrified.

"I dunno. Maybe she caught him cheating," Buford replied pointedly, his large arms folded as he glared at his nerd.

"Why would you even suggest such a thing?" Tjinder continued to ask in horror, the real cause and insinuation going right over his curly haired head.

"Just sayin'."

"That's not it," Phineas said. "Ferb and I ran the calculations and mom didn't have enough time to do much than the usual. We also ran a scan of the ground in the backyard before we came over here and there were no fresh disturbances or signs of unusual bones."

Ferb gave a thumbs up.

The rest of the gang became silent suddenly, not sure which was more frightening: that Buford had mentioned the possibility in the first place or that Phineas and Ferb had seemingly contemplated it ahead of him even doing it.

"She told us that he was away on business, but nobody had mentioned anything about it before," the red haired boy resumed his endless study of the matter, going over things he already had in an attempt to possibly find some new clue tucked away inside of a forgotten piece of information. "Infact, just last night he was talking about raking leaves...he seemed a little depressed, but like Isabella said, it might've been the weather."

The girl squirmed, as if she was hiding her own lies and secrets she didn't want to keep buried and yet felt too embarrassed to unearth.

"Ferb thought dad might have just been at work, when I remembered he wasn't at breakfast, but he always leaves a note and he insists on that first cup of Earl Grey, no matter what. But, tonight, at supper, when he wasn't there either, Mom said he had gone out of town. And that makes no sense! We woulda got a call, a text or an email. Dad's a fanatic about video messaging."

The friends all sat and processed Phineas' words, comparing them to everything they already knew.

"So you said he seemed depressed? Maybe he jumped off of Danville Canyon and they haven't found the body yet," Buford made yet another morbid suggestion, having not been discouraged from his last attempt.

"BUFORD!!" Isabella and Baljeet both cried out in disapproving unison this time, which made Buford wish he had kept his mouth shut just about as much as they did, not liking having to endure how good their voices sounded together.

"Oh my gosh," Phineas cried in worry. "I hope that's not it!"

Then Ferb blinked a few times and his brother looked to him in relief.

"Oh, you scanned the rivers too, Ferb, and there was nothing in there too? At least, not dad? Well, that's a relief!"

Buford's brow furrowed, always a little disconcerted by how well Phineas was able to know what his brother meant. They weren't even blood related, but they seemed so much on the same page it was freaky. It was like Phineas truly understood Ferb and they'd been torn right out of the same book. That and their intelligence was just kind of outright creepy, though Buford hadn't ever brought it up. Like how did they get so freakin' smart anyway? He'd never seen anything like it and neither their mom or missin' dad explained it either.

In any case, watching Phineas and Ferb, Buford was jealous, wishing someone understood him that much. For all the years he'd taken the trouble to beat up Baljeet, the nerd still didn't get him.

"I wish I knew what was going on," Phineas said, resting his pointy chin in both of his hands. "Mom's not telling us something and she's acting pretty strange. It's not like her."

Isabella saw the opportunity to make one of her casual touches of the object of her affection and Buford was back to being jealous again, this time over how acceptable it seemed for her to do that with Phineas. Sure it was still disguised, but it wasn't thought of as weird or anything. She could do it with only the vaguest hint of a ruse. If he ever stroked Baljeet's back, he'd hate to see how everyone reacted.

Especially Baljeet.

It was far easier just to slug him.

The bully's eyes drifted over to his nerd and then back to Isabella and Phineas.

"It will be okay," she comforted, stroking his back and looking at him with such fondness, although with a certain sadness around the edges this night, that it was a wonder why the boy hadn't clued in yet that she was desperately in love with him.

"Thanks Isabella," Phineas said, squeezing the hand that was now on his small shoulder. Looking strengthened suddenly and more determined, the boy rose to his feet. "Come on, Ferb. I guess, we should go home now. Maybe we'll get a chance to finish that playground tomorrow. Or maybe it will have disappeared too, like things always seem to around us."

Buford was grateful to see them go, hoping for that swirlie, afterall, when Baljeet unexpectedly asked if Isabella wanted to stay to watch an episode of Space Adventure with them.

"Which one is it?" Isabella asked, watching through the window as Phineas and Ferb walked down the dark and lonely street and over to their house.

Admittedly, Buford only half intook the long rambling gibberish his nerd then set free. Somethin' about some nurse being in love with some emotionally unavailable alien, whom never seemed to notice her, so she went and got some potion or somethin' to turn things in her favor, but the guy was goin' through puberty or somethin',  so even though it didn't work on him they still got it on, in a way thoroughly suited for television.

Being a Stumbleberry Finkbat guy, himself, Buford couldn't be bothered with that level of stupidity.

Unfortunately, Isabella could though. "Great," she said, her voice filled with longing and her thoughts obviously filled with Phineas Flynn. "I always liked that one."

"Great," Buford said mockingly.

The bully sat down on the sofa, his arms folded again, and nobody seemed to notice how his shadow seeming to grow on the wall behind them as Baljeet turned the television set on...

* * *

Usually Ferb wasn't the type to be afraid of the dark, but all the way back home - short of a distance as it was - he felt it suddenly encroaching around both Phineas and himself, like the cape of a vampire one saw in those old timey films they aired in black and white at midnight sometimes.

The absense of his father had most likely been the cause, Ferb could readily admit to himself.

Whilst his first mother had not been there for a long period in his life, his father always had been, despite his frequent business trips, and so this unexplained absense unnerved Ferb in a way he couldn't convey to anybody but Phineas. His father wasn't the sort to just go missing, or to do anything labelled impulsive and so why he would suddenly do so now was most worrisome.

It might not have been if it weren't also for Linda's rather poorly handling of it all.

Used to keeping his feelings to himself, Ferb was well versed in what people tended to hide from others. For instance, something had happened to Isabella, before first bell hand rang, to make her question her relationship with his brother, and he suspected it had something to do with the Fireside Girls, whom had all been whispering amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Buford had taken their appearance at the Tjinder household as an intrusion of his bullying of Baljeet. And so he had been perfectly able to tell that Phineas and his mother had been lying to them about father being away on business, and this was not one bit true. 

Lawrence Fletcher not being there had affected her in a way she was intent on not showing.

The only question was did she know the real reason behind it or was her mind conjuring up the worst of possible possibilities, the darkness crowding 'round 'bout her mind as it had seemed to be doing out on the street?

Was she lying simply to them or to herself as well?

Phineas was less likely to believe his mother was capable of being at fault, but was more apt to excuse any of her more human traits.

His brother was, by nature, a people pleaser, Ferb had long ago realized. He hated to let anyone down, one of the reasons he set out to make every day of summer vacation something fun for all of them and he equally hated thinking the worst of someone, probably why he had so often overlooked Candace's attempts to bust them and just encouraged it all instead.

This cheery disposition also had an unexpected downside. He was so busy placing people and their needs above his own, he failed to see what a truly wonderful person he was.

Or how a girl as equally as wonderful as Isabella Garcia-Shapiro could be as crazy in love with him as he was in love with her.

Aware of Isabella's fragile heart and equally fierce independence and will, Ferb had never saw it his place to let his brother know about the girl's feelings.

But if anybody could have, Ferb knew it would be him. He was, afterall, the only person Phineas seemed able to fully look on with complete honesty and understanding, darkness as well as light.

And Ferb Fletcher felt honored and blessed for this fact.

As well as a little frightened by it too.

If he didn't have Phineas, Ferb didn't know what he would do. Before his father had married Linda Flynn, nobody had quite understood him and he had never found a way to be understood. He was like some secret language, all scrambled up, from some far off planet, and though people tried, it just seemed hopeless for them to decode the cipher that he was. Sometimes Ferb even feared it had been he whom had driven his mother away, the woman not being able to understand the tiny, enigmatic and often silent lump of flesh she had given birth to.

When he had met Phineas that had all changed, however.

Then he could finally look at a a butterfly and be thinking of its gentle winged movements and have Phineas remark that he too found it remarkable. Or he could be frustrated that the teacher didn't understand he had devised a better blackboard eraser and soon would feel Phineas patting his back and telling him, "It's okay, Ferb. When we exchange it for her regular one, she'll finally see what you mean!"

Phineas always saw what he meant.

And he didn't even need to say a single word for it to happen.

What better source of illumination did he need in the world than his very own brother?

Rushing to the door in the fence, the one leading to the backyard, Ferb comforted himself with the knowledge that the shadows couldn't hurt him really. If he lost Phineas that would be the only true darkness that ever could.

Still, as they crept into the living room, and he saw the shadowed figure sitting on the couch in the darkened room, his heart gave a fearful leap, Phineas apparently suffering the same fright as his brother, especially when it even started to move.

However, with the light swiftly clicking on in the room, they saw it was only their sister, having apparently come home while they were gone and been sitting there waiting for them to do the same.

"Hi Phineas. Hi Ferb," she said, and as Phineas and he set free sighs of relief, Ferb noted the weariness on her face and the equally exhausted tone to her voice. She sounded like she might as well have been crying there in the darkened living room, and from the red in her eyes, Ferb believed that she probably had been. "Glad you two got home safely. How was Baljeet?"

"Fine," Phineas said. "Where's mom?"

"Oh, I told her to get some sleep," Candace said, pinching the bridge of her nose, and Ferb realized his older sister was still dressed in her labcoat, her hair in that severe bun that he was grateful her boss never insisted his own daughter wear. Ferb liked Vanessa Doofenshmirtz's lovely brunette hair long and flowing, not looking unnervingly like a spinster. "She was tired...her cooking class and all."

"Gee. We hope everything is okay," Phineas said, obviously concerned and meaning it.

"Oh, no, it's fine, ha ha, perfectly fine."

She was lying. Ferb knew it as surely as when their mother had told them his father had gone away to look at some antiques on the West Coast. The new question posed was had Candace learned the truth or rather only her mother's own unsubstantiated speculations? Whatever the case, it had brought back bad memories for the young woman and her day did not look like it had been going great anyway.

Possibly sensing this last part too, Ferb watched as Phineas went and hugged his older sister's legs, Ferb soon joining him, so they were standing in the lonely seeming living room as one loving family unit. "You go and get some sleep too, Candace. You look like you need it. And maybe...maybe in the morning dad will be back," Phineas mumbled.

Ferb felt Candace become suddenly tense, just as he could identify, like always, what was deeply being hidden inside of her voice, the fear she couldn't actually show incase it frightened or disturbed her little brothers. "He just might, Phineas," she said.

But Ferb knew very well that there was more than a shadow of a doubt held behind her quavering tone.

Chapter Text

Another new day of October, found Candace Flynn sitting back at the little desk her boss had gifted her with and staring out the window at the world of Danville, lying outside of the DEI building. It was funny how the building had become a sort of refuge to her, the house starting to feel like an ominous trap. She would have felt guilty having somewhere else to go, if Phineas and Ferb didn't have their own friends' houses to run off to, whenever they too seemed to begin feeling suffocated by home.

Her hand was at her forehead, which felt feverish, and her mind was filled with thoughts of the past few days, none of which seemed pleasant, except for her time there at work. Meanwhile, her ears were filled with the notes of the song that Heinz Doofenshmirtz insisted on humming over and over again. It wasn't even a new tune, actually. Ever since she had started working for him, she could catch him humming it under his breath. He'd even played it on Norm, his giant robot's, record player on occasion too, different versions of the same song, but always with the lyrics removed, which, his being a scientist and inventor, she supposed that he could do.

It wasn't the only song he played.

There had been several, his even letting her choose a few, which to both their surprise, they discovered they seemed to share the same taste on more than one occassion.

It's just this one kept returning, like the radio played current hits more than others. Not that this was new at all. Infact, it sounded old, familiar. She just couldn't place it.

Right now, her brain was so jumbled, she couldn't, even if she had tried.

The memory of her discussion with her mother now came flooding back, it nearing the end of the week instead of its beginning, and with no more comfort in her soul than when she had first walked into the family kitchen and found her mother crying at the table, her dinner plate becoming a collection of tears...

* * *

"Left us?" Candace had said, coming to sit at the table as her mother moved, like a preinstructed machine of some sort, getting her daughter the piece of pie that she hadn't actually asked for. "What do you mean, 'Another of your fathers has left us'?"

"I mean it just like it sounds honey," Linda had replied, getting out another plate and placing it on the counter beside the pie. "Just like your first father, your second has up and left us too."

"No. That's not possible," Candace had shaken her head, her responses feeling slow on account of her suffering the sensation that this was just some sort of a dream and not a reality. "Dad would never just leave us."

"But he did," Linda had said, trying to act cheerful as she sliced into the pie, even though her knife and the crust had been getting wet then from her still falling tears. "I woke up this morning and he was just gone. It was like when you were little, you remember?"

Candace had blinked in pain, as Linda lifted the triangular shape of pie out from the pie plate, liquid dripping from it like blood. Yes, she remembered it. All too well. The absense of her father, the one that had gone away to work one day and hadn't bothered coming back. Well, not physically. He must have sent some sort of divorce papers with his signature or something.

There would never have been a second father if he hadn't.

Of course, her mother had shielded both Phineas and her from all of that sorrow...always with the air of being happy, when Candace had been able to tell that she really wasn't.

It had been the same feeling the young woman had suffered that morning at breakfast, but hadn't wanted to outright acknowledge, positive it made no sense to all be happening again.

Something she had still been certain of.

"I remember it, mom," Candace had replied. "But there's no way this is like that...did he leave a note or say something?"

"No, I just woke up in the morning and he was gone," Linds had said, placing the pie in front of her only daughter. "He must have left sometime in the night. Wasn't that nice of him? How considerate."

Candace had looked at the plate then, happy to see all the dripping red was only raspberries and not blood, what it had looked like from a distance. "Well, how do you know he abandoned us then?" Candace had asked, still wary of tasting something that made her stomach want to turn.

"I'd just been thinking of your father a lot these past few days...your biological father," Linda had revealed, a darkness coming over her features, sort of like they had her husband's at supper the previous night. "I supposed I sensed this might happen. I guess, I just make a really bad wife. Men don't want to stay with me. I can't live up to their expectations."

"Are you kidding me?" Candace had stated in absolute bewilderment. "You're an awesome wife! The best!" Candace had further contradicted. "And dad, this dad, was crazy for you! I'd hear you two going at it like two rabbits some nights! He hung on your every word! Heck he impersonated a has been 80s musician, that never existed, just to be near you! He'd never just up and leave."

"Aww! That's sweet of you to say, Candace, but he isn't here now is he, and there's no explanation for it."

Yes there is Candace had thought. Things always had a way of disappearing around their household, it was just that her mother never got to see it or chose not to accept it. Candace's eyes had drifted back down to the plate, where the red juice was flowing and resembling blood more than ever. She pushed it away at risk of offending her mother, but she just hadn't been able to stomach the thought of cutting into it, let alone eating. "But what if something is seriously wrong?" she'd asked.

"More wrong than abandoning us?" Linda had asked testily, in return, showing the first crack in the veneer of her mask of being resolutely and fatalistically happy.

"Uhmm...yeah, sort of, well...what if someone did something to him?"

"What did they do?" Linda inquired, frustratingly not understanding.

"Kidnapping...harming him," Candace had said past the lump in her long throat, afraid to utter the most drastic of possibilities the one which meant she'd never see her second father ever again.

"You think so?" Linda had asked, a disturbing mixture of dismay and hope, as if the thought of Lawrence being tortured brought her more genuine pleasure and happiness than the thought of his having been alive and left them of his free will. It made Candace face her own feelings about the thought of her father's disappearance, which were similar in a way, but not as blatant and undisguised as Linda's had been. She could find reason for them, though, if not justify them. Something out of dad's control felt less damaging to the heart then if he had grown tired of them all.

Including Ferb, whom he had known for all of the boy's life.

"Yeah, it's definitely a possibility and one we seriously need to consider since this is NOT dad's usual behavior."

"I don't know Candace...he seemed so weird last night...and when he got up, around two, saying he thought he had heard something, that was probably just an excuse to get away from me."

Although she didn't want to do it, Candace had tried to secretly smell her mother's breath, looking for signs of any alcohol on it. She was acting so strangely, so despondent and negative that something seemed...off. just like it had with Lawrence. However, there was no smell of booze, unless it was drugs...maybe her mother was on something and wasn't telling them...

"Mom, knock it off okay...you're scaring me. Dad would never look for an excuse to leave you. But you said he mentioned hearing something?"

"Mmm hmm...but I just went back to bed. I didn't know what he was planning...I guess, I'm too naive...just like the first time."

"Once again, stop it, please, mom!" Candace had begged, feeling too exhausted already from her day at Doofenshmirtz Ex-Evil Incorporated to have to deal with this. "You're not naive...not unless it comes to Phineas and Ferb...hey, wait..."

Candace's thoughts had momentarily gone down the path they often used to, the same one she had been actively avoiding these days.

If she didn't trust her little brothers with their father's life, she'd have blamed Phineas and Ferb already...But did she trust her little brothers, Candace had asked herself. No. Of course she did. They might risk themselves and possibly their friends, but they would never harm dad. Not intentionally...

No. She had struck that off the possibility list.

For then, at least.

"We really need to report this. That's what we need to do," Candace had said.

"Oh no!" Linda had said, her eyes large with fright. "And have everyone know I'm a failure...twice."

It had been getting just plain creepy at that time, her mother's obsessions with the past. It had made Candace wonder if she had properly dealt with the trauma of her first husband's leaving. Candace had faced it, but had her mother? Or had she been too busy trying to make sure her children didn't suffer? And then Lawrence Fletcher had returned to her life, shepherding her thoughts into happier and less jagged areas. But...had there been a price to pay for burying it? Was this it now? Her mom freaking out because her second husband had gone missing without a word?

The shadows in the kitchen suddenly seemed more pronounced and Candace felt the room becoming all the more eerie for it, her mother's taking on a particularly dark quality that had also frightened her into a state that seemed almost childish.

Shadows lengthen in the Fall, she had told herself. It was the natural way of things. It didn't matter then that this felt so unnatural. It was only the conversation and the fact that one of the family was missing and it wasn't Perry this time.

Candace had rose to her feet and gone to her mother, which helped put the woman's shadow where it couldn't be so easily seen. She had placed her hands on her mom's shoulders and stated reassuringly, "Mom, go to bed. I'll place the call to the police."

"But what if the boys get home!" her mother had cried. "I don't want them to know what's going on with their father. Please...please don't risk them finding out!"

Candace exhaled. "Okay. But tomorrow, when they are at school, you go and make a report okay? And before work, during my lunch break, and after, I'll go around the city, asking anybody - at dad's favorite places - if they've seen him."

She had felt her mother relaxing in relief, and yet she still wondered if the woman was more concerned with the question of if her husband was harmed versus if he had left her because she had failed him in some imaginary way, or if she was truly concerned about others finding out about it...

And judging her.

For Candace, whom usually felt like the black sheep of the family, and the one constant source of embarrassment, her own mom usually joking about her mental state with the neighbours and anyone else whom would listen, this was something new...had her mom been projecting her own fears onto her all along? Or was that reading into it too much?

The young woman hadn't known. She'd simply sent her mother to bed and waited in the dark living room for her brothers to come home.

Candace remembered how the darkness had felt oddly comforting then. Like a friend surrounding her and keeping her safe. Shadows became lost when the lights were out, afterall, and she had still been haunted by the memory of her mother's when Phineas and Ferb had finally come in through the living room, scaring her about as much as she had scared them.

* * *

That had been several days ago.

And nothing new had been discovered or accomplished, other than lies settling over the house, as well an unsettling unease.

Linda had gone to the police, something Candace felt ashamed to admit that she had made sure of, for herself, doubting her mom a little. But they had said that a Lawrence Fletcher had been reported as missing and was being actively being searched for.

That was a relief.

Meanwhile, Candace had been all over the city conducting her own investigation, but to little avail. Nobody who knew her dad had seen him since he'd disappeared, or, at least, they hadn't admitted to it. And peeking into the various store windows, even the ones he didn't like, was also proving fruitless.

It was a daunting task, whenever she thought of it.

All of those building.

All of those rooms.

All of those windows.

There were so many windows in the city, and you weren't allowed to go looking into every one of them to your own liking. Heck, you couldn't even see in to them most of the time, for more than half of the day, anyway.

The thought she'd had the night when Lawrence Fletcher had still been with the family who loved him came back to her fully then, Candace finally remembering that she had intended to ask Heinz Doofenshmirtz something.

"Why is it you can never see in through a window in the daytime?"

"Pardon?" her boss asked, hurrying behind her, deep within his own thoughts and the armful of items he was carrying.

Candace spun around in her chair in order to face him, an action which seemed to have startled him even more, several of the items he had been collecting falling out of his hands and on to the floor.

"How come when it's daylight out, you can look in through a window and not see anything...but when it's dark, you can see everything, if the light's on anyway."

Her hands were folded in her lap, her shoulders slumped, kind of like Doofenshmirtz's own often were. Now she wondered if he felt burdened with something too, and it partially caused the slouch he seemed synonymous with. She felt bad for him if he did. Having experienced Lawrence Fletcher's disappearance, something her mom and her were still keeping from Phineas and Ferb...actually something she and she alone had had to keep from them more often the last two days, their mother saying she felt sick and suddenly keeping to her bed.

Secrets and guilt were horrible things to have to carry all by yourself.

Heinz looked a little guilty now himself, for whatever reasons he had, a blush creeping over his grimacing face. Had he been looking through windows when nobody had invited him to? Was her boss a Peeping Tom? Was that what some of the big telescopes he had lying around, one even on the balcony, were used for? They always seemed able to see through the glass too, probably some trick he knew of, thanks to being a scientist.

Not that she particularly cared right now if he played the role of a voyeur. His presence was comforting and always had been for unexplained reasons...partially why she hated having to leave in November and why overhearing his loathing for her had been so painful.

"It has to do with the light...I explained it to my Science Class once at Danville High, but...I don't think you were in it. Were you?"

"No...I think you left before I went for that particular credit."

"Yeah...I was pretty sure I would have remembered that...I would have thought, 'Oh, it's Vanessa's little friend,' and then it might have embarrassed you or me and..." he gulped as if he thought he'd made her or himself uncomfortable.

Suddenly Doof nodded and then put the stuff in his arms down on the floor by his feet and Candace just hoped he remembered it all was there and he didn't trip on it and hurt himself.

"Well, it has to do with the light versus the darkness," he began again, moving his hands around now. "When it's daytime, the light outside always is greater than what is inside...and so you can't see through the window...the glass basically becomes more reflective, mirroring what's outside. It basically becomes a mirror, is what I am saying. However, as it darkens outside, with the loss of light, what is inside can become lighter, with it's fake sources of light, you know lightbulbs, lamps, glow in the dark decals, Lite Brites...Do you understand now?"

"Mmm hmmm," Candace nodded, always liking how animated he became when getting to discuss something he was familiar with, be it science, a backstory or some tale of how some frenemy he had visited him sometimes, either to beat him up or to go out bowling.

"Light...it's funny," Heinz Doofenshmirtz mused, his face attractive in a way he probably didn't even think it was. "It helps us to see, but have you ever tried to look at it, like actually see it? You can't! It's crazy! It hurts! It can actually cause pain or make it so you can't even see at all! We can see by light, but we can't actually see it in a way. It's like darkness...well, that's easier for us...it's almost like our natural state...being dark. It's hard for us to be light."

Candace thought about the shadows in her kitchen, when she had been talking to her mom, and suddenly she was so weary and frightened about looking for Lawrence and keeping her little brothers in the dark about it, holding fast to the lie that he was just on business, that she couldn't take it anymore. She felt like a scared little girl again, one whom started to cry, just like when her first father had left them.

"No...hey...hey!" Doofenshmirtz was saying, obviously embarrassed and mortified by her tears. He looked like he didn't know how to react to the fact that she was crying inside of his lab and if he should stay or run away. Suddenly, he seemed to decide on the former, beginning to walk towards her and in the process fulfilling the very fear she had earlier had: Doofenshmirtz tripped on the very same items he, himself, had placed on the floor. His arms flailing, he landed in front of her,  on his hands and knees and looking up into her face.

"I...I didn't cause this did I?" he asked, as if it pained him terribly if he had. "Please...please tell me I didn't?"

His compassion was heartwarming then. Especially, since she knew she wasn't exactly his favorite person on the planet. Candace immediately shook her head, insisting, "No...it's just...my dad disappeared a few days ago and my mom has been making me lie to my little brothers about it...I...I...I don't know what to do!"

Candace really began weeping now, no longer afraid of having her brothers hear it through the bathroom door or trying to keep it from her boss, whom mostly was off in his own little world, ignoring her.

He knew all about it now though...

And no longer was he ignoring her.

Doof was looking at her so kindly  and with such understanding, she felt herself forgiving him for all of the awkwardness and detatchment she had felt during the previous months whilst working for him, the confusion of whether he liked her at all or even just a little.

His hand went to her shoulder, just as her own had done with her mother, but there was a difference at the same time, she could sense it even if she could not explain it.

"It's horrible to bear the burden of a secret all alone, isn't it?" he asked, his voice so gentle it was almost a whisper.

"Yes! Oh, yes it is!" she said, her hand wringing the labcoat over her heart.

A frown passed over his lips, one of sorrow and regret.

"Tell your brothers," Heinz Doofenshmirtz told her, as she met his eyes, heavily shadowed, just like her mother's were becoming, but without the desperate almost crazed look in them. "I...could never tell my own brother anything...because he was so perfect and never did anything wrong...but you can tell your brothers...this isn't the same thing, and they really should know. Nobody likes being kept in the dark...well, not about this...they probably already know anyway. Something tells me they're smart...just like you."

Candace took the older man's hand and squeezed it tenderly and with gratitude. "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled at her again, warm like the light, not like the darkness, before he seemed to recall how uncomfortable he was with having her around. Suddenly, Heinz Doofenshmirtz leapt to his feet and began collecting the various items where they had become scattered while tripping over them. Candace soon joined him, collecting them to carry and, in this way, lightening his own burden. They looked at one another, standing there with their arms full of wires, plastics and tubings, and smiled.

When Doofenshmirtz walked back to where he was heading, Candace soon followed behind, listening to him humming the same song, only singing some of the lyrics now too, underneath his breath and in the most muddled fashion, probably having them pushed more clearer to the forefront of his mind after the discussion they had just had.

"And turning out the light, I must have yawned and dreamt my way through yet another night. And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain. The day before you came..."

The lyrics made Candace think of her father again and the day before he had entered her mom, Phineas and hers life...He had made it all so brighter, both he and Ferb.

Now it felt darker, more shadowed.

Frowning, she wished that someone else out there was trying to find the lost man to bring back home to them. Something more invested in the case than the Danville Police seemed to be and more stealthy and effective than she apparently was, with all of her haphazard sleuthing, just like that time with Stacy and Big Ben in England.

Candace Flynn wished desperately for that.

Some shadowy organization that could possibly help lead them to the light...

* * *

Perry the Platypus fell into his lair's chair, after having engaged the entrance technique in a certain Englishman's own favorite sitting place. It had been the only entrance he'd been using these last few days, and, though, he was sure that it would garner him a negative feedback score on his performance reports, he frankly didn't care. Perry missed the lost father of his family so much, he'd risk all the Fs in the world just to feel close to him again.

"Still no sign of him, huh?" Major Monogram asked, his moustache-adorned face instantly on the huge screen from the moment the secret agent had plopped down into the seat.

Perry shook his head, a sad frown on his tangerine bill.

"We've had Agents out looking everywhere, Agent P, and they have all come up emptied pawed, winged, flippered and hooved. Lawrence Fletcher has seemed to disappear right into thin air! And we have no idea what nefarious villain is to blame!"

Perry the Platypus seized the opportunity to chatter in suspicion, his eyes narrowing in distrust, as he made the suggestion he had the moment something wrong seemed to be happening in Danville, gnawing at the edges of the city, although only OWCA had the first signs of it. Lawrence Fletcher's disappearance being only the closest to hit home in actuality.

"No, we've checked Doofenshmirtz several times, both at your request and before it, and this isn't his doing," Monogram restated, as Perry folded his arms in doubt. "There is absolutely no Inator which seems to be the cause of this, and, as far as we can tell, he's been sleeping in his bed the whole time, or, that is what Agent O has reported, flying past his window."

Perry folded his arms tighter and glared at the screen more angrily.

Carl, the intern soon popped up on the screen, slightly pushing his boss over to the side.

"We even took your suggestion, Agent P, and had Agent M scurrying around after midnight. And it wasn't pillows either or a dummy in Doof's bed. He tickled his toes just to be certain."

"Wait! Why wasn't I informed about that?" Major Monogram demanded.

"You were in your office, Sir," Carl Karl answered somewhat sheepishly. "You seemed to be having a brown study of sorts, and I didn't want to bother you."

"I don't know what on earth you are talking about Carl," Monogram said defensively, his own arms folding now. "My office isn't brown."

"It's a figure of speech, Sir."

"Well it's a dumb figure of speech!"

Carl still sought to explain. "The brown means melancholy or gloominess, while study means daydreaming or reverie."

"I know what it means, Carl," Monogram stated, his hands now going to his hips. "But brown for gloominess? Really? Why not black, like the shade of a shadow?"

"Isn't a shadow more of a..."

"It feels black, Carl."

The Major almost sounded like he was talking from experience. But he didn't seem to be willing to delve into it, unlike Doofenshmirtz, the previous topic of the conversation, whom seized any opportunity to go deep into his own personal history.

"In any case," Monogram went back to that previous subject matter. "Doofenshmirtz isn't to blame, this time. So you can just push that obsession about his returning to evil off to the side, Agent P. You're probably just missing thwarting him...we...I mean, you did it for so long, afterall."

Perry exhaled and then slackened.

Both the Major and the intern noticed the platypus' depressed state and quickly tried to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, we'll find Lawrence Fletcher," Major Monogram vowed. "This is OWCA we are talking about here."

But, with his eyes still downcast, Perry couldn't see how the man's eyes darted nervously to the side as he said it.

"Yes, Agent P. It's only a matter of time," Carl reassured. "Meanwhile, I have that robot of Lawrence Fletcher on standby incase you need it until he gets home."

Perry shook his head, indicating they needn't use it. It wouldn't feel right, afterall, tricking the family incase they couldn't find him...And then they'd have to live with a metal facsimile for the rest of their lives.

Perry hopped down from the chair and exited his lair in a lackluster fashion, worthy of another F on a performance report.

With every halfhearted (mostly because his heart was broken) step, he remembered the times when he would zip out of the lair, certain of where he was to go and what he was to do once there.

He missed those days.

Perry stopped and sighed.

Maybe Monogram was right. Perhaps he was a little rash in blaming Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Possibly because he wanted to.

The mammal knew he was skilled at fighting and taking his frenemy down. Besides from that...he was becoming worried that Phineas and Ferb were right.

A platypus really didn't do much.

Did he have a purpose without fighting Doofenshmirtz, or anybody else for that matter?

And how could he now fight what couldn't even be found?

Everything seemed so dark to Perry suddenly, and though his species were nocturnal, he felt lost in that darkness, unable to navigate it.

And so he had lashed out at a friend instead, suspecting him of the worst. When Lawrence Fletcher was found, and his family was all back together again, Perry knew he needed to make it a point to go and see Doofenshmirtz and to find some way to apologize or make amends to the scientist.

Now Phineas and Fern needed him though, and he quickly wound up back in the kitchen, where his two boys were sitting at the table, having a discussion where, like usual, Phineas did most of the talking.

"I don't know Ferb...something is off. Dad would have talked to us by now and all mom does is stay in her room. And Candace is real jumpy and nervous...okay, that might be normal, she's always been a little on edge. But now she looks so sad all of the time and haunted."

Phineas finally caught sight of the returned pet and brightened slightly at seeing him. "At least, there you are, Perry," he smiled.

The smile didn't last too long, though, and Phineas was soon back to holding his head in his hands and worrying.

"I wish we knew what was going on!" the small boy exclaimed. "I hate being in the dark...well, in the dark without a flashlight!"

Suddenly a shadow crept into the kitchen, falling across the table, like it was setting itself there for the feast. Phineas, Ferb and even Perry looked at it and turned in fear to face the doorway, finding Candace standing there, her hair free from the bun and lying on her shoulders now that her workday was over.

"Phineas...Ferb," she stated, starting to unbutton her labcoat. "If I may...I think I can shed a little light on things for you...but only a little."

Perry then watched, from his place on the floor, as the daughter of the Flynn-Fletcher family walked into the kitchen, joining her shadow to sit at the kitchen table and tell the boys what she had expressly been forbidden to.

Chapter Text

At the back of the Tjinder house, Baljeet's father had made a fort for him, in a vain attempt for his son to fit in.

It was small, yet spacious, and he had done it to the specific dimensions of what an All-American playhouse looked like, being quite good at building ever since he had created that cage to protect his bicycle from tigers, even though it had not saved him. He had built the fort in the hope that his son might have friends one day to invite over.

Unfortunately, it had taken Baljeet quite a while to find any friends.

He had found a bully long before he had ever found those.

Perhaps, his father was partially to blame for building this fate for him too, like the American style fort sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb in the backyard of a house where their Indian roots were always fullheartedly embraced...making the fort all the more unwelcome to everyone except for the nerd and his bully.

It was not fair for his parents to create such a dichotomy where they both wanted him to fit in, but at the same time be better than his peers, excelling in the very things that they often looked down upon, Baljeet would sometimes think. Apart from Phineas and Ferb, whom had also seemed to enjoy such things, but had also still remained separate from him, something that both excited and terrified the boy across the street.

But it had been neither Phineas nor Fern whom had noticed him first. They had come later, after the relationship that both defined and restricted him.

His twisted friendship with the boy named Buford van Stomm.

Baljeet Tjinder could remember retreating to the fort his father had built for him, not reading comic books inside of its masterfully constructed wooden walls, but rather books revolving around various Theorems and Paradigms, looking at his calculator like it were the neatest toy ever created, all as he would hear Buford, whom had climbed the fence around his family's house, banging on the door, just like the tiger whom had managed to get at his father despite the cage he had built.

"HEY NERD! WHATCHA DOIN' IN THERE? MY KNUCKLES GOT YOUR FACE ON 'EM! GET OUT HERE AND LET ME INTRODUCE YOU FOR THE DAY!"

Sometimes Baljeet would cower in a corner of the playhouse, away from the windows, waiting for the bully to go away and to leave him with his numbers. Sometimes he found his feet betraying him and leading him outside the sanctity of his father's fort, ready to take his lumps from his bully.

Because, at least, his bully saw him.

At least, he made him feel like he was included in some way.

For this had been before Phineas and Ferb had finally invited him to join them in their wonderful and exciting exploits and it was often a configuration of the universe he could not understand how those kids, considered kind, could overlook him, while the one considered cruel had seemed to make him the center of his day.

That was what he was to Buford van Stomm, Baljeet had realized one day as he had been hiding under a blanket in the corner of the fort. Whom else went looking for him every day, afterall? And who could he effect the mood of so greatly if he was not anywhere to be found to be bullied?

If it was not Buford than it was not anyone else in all of Danville either.

They completed each other in a way that they could not escape. And when Phineas and Ferb had finally accepted him inside of their wonderous world of indefinable creations and intelligence, that always made him envious, it was only natural that Buford came along too. And nobody had questioned it even. They were just welcomed together, as if they were a package deal.

When Baljeet had first met Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, and she had also asked him "Whatcha doin'?" but in such a softer and kinder tone than Buford had ever asked him, it had been inevitable then that he give her a fraction of his heart, the meek boy realized, for she was everything Buford van Stomm was not, but perhaps, what he had wished he would be. Looking at Isabella made him feel divided from van Stomm, as if he need not belong solely to him, which was something new and precious.

Something else about the sweet and kind neighborhood girl thrilled him in a way that was impossible to confess.

She illustrated perfectly the control that he in turn weilded over his tormentor. One nerd's interest in one girl next door appeared to subtract from the power of one bully. Control was wrested away from the seemingly permanent equation, which should have contained the highest sum.

And that fact had secretly delighted Baljeet, whom suddenly understood the intoxicating effect of power like he never had before. No longer was it a theory on paper it was something living. Something breathing.

Something dangerous.

For Buford was a volatile component, always, one that Phineas and Ferb had even found too frightening to play with until he, Baljeet Tjinder, had come along and finally been noticed.

Baljeet had longed to invite the pretty girl into the fort his father had built, just as he had longed to keep his bully out of it. Inside of his fantasies, he envisioned keeping Isabella safe from the bully at the door, while contrarily wishing to go out to the wolf to receive his lumps.

One summer, a long time ago it now felt, Phineas and Ferb had managed to split him into multiple Baljeets when decision making proved too difficult for him. Unfortunately it had backfired when all the many Baljeets had all decided they wanted revenge on Buford, leading to a mob. But they failed to realize that struggle was always inside of him, every single day...

It did not simply disappear because the Infinite Probability Generator had.

And it only felt better when he could feel some power over Buford again. Like the other night, when Isabella had come over to the house, after Phineas and Ferb had, and Baljeet had requested she stay to watch Space Adventures, aware of how it would upset his bully, whom was already wound tighter than a top.

So now, several days later, Baljeet experienced a certain joy, when, as the sky was subtly darkening, and he was inside of his fort doing homework because his parents were unnerving him by acting apart from their usual pattern, he heard a rapping on the door and heard Isabella calling out, "Baljeet? Are you in there? Your mother said you were...can I come in?"

"Isabella!" Baljeet Tjinder exclaimed, his enthusiasm barely concealed as he left behind his beloved homework on the beautifully constructed desk to rapidly run to the door and open it. "What a wonderful surprise," he greeted. "Come in! Come in!"

"Thanks," she said, stepping past him and into the fort. "Gee, this is great!" she complimented. "It's almost like our one for the Fireside Girls."

"I know," Baljeet said, closing the door incase Buford showed up and locking it for that very same reason too. "My father used the designs, I believe. Only he improved on them, it being quite a few years since that cabin was built."

"Gee...well...that's good," she said, but her grimace said it really was not and Baljeet understood that his effort to impress her had failed. Why did his statistics always look so good inside of his head, but outside of them, they always turned nonsensical? "Ahh...have you noticed anything weird with Phineas?"

Oh so that was the only reason she had come, Baljeet inwardly grumbled, his hands clenching beside him. If Buford was irritated by her constant appearances whenever Phineas and Ferb came over to the Tjinder house, Baljeet was equally irritated by how the girl was only motivated to visit him when Phineas was somehow involved. Could she not come over when it had nothing to do with the triangle headed boy? Why must he always suffer the red headed genius' name constantly being mentioned?

His tiny fists unclenching, Baljeet felt the breath leaving him as he resigned himself to this fate too. "He has seemed preoccupied, yes."

"Do you think it just has to do with his father not being home yet?"

She had walked over to a chair beside the one at his desk, one that resembled a bean bag and had sank into it, looking about as depressed as she had the night when she had come over and watched Space Adventure.

Baljeet went to the chair beside it, turning it around to face her because the thought of sitting on it backwards, like he had seen Buford sometimes do at school, bothered his rational mind. "I do not understand how it could be anything else. He seems really bothered by it."

"You...you don't think he's been ignoring me on purpose?" she asked, her beautiful dark eyes looking into his with such sorrowful fear.

"No. Then he is ignoring us all equally," Baljeet answered, finding it the most logical statement after reviewing the last few days inside of his memory. Phineas had seemed too busy thinking to have much to do with anyone, besides Ferb, whom was dealing with the same issue.

Isabella stood up and began to pace the floor, wringing her hands in a hopelessly adult way. "I don't think he sees me, or pays attention to me like he should," she commented, her voice filled with dark worry. Baljeet, whom was so busily concentrated on the too adult like way her hands were wringing, failed to notice the weird, dark and growing quality to her pacing shadow on the fort wall. How it suddenly seemed to possess a mind of its own.

Her word choice also brought him painfully back to the time when nobody, not a single one of them, including Isabella, herself, had seen him, besides Buford.

"Sometimes people do not see what is right in front of them," Baljeet replied, his voice becoming slightly bitter as his own shadow seemed to grow, but likewise went unnoticed by either of them.

The girl plopped back down on the bean bag chair.

"Do you...do you think Phineas likes me, Baljeet?" Isabella asked, and she sounded so sad his heart broke for her. He knew what it was like to feel a hopeless crush. She was his, afterall, and here she was asking him to give her comfort and hope.

Lie to her...tell her that Phineas doesn't like her and never will, something dark whispered to him, and the boy entertained the possibility, foreseeing the outcome as something beneficial to himself.

Now his shadow doubled in its blackness, something neither Isabella nor himself saw, for it was taken for granted, the light dimming outside and a candle, which was the fort's only source of light now seeming to grow more brighter.

Baljeet found that he could not give life to the tempting but false thoughts, however, and suddenly the darkness at his back became smaller. Whatever Buford felt when he bullied or intimidated him, he could not push on Isabella, whom was always so kind and so good-natured. Only Buford feeling that despair and pain could Baljeet feel happy about and even that caused him guilt.

Somewhat.

Seeing Isabella sad was like seeing a magical fairy like creature have its wings pulled and he made the mistake of telling her just that.

"Isabella...I do not like seeing you so sad. Usually you are like this magical fairy, one who shares her fairy dust to help us all to fly!"

Isabella's lip quivered, and soon she had buried her head in her hands. "Oh, don't say that, Baljeet!" she cried furiously.

Baljeet flinched, unsure of how he had hurt his friend, when he had not even meant to. "What did I say, Isabella? What is wrong?"

"I...I don't want to be a Tinkerbell," Isabella was saying, and he had little idea what she was talking about, Phineas' Halloween costume long forgotten about amongst calculus problems and wedgies inside of his daily routine. "I...I just want Phineas to care that I'm in love with him! I want him to see me."

She was so sad. Aware he had unintentionally heightened her sadness, Baljeet went to touch her shoulder, when he supposed that the movement - light as it had been - helped to blow the candle out, for suddenly it was dark everywhere. To the corner of his eye, however, had he been pressed to say it, it had almost looked like a tongue of black had suddenly licked the flame before it wrapped its lips around it, as well, extinguishing it with an audible swallow, as preposterous as that sounded.

"Where did the light go?" Isabella asked and Baljeet was about to express what he had thought he had seen, no matter if it sounded absurd, when a knocking began on the fort door and from the sound of the knuckles, he knew the identity of the visitor all too well.

"Hey, Baljeet, you in there?" Buford's unmistakable voice asked, once the knocking had finished.

"Bufo..." Isabella began but Baljeet silenced her, not wanting the bully to know he was in there with the girl...

But partially hoping he would anyway.

"BALJEET, ARE YOU IN THERE?" Buford said, now his voice a little more desperate, which caused his nerd's lips to curl in the darkness.

A few more seconds and the bully was back to rapping on the door. "BALJEET! LOOK ARE YOU IN THERE CUZ I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE YOU WOULD BE! YOUR MOM, SHE TOLD ME YOU WAS BACK HERE...AND THAT ISABELLA WAS TOO!"

The tone of the boy's voice as he felt suddenly out of control was instantly delicious to Baljeet Tjinder, and he didn't even flinch nor try to hide when Buford's face appeared in the window, peering in. It was still lighter outside than it was inside of the fort, Baljeet realized, and Buford could not see them, although he could see him perfectly well in return, the worry and jealousy on his wide face. And to think, if the candle hadn't blown out, he would never have gotten to see his bully...

Looking so wonderfully weak.

Soon Buford was back at the door pounding and Baljeet felt Isabella turn to stare at him in the darkness. But, lost in it as he was, in that moment of feeling it enveloping him like an old friend, Tjinder did not care that Isabella saw him now or what she even saw him as.

"PLEASE BALJEET! YOU GOTTA LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE IN THERE...WITH ISABELLA...I...I...WORRY ABOUT CHA. YOU'RE SO SMALL AND HELPLESS. YOU NEED ME YOU KNOW.!

But in the shadows of the fort, listening to the bully boy's desperation, it didn't really feel like he needed him, Baljeet realized...it felt like Buford was the one whom had always needed him.

One final shout rang out through the darkness, "OKAY! I ADMIT IT! I FORGOT THE MARSHMALLOWS!"

Then, in the next few seconds, the silence seemed to bring with it a certain calmness.

"Oh...okay," Buford was mumbling now, his voice no longer raised. "I guess, ya ain't in there. I'll go look for you at all of those nerdy places ya enjoy. Like the library and places like that."

After a while, there was nothing to hear and with no explanation, the flame returned to the wick of the candle, illuminating the fort again and making the shadows dance in apparent glee.

Isabella's eyes were on the candle, while Baljeet's remained greedily on the door.

"Wha...what was that?" Isabella asked, more frightened now than sad. "How did the candle get relit...and why did you do that to Buford, Baljeet? He sounded so worried and upset."

The funny thing was, with the light back on now for a few seconds, and seeing his body, Baljeet was not quite sure what had happened. He remembered liking Buford's lack of power, but part of what he had been experiencing felt like he had similarly lost control and been overpowered too. Now he felt frantic, like he wanted nothing more than to see Buford again and make everything right and back to normal.

"I do not know what happened either," Baljeet said, jumping to his feet. "I...I think I should go see him...at the library. Or wherever he is. Sorry Isabella...I must go now."

"I gotta go too," Isabella said. "Something feels funny back at my home. I don't know what...it's not like parents tell us much...I guess, it's a priviledge of growing up...for those of us who want to."

She was clearly thinking about Phineas again, but Baljeet was not paying her his full attention. Something seemed wrong with his parents too lately, but he felt wrong to confront them about it. They were his elders, afterall, and he was to respect them at all times.

"Goodbye Baljeet," Isabella said halfheartedly in farewell and Baljeet waited in the fort for a minute or two before she had fully left before exiting the fort as well. Before he did, however, the boy stared at the candle, watching it dance and equating it to how it enticed his shadow to do the same...

As if it was leaping in joy all over the fort walls, no longer contained to just one.

To stop what must have been only an illusion, Baljeet Tjinder blew out the candle again, only for it to feel like some sort of defeat.

A confession of his own weakness.

Quickly grabbing his homework and calculator, the boy fled, not turning around to see in the darkness outside if something should happen to be watching him and laughing in the window of the fort his father had built for him.

Chapter Text

Outside of the DEI building, the penthouse stood heavily contrasted in a sky where day had lost its battle with the night. The first stars of the evening were appearing within it and the structure looked almost tall enough to collect a few to keep as its own precious candles and sources of light.

The knock at his door disturbed Heinz Doofenshmirtz before he could continue doing what he had been previously been doing before it had disrupted everything: nothing.

Well nothing, when one considered that he had only been sitting up, eating popcorn in his favorite chair and watching old reruns of the show Acquaintances. He watched it mostly because it was something fairly innocuous to leave on in the background when his mind was racing in the foreground. It had even been a fairly boring episodes, one he deemed as filler, and he had been planning on heading to bed actually, hoping that owls didn't go flying by his window tonight or mice go tickling the bottom of his feet.

That was annoying.

Like really annoying.

So annoying he was contemplating, but not serious about, creating an inator that involved turning nocturnal animals into diurnal animals instead, so they just stopped doing it altogether. They should have better things to do then disturb the sleep of a middle aged scientist, one whom had given up being evil, Heinz Doofenshmirtz believed. It was like someone of something didn't trust him.

In any case, though, he had been hoping for a good sleep without animal intrusion - and, through it, to escape all of his unwanted thoughts - when the knock came to his penthouse door and he became aware that his plans to call it a night were being interrupted along with his viewing pleasure of Acquaintances. Which had been more amusing than anything outright pleasurable.

He hadn't had pleasure in a good long while.

Maybe it was a good thing though, Doofenshmirtz thought using his remote to turn off the TV and head for the door. His mind probably wouldn't have allowed him to fall asleep anyway, not with his thoughts constantly racing as they were.

Halfway to the door, a voice called out, "Do you want me to get it, Sir?"

"It's a little late now, Norm, since I'm already almost there. Ask sooner next time, will you. Or better yet, just go and answer the door!"

Norm was fortunate. He was a robot, afterall, and those rarely suffered intrusive thoughts or bad night's sleeps or nightmares. Unless you counted a pop up oriented malware. Then those were quite similar actually. But Norm had been installed with the latest security programs and was so blessed to be immune from such plagues of mankind.

"Next time, Sir," Norm promised, then feigning a loud yawn in his hope of appearing more human.

Heinz rolled his eyes. It was doubtful whether Norm would remember. His memory was questionable and especially recently. Of course, he might have been intentionally ornery. Norm had been made in his maker's image and this could include moments of severe pettiness.

Opening the door, Doof was expecting to find Vanessa standing there. Her room was still as she had left it, but she was living on her own now, something about needing her dependence and had to stop living with her dad. Still, whenever she was sparring with Monty, or she was just feeling like Daddy's Little Girl again - mostly because she was angry with her mother - she'd come back and make use of her old room. He could understand it. Relationships could be complicated and painful, just as the one he had had with Vanessa's mother had proven to him. It was also a frightening place to suddenly be an adult and all on your own, so many decisions to be made and problems to be faced...

The problems of becoming an adult and all of the responsibilities and expectations.

Something he had discovered for himself in various stages so long ago.

However, when he opened the door it wasn't to find the most prominent young woman in his life.

It was see the other one standing there.

"Candace," he exclaimed.

The very subject of his racing thoughts.

But hadn't she already come and gone, his finding himself able to finally relax once she had, her presence a constant source of distress and discomfort to him? And these were not working hours. Or overtime, which he always dreaded needing to require of her anyway.

They'd already bade their farewells for the evening, which had always caused him anxiety both before and during. It had been survived and he had been able to feel a little good about himself even, this time, because he had helped her a small bit with her problem involving her missing father and her being torn over having to lie to her brothers.

He had felt better than some nights when she had left...

So what was she doing back here, screwing it all up?

Now likely she would leave and he would return to feeling guilty.

Seeing her at this time of night was extremely disturbing too. She needed to be at her home in her room, not on his doorstep, for reasons unknown.

Worse, well not exactly, nothing could contend with her being there, Candace had also brought with her two young boys, obviously the brothers she had mentioned earlier, and what appeared to be a platypus. Thankfully not Perry the Platypus. This one was not wearing a fedora, which was a dead give away that it wasn't him. What a relief! Heinz didn't really feel like fighting him right now. He hadn't done anything wrong per se, and he really wanted to just go to bed...

Although seeing Candace again and how frightened she looked, he did feel like he had done something wrong, afterall, a feeling that he always wound up suffering whenever she was around.

So maybe he would have preferred Perry and the fight against the OWCA agent more. Perhaps if he put a fedora on the platypus the siblings had brought to his doorstep, he could convince himself that it really was Perry afterall...

"Heinz," Candace said, her voice shaky and startling him from his thoughts of a futile escape. "Can we come in?"

His intern had a small little frown on her face and big, pleading eyes making her look childish in a disarming way. Not childish, as in immature and whiny, but childish in that she suddenly resembled a small child. Like Vanessa would look at him. No. Vanessa had never really looked at him that way...ever. Well. Not often. Maybe a little around when he and her mother were divorcing. But usually, she was rolling her eyes at him or glaring or looking the other way, like she did not know him if anybody she deemed as cool was nearby and she wished to impress them.

This child was looking at him like not only she knew him, but that she trusted and needed him too.

Right now possibly more than anything else in the entire world.

Which made him feel both powerful and helpless in equal measure.

"Uhm...any way I can ask why? I was in the middle of an Acquaintances episode."

"Excuse me, but aren't those all repeats anyway?" the one with the strange green hair and abnormal set of eyes asked in a charming sort of accent. "You can stream them all online or find them on DVD."

Doofenshmirtz glared at the boy, he instantly marked as a hoodlum, and spat, "And excuse meee, but I didn't ask you now did?"

"You'll have to forgive him, Sir," the equally weird looking boy with the triangle for a head said. "He's just been through a traumatic event."

"Because your father is missing?" Doofenshmirtz asked.

"No, actually, not this time," this strangely shaped kid informed. "Now it's because we saw our friend Buford walking into the library."

Doofenshmirtz didn't know what either of them were talking about, the name Buford somewhat familiar to him but not really, and so he looked back reluctantly to their sister instead.

"Please Dr. Doofenshmirtz," Candace said, comfortably back to using his last name. "It's about what we were discussing earlier...I couldn't bring myself to tell them at our house...incase mom overheard."

Her eyes were confessing something else now, the belief that if her brothers had done something deemed bad or beyond the rules they could have gotten away with it, but if she had, inside of their home, she would inevitably get caught; that the mother she had said was confined to her bed, would suddenly rise the moment she opened her mouth to say the very words she had been forbidden to speak.

However, how valid or invalid her belief was, Doofenshmirtz was suddenly made even more uncomfortable. She was at his place, at night, and her mother didn't know. Suddenly, he feared that this mother wouldn't only get her daughter into trouble but him as well...her little girl coming over to his place at night and keeping it a secret from her...It sounded so distasteful to him.

"Your mother doesn't know you are here?" Heinz said, rubbing the back of his head.

"No. And please don't make me tell her," Candace practically begged, apparently having read his mind.

Doof inhaled sharply and rubbed the back of his head, like his head was a lamp and he wished that by rubbing it a genie would appear and let him know what he should do. Except, no Genie came with answers, and he never really understood those anyway.

"Sure. Fine. Come in," he finally answered. "You can use my kitchen."

The scientist nodded to himself. The kitchen was safe. It wasn't really connected to anything dubious besides food. Okay. So that in itself was linked to hungers and appetites and stories of brothers and sisters visiting witches whom stuck them in ovens to devour...

But he wasn't going to do that, Doof reasoned. There was no appetite inside of him to do that to them. He could just leave them in his kitchen, where the young woman could finally get off of her chest what had been bothering her for days now.

Not that he'd been thinking of her chest for days now.

No. He...he'd been thinking of the Acquaintances episode before he'd been interrupted...and he'd better just show the fragment-of-a-family-that-had-found-their-way-to-his-familiar-doorstep to his kitchen and then leave them to sort out their familial troubles by themselves.

"Just use my kitchen," he simply reiterated, his brow furrowing as he frowned, his shoulders slumping.

"Hey, that's funny!" the triangle headed boy remarked. "That's just where we were. Only our own."

Heinz started to lead them to the room, shoulders still slouched as he noticed their platypus eyeing him strangely all the way. He felt like he was suddenly under surveillance, but shook it off. It was only the family pet. He was just being paranoid, his thoughts already frazzled as they were.

"Sit down there at the table," he pointed at it when they arrived at the room. "If you need anything look in the fridge or the cupboards...but if it smells off or looks weird...don't eat it. I have a habit of starting food related experiments and then forgetting about them."

"Don't eat the food. Got it," the small boy said again, then turning to his brother, "C'mon Ferb. I feel like a sandwich. I'll make you your favorite too."

While the boys went directly to the fridge, Candace remained in the doorway, staring at him in so much gratitude her boss could only return it with equal measures of more guilt and discomfort.

"Thank you for this," she said and he suddenly realized for the first time that her orange hair was lying loosely on her shoulders and she was no longer wearing her lab coat.

His voice felt stuck in his throat as he squawked, "No-no problem."

But as he walked away, possibly before she had even finished talking to him, he regretted having given her advice that afternoon. He should have left her to deal with it on her own. She had just started to cry...and he hated seeing her cry, and so...

Now she walked into the kitchen and would finally told her brothers the truth: that neither she nor their mother knew what had happened to their father.

Heinz could hear her sad and shaky voice starting to tell her brothers what she had told him, all as sandwiches were being constructed. The scientist made his way back to the living room, his intern's voice becoming distant.

When he finally reached his chair, Acquaintances hadn't really gotten anywhere. For crying out loud, they were all just acquaintances, afterall, what type of storylines could you build around characters, and revolve around relationships, that barely knew each other or existed at all?

Not too long ago, he had been just an acquaintance to Candace. Someone she only knew as the father of a friend. Now she was bringing her brothers to his penthouse kitchen to reveal dark family secrets to them and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

Oh, it wasn't just her brothers, either, it was their pet platypus she was bringing there too.

The platypus was actually by the armchair, watching him now. Or not watching him. It was hard to tell with his eyes going in different directions like that.

"You want to watch Acquaintances with me?" Doofenshmirtz asked the mammal, quickly adding. "Not that you can watch it. Can you even see the TV? Maybe if you go over there?"

It chattered at him.

But it felt like an accusation. Wait a minute! Maybe it was related to Perry and the Secret Agent had brainwashed it against him, Heinz thought with a gasp.

He tried to get back into Aquaintances, but the platypus was beginning to bother him, as was the knowledge that his intern was using his kitchen for private discussions. Not quite able to stand it anymore, the next episode of Acquaintances on now - it was a back to back sort of timeslot - Heinz picked up the platypus and was marching him straight back to the kitchen, intending to ask how much longer the three would be, because he was really tired and just wanting to go to bed.

He could hear Candace's voice now, saying, "No, Phineas, we really can't let mom know...she's not in her right frame of mind. Come to mention it, I'm not really either. Now that you know, how about we head home, okay, and sort the rest of this out tomorrow?"

Heinz zoomed quickly to the side of the door, the monotreme still held out in his hands.

Ahhhhhh...so she was finishing up, at least. Soon they would all be out of there, returning to their house in the suburbs, where their father had gone missing and their mother had taken to bed, feeling sorry for herself all the time.

It was sad...but in a way, that was still better than his own childhood. At least, the children had known they were loved at some point.

Before everything had started to go dark.

A little light was better than none at all.

Heinz placed the platypus back on the floor, hearing chairs screeching on kitchen tile. Soon the three siblings were filing out of the doorway, in order of height, the sister pulling up the rear.

"Everything okay?" he asked her.

"Well, I wouldn't say okay, but they know now...that's better than before. And mom didn't need to overhear it. Thanks."

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling involuntarily at her.

"Look. I hate to inconvenience you more than I already have, but can I use your bathroom?" his pretty young intern then asked. "I didn't get a chance to at home and I...it's getting really uncomfortable."

He resisted the urge to tell her that was how her presence made him always feel, had always made him feel since Vanessa had brought her to his doorstep. But he was still grateful she hadn't overheard his conversation with his daughter a few days ago, so bluntly confessing such a thing now felt rude, ungrateful and counterproductive.

"Sure," he said, although her using his bathroom always made him even more self conscious. "You know where it is."

She nodded and then walked away, swaying on her feet because she was so exhausted. He watched her for a while, wondering if he should offer to drive her home, when he suddenly noticed that the two boys were gone, having wandered off. Which was even more inconvenient than their sister having to use his convenience.

Frantically looking for them, he saw the door to his room of inators slightly ajar and he rushed in to it, only to find both brothers looking around, their focus on one machine in particular sitting in the corner. It was an old one. Their platypus had more modern tastes, it looked like, examining the later ones he had made, especially the one to help turn night animals into day ones...

"Hey, get away from that!" he snapped, rushing towards the two boys.

"Neat machine, Vanessa's dad," the boy named Phineas complimented. "What is it called?"

"I called it the the Ingenious-inator," he grumbled, casting a wary glance at the other boy, the one called Ferb, whom was still examining it, in his usual silent way. "It was supposed to make things smarter."

"Did it?" the red head asked.

"Well, I aimed it at myself and nothing happened," Doof confessed with a sigh.

"Maybe that means you were smart enough to begin with!" the boy said cheerily. Obviously, he was the people pleasing sort, Doof thought with a grumble. The type whom depended on always saying nice things, whether or not he knew them to be true.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz just rolled his eyes at the ludicrousness.

The little people pleaser was now looking around, his hands at his waist. Eventually, he spoke aloud his own thoughts. "This place is so cool! It's almost familiar in that deja vu sort of way. Hey! I know! Could we like maybe use this place as our headquarters, while we try to figure things out? Candace says we shouldn't disturb mom."

Heinz didn't want to say, from what their sister had told him, the woman already sounded disturbed. "No. No you cannot use this as your headquarters," he commented instead, waving his arms about. "It really isn't child safe and I already found an inexplicable platypus pee stain on a cushion once! I really don't need another."

Having Candace there was annoying enough. Having her brothers would be unbearable. They were not one big happy family. They had their own...Candace Flynn was not a part of his family and that was how it was supposed to be.

"Oh...okay," Phineas said, and he sounded so sad that the one called Ferb stopped studying the inator long enough to blink in his brother's direction and the platypus looked upset enough to attack Doofenshmirtz for causing the pain. Heinz was dealing with his own guilt at seeing how sad he had made the kid, though.

Guilty enough to relent.

"Okay. You can use it as your headquarters," he spat, raising one long finger. "But only if you can't find any place else more suitable! You know,  like under a tree in your backyard or at a friend's fort or something."

"Gee thanks!" the small boy said. "I can see now why Candace used to talk about you all of the time."

"She did?" Heinz asked, unsure that he wanted to hear more, but so shocked he couldn't help it.

Phineas grinned widely. "Sure. That was until Mom started telling her to stop and really think about her future. She really was pressuring her to go to college. I guess, that's why she stopped.

Doof was temporarily floored, having thought that going away to college was truly his intern's choice. "That was your mother's idea?" he asked.

Ferb blinked and joined Phineas' side to look at their sister's boss. "Yeah. Candace didn't seem to really know what she wanted."

Involuntarily, Doofenshmirtz looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the doorway...only to find Candace herself standing there, looking embarrassed.

If she could, the young woman probably would have busted her younger brothers for talking about her behind her back. But, as things were, now she was just too tired and worried about her parents. That didn't mean she looked any more comfortable with what they had just revealed though.

"Come on Phineas and Ferb," she said. "And you too, Meat Brick. It's time to go home."

"Do you want me to drive you there?" Heinz asked, unable to move.

"No, that's okay," she said, one of her hands each going to the backs of a brother. "I splashed some cold water on my face in the bathroom...I think I'm more awake now...still we should get back before Mom freaks out about us being gone too."

She offered him a grateful smile, one that lit her face up for no matter how short of a time it was there. "Thanks again. See you tomorrow, I guess."

She and her brothers were gone before Heinz even realized it, only registering the platypus looking at him with suspicion before he too left the room. Meanwhile, Heinz stood for a while in his room full of inators, each one pointing at him, the platypus not the only thing that seemed to be accusing him, it seemed.

Chapter Text

The morning light struck the floor of the bedroom Phineas Flynn shared with his brother, while Phineas tried to pretend he was sleeping and didn't notice it. Usually, he loved the sun and the pattern it created on the floor, thinking it was a friend from deep in outer space sending it's own special hello and good morning for the day. Phineas also liked the way that the little bits of dust floated in its beams, like microscopic fairies dancing or caught in some sort of light ray trap...which was just incredibly cool, if you thought about it that way. It also helped him to wake up, get his creative juices flowing and eventually discover what he would be doing for the day too.

This morning, however, after what Candace had told both Ferb and he last night, the sun no longer felt like an intergalactic good morning, but rather something that unnerved him, like an unexpected slap. In some weird way...it sort of felt like it brought more shadows with it too.

Or made that which was dark come more into the light.

He opened his eyes to stare at it more openly and not through the small gap between eyelids, reflecting on what Candace had told them, the real reason why their father wasn't at home.

That wasn't accurate though. They didn't know why dad was gone, what they really only knew now was that they didn't know.

But as Socrates once said, and was quoted in a film they'd seen a few times, "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing." So, at least this morning they were wiser than they had been before.

And still the sun was bright and warm and it was the opposite of the darkness that had crept into their lives - the one that had enveloped dad in the proverbial sense because they didn't know where he was and if he was okay - so there were some positives to the morning, even if everything else felt so darn bleak.

And at least, Dr. Doofenshmirtz had said they could use his lab if they needed to. It seemed like the perfect place to gather, analyze or dissect. It also had wonderful placement, standing in the heart of Danville, and probably a spectacular view looking over all of the city, although, in the dark, it would have been hard to fully admire, other than all the lights and windows.

His inventions looked real neat too! Infact, Ferb had been trying to tell him something about them on the drive home, but unfortunately he'd not quite understood, which was something new to Phineas. He usually always understood what Ferb was telling him, but he guessed it had been late and they'd both been tired. Even Candace had almost rear ended a car in front of her at a stop light, claiming that she hadn't seen it at all and thought it was only black ahead of her.

Now Phineas contemplated his importance to both of his siblings, and looked across at his brother still sleeping undisturbed in his own bed and remembered what their older sister had requested they do today for her.

Sitting up, noticing the way that Perry, whom was sleeping by his legs, yawned and turned around only to fall back asleep, like he too had had a long and restless night, Phineas addressed his brother, feeling guilty about waking him up.

"Hey! Ferb! Ferb! It's morning! We have a lot to do today, more than usual even! Would you mind getting up now? I know it's kind of early but..."

His voice must have cut through the thick fog of sleep that Ferb had been lost in, for the other boys eyes opened, and he began to blink the sand out of them. Soon Ferb was sitting up and stretching, aware now, as memories of last night flooded back, of what needed doing and the current missing state of his father.

Phineas watched as Ferb pointed at the sleeping Perry. Now, as opposed to last night, he perfectly understood what his brother meant.

"No. I think we'll let Perry sleep today," Phineas answered, fully aware of their usual morning routine of celebrating how absolutely awesome it was to share their lives with the platypus.

Phineas hit the alarm clock beside him, which read 6:58, so it wouldn't extend it's long, automatic arm to disturb the sleeping platypus. Then he carefully climbed out of bed, and both Ferb and he quietly tiptoed around the bedroom, getting dressed. They experienced one moment of shared alarm when Perry seemed to be stirring, but it was replaced with relief, Phineas even sighing, as the little real mammal just rolled on to his back, his back legs kicking as he was living out some dream they'd never know of...

Because who knew what pets dreamt of anyway.

Phineas was just getting ready to tell Ferb that he knew what else they were doing that day, but there would be no time for it. Their plate was full and what was most important for them now was to head down to the kitchen and get some breakfast into them so they could face that day without empty stomachs.

Creeping in unison past Perry, Phineas and Ferb successfully made it to the bedroom door, which they gently closed to help give their furry friend some peace and quiet to sleep the day away. He was a platypus, afterall, and they didn't do much of anything.

Boys who loved and missed their fathers, on the other hand, did not have that luxury, even though today was Saturday. No school. Which meant that, while Baljeet would be upset, Phineas knew that Ferb and himself could concentrate more on solving the mystery of what had happened to their father.

They both looked at their parents' bedroom door, only their mother sleeping in it now, and while Ferb continued walking towards the stairs, Phineas continued to stare at the door.

Why hadn't their mom trusted them enough to let them know what was really going on, the boy wondered?

Had he failed her?

He always tried to do what was best and what would please her. It was the reason why all of their inventions were meticulously planned, with safety in mind, or else they probably could have shaved a good ten minutes off from all of their ETAs...

But apparently he had done something wrong...

The conviction became suddenly crippling.

He had let someone he loved down.

And at the thought, the hallway suddenly seemed a little darker.

No. No. That wasn't it, Phineas suddenly reminded himself, shaking his head and opening his eyes to a sudden lessening of that darkness.

Candace had explained to them that their mother wasn't acting like herself, that dad going missing had unearthed a lot of painful memories for the woman and that she wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind because of it.

Lovingly, Phineas placed his hand on the door, vowing in a whisper, "We'll find dad, mom! Don't you worry!"

"Lawrence!" his mother's voice, filled with hope, instantly called out from the bedroom. "Are you back?"

Phineas backed away, fearful that he had done the wrong thing and disappointed her, afterall. He then rushed down to have breakfast with Ferb, leaving the darkness at the top of the stairs to itself.

* * *

Weird as it was, Candace seemed to have already left by the time Phineas and Ferb had their breakfast. She had left a note, veiled incase their mom saw it, saying that she had to pick some items up for Dr. Doofenshmirtz, but both her brothers knew that she had really wanted to go to the neighboring city before work to check out dad's haunting spots there too. They weren't just isolated to Danville, afterall, there was the whole Tri-State area to consider and since she was the only one with a car, Candace had said she could easily visit the city.

She didn't seem to recall that Ferb and him had visited the moon a few times, so distance wasn't going to be an issue. Still, after he had reminded her, Candace had impressed upon him not to do anything quite like that. Yet. Right now, anyway. She could easily visit the neighbouring city and come back, and only risk being a little bit late to work, so as not to upset Vanessa's dad.

Although he didn't say it, Phineas didn't think Candace had anything to worry in that department.

It was obvious that Dr. Doofenshmirtz really liked having her around...even if he tried to hide it.

Though, Candace had seemed worried about her boss for some reason these last few days, Phineas didn't understand why. From what he had seen, Vanessa's dad really liked Candace, what with all of those neverous little glances he had thrown in her direction when he thought she wasn't looking. Phineas wished that Isabella would do that with him, but whenever he looked at her, all he could do was wonder why she ever would. She was so absolutely perfect! What would she ever see in him? He felt probably a little like Dr. D did when he looked at Candace, whom was also one of the most absolutely perfect people in all of existence...like you didn't deserve the person you had feelings for. Which was incredibly painful in a way.

But, whereas Phineas doubted Isabella would ever love him, he had this feeling that Candace actually was starting to like her boss, despite her having obsessed over Jeremy for years...maybe his big sister was finally growing up and ready for a mature relationship.

Solving his sister's love life, however wasn't what she had asked of Ferb and he, Phineas realized, scooping some of the last bits of Sugar Pow from out of the bowl. In the kitchen, up in the penthouse, she had a different request altogether, one that he pondered now, and one which involved all of their hearts and not just Candace's own.

"You know that usually I wouldn't do this but...maybe you guys can sort of help in looking for dad?" Candace had asked, sitting after hours at her boss' table. "I never usually admit it either, but your success rate is a heck of a lot higher than mine...Can you guys find out what happened to dad...actually, can you just FIND dad?"

"You got it!" Phineas had promised, turning to Ferb, whom was equally in agreement. "We know what we're going to do tomorrow!"

Now that it was tomorrow, Phineas felt a little unsure about that promise. What if they couldn't find dad, afterall? There was so much at stake this time...it wasn't just for fun. What if they failed?

Which was something that frightened him.

Because then he would let everyone down and not only himself.

Phineas finished his cereal and pushed the empty bowl to the side, aware now of how quiet Ferb had been during breakfast. Usually he was so chatty he'd joke to him that he shouldn't think so much with his mouth open. But Ferb had been silent all throughout the meal.

Unless he had failed to understand what he was thinking.

Which would be more failure.

But, nah, that couldn't be it. No, Phineas thought, this time he wouldn't allow it to be. The whole family was counting on him, including Ferb, to find out what had happened to dad.

He looked around the kitchen, realizing how empty and more dead it felt without mom being there. She was always so quick with support and a smile. She had a wonderful sense of humor and...

He had let her down because now she was up sleeping in her bed, doing nothing, just like Perry always did, or rather like they thought Perry did...

Whoa! That didn't feel right being inside of his head, Phineas recoiled and he blinked it away. Mom wasn't doing nothing. She was healing. And what else could a platypus do all day but sleep and all those other necessities?

Weird.

Phineas hopped off from the chair.

"Candace said that Mom said Dad thought he heard something outside and went to check on it," the smaller boy whispered to the taller one. "Maybe we should start off there."

Ferb nodded and Phineas was glad to understand him, although it was a fairly universal signal.

Together, as much as a package deal as they always were, Phineas and Ferb went outside into the backyard, the very place of most of their amazing summer adventures for the last few years. Now Autumn was settling down upon it, everything changing color, slowly dying or going into hibernation. Phineas looked to his mother's garden and then to all of the leaves lying around, some red, some orange or yellow...and some even brown because they had been lying there so long.

Phineas suddenly felt wracked with guilt.

Dad had wanted them to rake. Maybe they should do that first, before they did everything else.

Maybe that would bring him home.

"Ferb, I think we should start by raking. We could look for clues as we do it. I don't know...maybe something is buried under all of these leaves. It's one of the last things we heard dad talking to us about and we know that he came out here the last Mom saw of him."

Ferb blinked.

"No," Phineas said, relieved once again that he was able to understand him so fluently again. "I really don't think we should invent something; I think we should do it by hand, the old fashioned way...otherwise we might miss something."

His brother blinked in agreement and then rushed to the garage to collect the rakes.

In a few minutes, the two Flynn-Fletcher boys were busy raking up the conglomeration of fallen leaves, Phineas' mind unfortunately disturbed with unwanted thoughts as much as the leaves were upset by the rakes.

What if he'd failed their dad by not doing this sooner, he wondered? Maybe he had let dad down by not hatching up something to take care of the leaves even before Lawrence Fletcher would have settled down for his first cup of Earl Grey for the day...Or maybe that very night.

Maybe his father had expected more of him.

Phineas' mind was still troubled by the thoughts, even with his trying to push them out of the way because they really weren't helping, when a shadow appeared at the fence doorway and both Ferb and he turned to look at it in anxious wait.

"Whatcha doin'?" Isabella suddenly peeked around the fence, offering her usual greeting for the day.

Of course, it was Isabella, Phineas thought in relief at the appearance of his own precious girl-made-of-sunshine. Who else would it be coming to the backyard of their house this early on a Saturday?

"Oh, hi Isabella!" Phineas greeted cheerfully, feeling the shadows inside of his mind fleeing with the brightness of her sweet smile. "We're raking leaves."

"By hand?" she asked startled. "You know, I mean, with rakes?"

"We are also looking for clues," Ferb informed.

"Clues?" Isabella asked. "Does this have anything to do with your father being away?"

Phineas looked up to the window of Candace's bedroom, making sure that he didn't see his mother standing there watching. After his sister had risked mom's anger by telling Ferb and him what was going on, he didn't want to risk betraying her by just recklessly telling Isabella.

And, yet, he couldn't hold back from telling the girl either. He loved and trusted her so much afterall.

"Candace told us last night...he's not just away...he really is missing," Phineas went to Isabella and whispered into her ear. She shuddered at the revelation and Phineas took it to be the content of his words and not the warmth of his nearness and breath which had caused it. "Oh my goodness!" Isabella cried, obviously upset. "What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Phineas said with a sigh, continuing to rake. "The last anyone knows, he came back here after hearing something, late at night."

Isabella looked around, and Phineas knew she was thinking what he was: the backyard looked huge and there were so many leaves. "Let me help!" she suggested, looking at him with all her usual Fireside Girl determination.

"Thanks Isabella!" Phineas said. "Grab a rake and dig in!"

They each resumed their raking, when about thirty minutes later, Buford and Baljeet turned up, as if on schedule. "This is how you spend a Saturday now?" the larger boy asked, looking around in disappointment. "You guys are slippin' in your old age."

"Buford, they are merely being responsible," the smaller boy corrected.

Phineas sensed something between the nerd and his bully, a tension even stronger than usual. He wondered if it had anything to do with Buford being spotted going to the library. And then, when Candace had taken them home, both he and Baljeet had been seen walking away from it together, in the dark. Heading in the same direction, Candace had taken them all home, but that same tension had still been there, and Buford, riding shotgun hadn't turned around to look at Baljeet at all, not even when saying goodbye.

Whatever it was, they must have patched it up to be together now, Phineas told him himself.

At least he hoped they had.

"Responsibility is for grown ups. We ain't old enough yet to be held accountable," Buford argued. "That's why they send us to Juvie and not to prison. Believe me, I looked it up."

Was Buford trying to look even more menacing than usual in Baljeet's direction? And was Baljeet not actually being phased by it, but seemed somewhat smug instead?

Phineas glanced to Ferb, whom was staring at him too, both aware of something not being right.

"Do you two want to help?" Isabella thankfully interrupted. "We're looking for any clues to see if we can find out what happened to Mr. Fletcher."

"Ha! See, I told ya it wasn't about being responsible. Plus, I knew he was buried back here," van Stomm said. "But, no. The last thing me and the nerd need to do is..."

"I would love to help, Isabella," Baljeet interrupted, going to the garage to grab another rake.

Looking kind of lonely and helpless standing there alone, Buford soon went to get one for himself.

They worked until noon and then took a break, involving sandwiches and Buford complaining that he hoped their mom was feeling better soon because he really missed her good cooking, pies and treats and Isabella saying that she liked what Phineas had fixed for them, leaving it for the triangular headed boy to point out Ferb's contribution to it too. About one o'clock they resumed, with still no sign of what Lawrence Fletcher had gone into the backyard to find.

Meanwhile, Phineas sensed the same animosity between Buford and Baljeet. He'd always been confused about their dynamic actually. He would have thought that Buford liked Baljeet, like he liked Isabella or he suspected Vanessa's dad liked Candace, but why would Buford torment Baljeet then? That just made no sense to Phineas, who always wanted people to like him and tried to be kind to everyone. Why would Buford try to get Baljeet to hate him or punish the boy continually because he liked him? To Phineas, a boy without a shred of prejudice and whom loved everybody and gave even bullies a chance, he could not understand why Buford van Stomm would feel ashamed about having feelings for one of his best friends, and so he believed that the boy must really not be interested in him in that way, afterall.

A little while after lunch, another shadow appeared, this time peeking over the fence, not through the door. "Ahh...guys. Would you mind if I joined you?" Irving Du Bois asked hesitantly, as if he was afraid they might say no. "My brother Albert has been back for a few weeks and he won't stop telling everyone about the Nobel Prize he won. That and the ground he's broken in physics. It's becoming incredibly tedious. I'd much rather join you in whatever amazing, fantastic advent..." he suddenly stopped, seeing that they were only raking. He hopped down from the fence, but a few seconds later was still found walking through the open door of it. "Raking is still a heck of a lot better than putting up with my brother."

He was soon raking up leaves too, and by the time the sun was making the first stages of setting, they still hadn't found any clue that could lead them to the truth about the missing father.

"It's getting late," Isabella commented, her own raking having eventually navigated her closer towards Phineas.

"Yeah," he admitted, thinking about the morning sun coming in through his bedroom window. It would be doing it again soon. The thought refreshed in his mind from the morning, Phineas asked Isabella, "You ever look at the rays of sunlight and just stop and stare at the dust in it...they look like minuscule fairies caught in the light."

Isabella stopped. Her hands wrapped around the rake handle. "You think they look like trapped little fairies?"

"Yes," Phineas replied, noting the way her hands had become clenched around the handle now like she was choking it.

"Like they can't break free?" she said, her expression darkening.

Phineas stared at her. Oh no, had he disappointed her now too? Isabella was such a beautiful, sweet, magical creature in her own right...maybe he should have said something else. He quickly tried to fix it. "Or like pixie dust! You know, like Peter Pan gets from Tinkerbell to fly with."

Isabella looked at him, and Phineas felt this unreal sensation, like he had fallen into an abyss. Because his sweet Isabella wasn't looking at him sweetly but rather like a character from any one of the Grievance films.

"How's the Peter Pan costume coming along anyway, Phineas?" she asked ominously, her shadow stretching across the backyard. "You think you'll have either a Wendy or a Tink come Halloween?"

He was opening his mouth to apologize for whatever he had said when something interrupted him, possibly the only thing that could have actually.

"Here! I found something!" Ferb's voice rang out through the backyard.

Phineas ran to his brother, noticing that Isabella was close behind him, her expression now one of concern and not anger.

Ferb held out the item for his gathered friends to see and they all looked at Lawrence Fletcher's half lens glasses lying on his palms. They were covered in mud and dirt, plus a few decayed pieces of leaves and Phineas guessed that they had been there since their father had disappeared, having gotten wet in the shower the afternoon after and then covered in fresh batches of fallen leaves during the days since.

From where he was standing, it seemed that the green haired boy had found them directly below Candace's bedroom window.

Buford looked up and seemed to make the same realization, but then again he'd always given the impression he had a crush on the older girl. "So we can ask your sister if she heard anything."

"We can't," Phineas said. "Not now anyway. She's at work."

Buford balked in disgust. "Your sister works on the weekends? What is she some kind of a mutant?

"She gets Sunday off," Ferb clarified.

"Oh, like that makes it any better," Buford crossed his eyes. "Sundays are depressing. Saturdays are where the fun is."

"Who cares what day she has off?" Baljeet suddenly exclaimed, pulling at his hair. "The question is WHAT is Lawrence Fletcher doing without his glasses? WHY would he leave them behind? Even when he pretended to be Max Modem he wore glasses! This does not make any sense!"

And for a boy whom relied on logic and sense as much as Baljeet did, Phineas knew that this had suddenly become incredibly serious to him.

His own anxiety heightened, Phineas tried to keep a clear head, if not for himself than for Ferb, whom was holding their father's glasses to his heart now and looking at them so sadly it broke the red haired boy's own heart.

"Look! Everybody!" Phineas said, holding up his hands. "We only have a little left to do. Let's finish this up in honor of dad! Then, afterwards, let's all gather by the tree and try to think this thing over."

The group of kids all shared unsure glances but eventually did it because Phineas, whom they always had looked at as their leader, had commanded it. Isabella alone lingered behind, her hand on Phineas' back as his own one had been on the door to his parents bedroom. Eventually, reluctantly she left, with Phineas throwing his arm around Ferb's shoulder.

When it was getting to the point of an Autumn evening when the sunlight has turned as golden as a color lying in between the red and yellow shades of the leaves, the children were all sitting by the tree, the glasses lying on the ground in front of them.

Nobody had come up with any good explanation for why Lawrence Fletcher was without them. At least, not one that brought with it any comfort. So that meant that Buford had been given the most reasonable causes until even he stopped talking...because he had always thought Mr. Fletcher was a pretty nice guy too.

They soon heard a car pulling into the driveway, and knowing it couldn't be their mom, whom had presumably never left her room, Phineas and Ferb knew that there sister was finally home.

Candace came and sat down with them in the backyard, something she rarely did in the summer, when the air didn't have that bite to it. She was also risking staining her lab coat, but right then she didn't seem to care. "Did you guys rake?" she asked, apparently having noticed.

"Yeah," her littlest brother replied, the taller one nodding.

Phineas expected her to ask if they had built a machine to do it, but she didn't

"It looks good...Dad would be happy..."

Her voice trailed off as she finally noticed the glasses lying there in the grass.

"Are those his glasses?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes, they are," Phineas answered.

Silence was the choice of everyone, nobody knowing what to say. A darkness was heavily settling on their thoughts.

"How was Vanessa's dad?" Ferb asked, following a loud swallow which Phineas felt had embarrassed his brother, so the question was partly to help cover it up.

"Fine. He didn't look like he had slept much though," Candace confessed, her eyes never leaving the glasses.

"That guy with the pharmacist coat?" Buford asked. "When does he ever look like he sleeps? He always got those circles under his eyes. I think somethin' must be botherin' him. Someone should ask him."

"That's kind of you, Buford," Isabella said with appreciation.

"Somebody who cares. I never said it would be me," Buford snorted.

"Well...I should be going," Irving said, rising to his feet and seeming like he was suddenly in a hurry to get away, his hand on his own pair of glasses. "Better go see what Albert's up to."

Phineas noticed the way that Candace flinched at the name of Irving's older brother. The young woman never doubted that Albert du Bois liked her, REALLY liked her. The thing was she didn't like him at all, especially not in that way. Phineas knew now that, on top of everything, Candace would be worried about bumping into the young man and trying to actively avoid him.

Phineas felt suddenly terrible for his sister.

He also felt bad for having let Irving down, apparently having bummed him out so badly he would have rather spent time with the older brother whom pestered him.

One by one, their other friends made excuses to leave, with Isabella, the first one to visit, the last one to leave. "We'll find out what happened," she said from the same door in the fence she had come through that very morning. "Don't worry, Phineas! Oh and Ferb and Candace. I'm sure everything will be okay."

"Thanks Isabella," Phineas said, but had the feeling that, if there was a lying patch to be earned from the Fireside Girls, she would have just earned hers.

Finally it was just Candace, Ferb and he, sitting under the oak in the backyard, staring at their father's glasses, all as the sky was turning darker and darker.

"Come on," Candace said, rising and beckoning her brothers to follow her inside. "I'll fix supper."

Ferb grabbed his father's glasses and Phineas warned her, "There's hardly anything in...we used up a lot of it for lunch and mom hasn't been to the grocery store all this week."

"So, I'll order pizza and go shopping tomorrow," Candace sighed.

"But it's your day off," Phineas reminded her, sliding the glass door shut.

"Who cares," his sister grumbled. "Nothing feels like my day off anymore."

Her words sinking in, Phineas fought a feeling of hopelessness, as he watched through the glass, the wind blowing several new leaves on to the backyard they had just made clean.

Chapter Text

Phineas and Ferb opted out of going grocery shopping with Candace. It was okay with their older sister. As far as Candace could remember, they hadn't really been big on going with mom either, especially after they got banned from the supermarket because of making things with the produce, something their mom had conveniently missed again. She guessed, they just preferred making things rather than shopping, which made them unique if she gave it more thought than she normally did. Other kids didn't mind so much if there was a chance they could persuade their parents to get some extra sugary cereal (although mom usually did that anyway) or something else they enjoyed, like potato chips or soda pop. But Phineas and Ferb were different, their minds were always so busy with their inventions and other bustworthy endeavors that shopping didn't even place on their list, unless it was for building materials.

On this Sunday morning, the sky a little darker than it had been yesterday, which had been fairly sunny, Candace didn't mind so much. Her brothers were off looking for dad, and she would willingly let them use whatever means they could, just as long as she didn't need to know about it, or else her busting alarm would start blaring.

She was anticipating just a nice day at the Super Food Stuff Mart, restocking the fridge and cupboards so that mom needn't bother, when she finally pulled herself out of bed. Hopefully the time away from home, work and her endless search for their missing father would refresh her mind a bit. That was what God had made Sundays for afterall: a break.

Fearing the store would be crowded on the last day of the weekend, the one before work was to resume, Candace found that it was slightly less busy than she had anticipated, which was nice. She could get lost in the aisles, staring at the items, and even remembering better times...

Passing the dairy section, she remembered when her mom had told her to scream at the cheese to get rid of her frustration and overall craziness. Candace wished she could do that now, but she was just trying her best to keep it together.

Then, when going by the donuts, it was hard not to remember mom trying to finish that awful book "The Lengthiest & Most Thorough Adventures of Lord Ramblington," and how she'd tried to trick it so they had chocolate donuts for supper, and just when she thought dad was going to lecture her, what he really did was use it as an excuse to get glazed ones too.

Now one half of her parents was confined to bed, a nervous wreck, and the other was completely missing, as in seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. She'd visited the neighbouring city yesterday, before work, and they hadn't seen Lawrence Fletcher either. The cops had even gotten hold of his cell phone record and credit cards and there had been nothing since the night he had disappeared.

It really wasn't looking good.

Dad wouldn't have even needed the pair of glasses Phineas and Ferb had found yesterday to know that.

It seemed like something bad had happened to him...but, Phineas and Ferb still stated that nothing had been buried of interest in Danville, or dropped in any bodies of water, at least nothing dad shaped, so there was still that hope to hold on to.

But it didn't explain where he had gone to.

She found herself wishing that the antique nemesis that Phineas and Ferb had created for their little film would actually be real and a good candidate as a kidnapper, so they could storm his house. Alas, he was merely invented...what was his name again, she struggled to remember? Oh, yeah: Worthington Dubois...probably inspired by their friend Irving.

That brought with it another fear she had to face now: Irving's older brother Albert, whom was apparently back in Danville. She really didn't want to bump into him...

And wasn't it just her luck, she was so busy obsessing over that possibility, that she bumped right into another shopper's cart.

Without realizing, at the start, that it was Albert Du bois' very own, himself.

"Hey! Would you watch it!" he was snapping, apparently having not seen her either, Candace realized. "Look where you're go...hoing...Oh. Hi Candace," he said, abruptly switching gears. "Funny bumping into you here."

"Hi Albert," she said, trying to sound polite, but still coming across as unfriendly, even to her own ears. Candace supposed that she was so tired even an act of niceties came off as false, yesterday, at work, her having stumbled through most of the tasks Dr. Doofenshmirtz had listed for her to do. One thing was sure: when it came time for her to leave, her boss would likely have no real reason to miss her.

Obviously, Albert didn't seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm, leaning on the handlebar of his cart and giving her the eyes past his large black, half-circle glasses. "You know, I'm buying the ingredients for a nice spaghetti supper. I heard that things have been hard over at your place...why not come over to mine? I have a shoulder all ready to cry on and an ear ready to listen, if you need either."

He was wriggling his eyebrows at her, barely aware as her own furrowed in suspicion. "And how do you know that?"

Albert was momentarily caught off guard and guilty before he adopted a haughty attitude. "I heard it from Irving. He told me all about your brothers raking up the backyard and what they found there."

Oh why couldn't Albert Du Bois have disappeared? Why did it have to be dad, Candace wondered then, perfectly aware that the thought wasn't charitable, especially on a Sunday.

"I also heard your mom wasn't there handing out pies, as she usually does," the young man added. "I certainly hope that everything is okay on that front too...I am aware that if she suddenly became an unfit mother, you would just as suddenly find yourself playing the role of young caregiver to your little brothers...that would be hard. I just want you to know that I am here to help in any way possible. I just happened to have won the Nobel prize in physics afterall, and have earned some prestige, plus some extra funds. I could be of some assistance, if you need it."

He kept using the word need, which was starting to bug her.

"Like when you gave me your Nerd Word that you would bust my brothers?" Candace reminded him. "I needed your help then."

"Child's play," Du Bois pouted, upset that she had brought that past mistake up. "We were both children then; now we are adults. We all do things when we are young and foolish. I know so much more now...like how better to fulfill the needs and requests of pretty young ladies."

Candace felt herself suddenly losing her appetite. She would have returned everything in her cart, except for the fact that Phineas and Ferb had been spared from the dirty little come on, and they'd, no doubt, be hungry after a day spent searching for their dad.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, right now my brothers come first on my list of priorities and...I have frozens," Candace said, suddenly remembering her mother's old excuse for not seeing Phineas and Ferb's creations before they always disappeared at the hand of the Mysterious Force, as Candace had liked to call it.

"But you don't have any frozens in your cart," Albert observed, after noisily surveying it.

Candace quickly ran to the nearest freezer, loaded her arms full of frozen goods and dumped them into her cart. "Now I do," she replied and hurriedly walked away, intending to pay.

Unfortunately, by thinking of the Mysterious Force, it was almost like her bad luck had been invoked again. For, when she went out to the parking lot, it was only to discover that her car wouldn't start, no matter how hard she tried. She went to phone the mechanic, but her phone had apparently died to, her having forgotten to charge it last night...or maybe something else had occurred to knock the plug out.

That inexplicably happened sometimes.

Usually whenever she woke up to find Perry asleep on her bed.

A knock on the passenger side's window showed Albert Du Bois standing there, a smug look on his face. She lowered the window, aware that he might be her only option for getting home quickly, where she could then phone a mechanic to come and tow her car away.

"I'd lend you my phone but I left it at home," Albert said. "I see you're kind of between a rock and a hard place, Candace. Remember those frozens."

The young woman lowered her head over the steering wheel, her own words coming back to haunt her.

However, into the darkness, and offering some hope, a light appeared as she heard another, more gentler rap coming to the window beside her, a shadow contrarily falling across her, at odds with her inner analogy. Turning around she found Heinz Doofenshmirtz standing there, smiling at her somewhat sheepishly through the glass. "Uhm...Candace...I notice that you are in some kind of need, I mean distress. You look like you are in distress. Is your car not starting?"

He said all this mostly with the window still up, Candace lowered it halfway during his words, not interrupting him because he seemed so terribly uncomfortable with even being there.

"Would you...would you like me to drive you home?" Heinz offered.

"Why don't you just lend her your phone, Mr. Pharmacist?" Albert shouted out to the other side of the car. "Wouldn't that be easier?"

"I'm not a pharmacist!" Doof snapped in annoyance. "Besides, I can't! It's not charged. I forget to do that sometimes. Especially since I made a mistake once with my texting and my ex-wife momentarily stopped my alimony checks...I don't want to get into it."

"You get alimony?" Du Bois balked.

"Yeah, it's an enlightened age!" Doofenshmirtz countered.

Albert made a noise of derision. "That's not enlightened that's just pathetic!"

"ALBERT!" Candace shouted at the man, aghast at his rudeness.

Doofenshmirtz chose to ignore him, addressing his intern as he offered, "It wouldn't be too much trouble. It's on my way."

Having driven to his penthouse every morning, Candace knew that it certainly wasn't on his way, but appreciated his kindness anyway.

"Well, I live on the same street!" Albert argued.

Candace saw Heinz struggle to beat that, and so stepped in eagerly to help him. "Really, I should go with Dr. D," she told Du Bois, whom immediately frowned. "I need to talk to him about work tomorrow. You understand."

From his angry expression, it was clear that Irving's older brother didn't understand, at all. Still, he had to concede. "I guess, if you must, you must," he said, eyes closed, nose in the air as if he'd been insulted. "You can talk to pops here about work, while I catch up with you later Candace. About more personal stuff."

The nerd than began to roll his cart over to his own car. Candace was instantly hopping out of her stalled one. "C'mon," she urged Heinz. "Let's get my bags in your van truck! Quick! Before he thinks up something else to bother us with!"

"You don't trust him," Heinz asked, as she pushed one of the bags into his long arms.

"No. No, I don't," Candace answered. "For all I know, he's the reason why my car stopped."

They were in the van truck fairly soon after, Heinz driving Candace home underneath a rapidly darkening sky.

"I hope this is okay," Heinz Doofenshmirtz said apologetically. "I was out buying some allergy meds, when I saw your car and that it wouldn't start. Then I saw your expression when that boy came over. I didn't think you liked him...did you like him?"

"No," she said. "And yes, this is perfectly great with me. It beats a drive with Albert Dubois in his bug mobile anyday." Her mind settled on Doof's words, connecting them with his earlier discussion, the other day, to her about allergies and the seasons. "You have allergies?"

She couldn't remember him so much as even sniffling.

"Yes," he said, pulling out of the parking lot. "Usually the over the counter meds work fine. Even generic. Which is good since they are far cheaper. Everything's getting so expensive. I tried to make my own stuff a few weeks back, it was okay, but it knocked me out. Plus, it didn't come in cherry." He blushed, as if this was embarrassing somehow. "I mean, the flavor tasted bad. Usually it shouldn't. I don't like to admit it, because everyone mistakes me for a pharmacist because of the lab coat, but I do know a little chemistry. You kind of need to if you want to be a good inventor and scientist...although I blow myself up enough for that bit to be debatable. Maybe I should have studied that a little bit longer."

Candace smiled. He probably should have.

Doof looked back at her groceries. "So...I see you've been going shopping. You want to know what a country is like, you go to the grocery store, at least, that's what my grandfather José Doofenshmirtz used to say" Heinz said.

"Your grandfather's name was José?" Candace asked in shock.

"Yeah, it's a very long, very strange story...but I guess you won't be around long enough to ever hear it..." his voice trailed off before resuming the past conversation, backtracking the bit about his grandfather. "Back in Gimmelshtump, a market was all that we had, just a few stands and lot of those just were zatzenfruit and doonkelberries, our leading export."

"I just got stuff mainly that I know my little brothers will like," Candace confessed. "But I am nowhere as good of a cook as my mom is."

"So...speaking of that, did you manage to locate your father yet?"

"No," Candace sighed. "He's still missing. Phineas and Ferb are looking for him...they found his glasses in the backyard yesterday."

"His glasses?" Doof repeated. He then shrugged. "Well, I guess that's okay, if he just uses them to read."

Candace inhaled sharply. "They were his regular glasses...the ones he wears all of the time."

"Oh...well, that's not good," Heinz said, making Candace admit out loud what both her brothers and she had been thinking, if not saying. "No, it isn't."

Her thoughts suddenly gloomy, like the cloud covered sky above them, she began to look at the floor of her boss' vehicle, noticing all of the Slushy Dawg wrappers and the Almond Brittle boxes. She wondered if and when he took the time to go grocery shopping. Was he eating right? She was wondering if maybe she should invite him over for supper, when suddenly the car lurched and she jutted forward, her chest painfully pressing against the seatbelt.

Looking up, she noticed two things: that they were on her street now and that Albert Du Bois was driving ahead of them.

"Are you okay?" Doofenshmirtz was immediately asking, his free hand going to her shoulder and then recoiling, as if burned.

"What the heck just happened?" Candace asked. "Did he hit us?"

"I...uh...I'm not sure," Heinz answered. "I got confused. I don't drive well in bad weather."

"I bet he did it to get back at us!" Candace exclaimed in outrage. "He thinks so highly of himself. Well, the laughs on him because there's a traffic camera right across from my house and it records every single..."

Candace's voice trailed off, her eyes staring off into space as something hit her and it wasn't Albert Du Bois' car this time.

"Ahh...are you sure you're all right?" Heinz asked, pulling over, right in front of the street light with the traffic camera attached to it. "Usually it's not a good sign to stop mid sentence and stare off into space. I'm a Doctor...if you want me to drive you to the emergency room, I can."

Candace craned her long neck out of the window, looking up at the camera attached to the pole. She then whipped her head back inside, eyeing her boss with a pleading stare. "No...I do need your help with something else though..."

* * *

A few minutes later, the sky darkening as it looked like it might soon start to rain, Heinz Doofenshmirtz was standing in the bed of his van truck, trying to keep steady, as his pretty young intern was sitting on his shoulders, trying to reach for the camera.

"Candace, are you sure this is a good idea? You really want to catch Albert Du Bois in a traffic violation? Is that really worth breaking your long, lovely neck for? And mine as well?"

She felt warm all over at her neck being called lovely, but Candace didn't have time to linger on the rare compliment her boss had given her. She was too busy trying to grasp hold of the camera, itself, and was now even trying to stand on Doof's shoulders to achieve it. "I'm not looking for that," she stated, shakily rising and making Heinz let out a loud "Ooof," for her clumsy effort.

"If this thing tapes everything," Candace said, finally able to fully stand on her feet, "Then maybe it recorded what happened to my father in the backyard a few nights ago. I once tried to use it to help bust my brothers."

"Oh," Doof said, understanding finally hitting him, along with Candace's sneaker.

Now it really was starting to rain, drizzle at the start and then more heavier. The angry looking clouds reminded Candace of the time her mother had become a cloud at the summer block party, and it frightened her, imagining that this too all had to do with her having upset her mother by telling Phineas and Ferb the truth.

"Got it!" Candace cried, suddenly grabbing the camera when her eyes were shut. Unfortunately, they opened with her victory, and rain immediately fell into them, painful almost with their force  "I...I can't see! I'm slipping!" she yelled in fright, the traffic camera breaking free from the pole. It was tightly held in her hand, as she started to fall, however, and she held on to it like a life saver.

"I GOT YOU, CANDACE!" Heinz was shouting out in fear too, as the tower they made became broken in half, the man arranging it so he caught the top part, made up of the young woman, as they fell together on to the bed of his van truck.

Rain was falling unbelievably hard as Candace realized she was lying on top of Heinz, their bodies quickly becoming soaked. She stared down into his face, as he looked up into hers, feeling both her own heart and his beating along with the pounding of the rain.

The young woman felt both impossibly young and painfully adult at the same time, the camera and its CD forgotten about for the moment when confronted with the nearness of Heinz Doofenshmirtz's body lying beneath her.

"The...the footage," Doof whispered, as more raindrops fell around them, slapping her back to the matter at hand.

"Ri-ight," Candace whispered, kneeling over the man to open the compartment of the camera. However, what should have been her moment of triumph was thwarted again, where the stupid camera was concerned, when she looked inside.

"What's the matter?" Heinz asked, easily reading her pained expression.

"The CD...it's gone," Candace mumbled, raindrops pelting her face so that her tears of frustration were indistinguishable and lost amongst them.

Chapter Text

Perry sat watching and listening from his place on the floor with that same vague feeling of guilt he always suffered whenever his life as the Flynn-Fletcher family pet came into direct conflict with his role as an OWCA Agent.

And it was always more pronounced, in the most nauseating of ways, when it involved Candace Flynn, the girl he was always involuntarily causing pain to.

He didn't know why it always happened that, by thwarting Doofenshmirtz's schemes, he usually wound up making the boys inventions disappear, thus saving the boys from being busted by their sister, yet causing her tremendous stress and humiliation in the process.

If he could have found a way around it, he surely would have, but even when it seemed averted, something else always seemed to happen that made the outcome the same.

Though Perry was grateful for saving Phineas and Fern, whom he knew to be pure hearted, safe and innocent from any punishment the girl believed they deserved, it killed him inside to continually cause Candace such torment.

It was the very reason why he sometimes snuck into her room at night, sneaking up on to her bed in order to be close to her. Sometimes, he unfortunately ended up unplugging her phone charger by accident, increasing his sense of guilt and further causing her grief, but Perry loved the daughter of the Flynn-Fletcher household as much as he did the boys and it was somehow soothing to his own spirit, if not so much hers, to lie close to her on the bed in some small way of offering her his warmth if not any comfort.

She was always such a strong girl, he had believed. And every morning proved to him the deep well of her strength that she continued not to let herself stay daunted by defeat, but kept trying, no matter when the odds seemed stacked against her, to achieve what appeared to be the impossible.

Long ago, Candace had labeled the cause of her pain the Mysterious Force. Although, he really didn't believe in it, Perry the Platypus equally just kept praying that it wasn't him too, unintentionally, of course, and that if she ever discovered his hand in her constant disappointments that she wouldn't hate him too much for it either.

Like when she had come in through the door, a few moments ago, soaking wet, and with her arms filled with paper bags - ones in danger of now tearing - filled with groceries, weeping about the CD not being in the traffic camera like it was supposed to be.

Of course, it wasn't.

The disc was underneath him.

Perry could still feel it there, like an incriminating circle that always returned to his being the source for her grief.

He hadn't had enough time to go to his lair and report back to Monogram after he'd taken it out from the camera, itself. He'd barely had enough time to slide down the street light and hurry off with it, unseen by both Candace and Doof, before the latter had pulled his van truck beneath it. In truth, he'd had a little trouble climbing the pole, his webbed feet being sweaty, a new sensation for him, stemming from his lack of knowing how to protect his family these days, and so had even missed the whole near-miss traffic incident he had heard occurring on the very same street. The knowledge that he had to get the CD and then back home again, before either Candace or Phineas and Ferb, was weighing heavyily on his mind, along with what the traffic cam footage might reveal, and so it had been a shock when he'd looked over his shoulder to see poor Candace climbing the street lamp, herself, also probably hoping that the camera would have picked up something from the night Lawrence Fletcher disappeared.

The problem was that it also would reveal the fact that the family's pet platypus was a secret agent, and so he had received the orders, just this morning, from Major Momogram himself, to go and retrieve the CD so they could review the recordings and protect his secret identity all at once.

Perry supposed it was a blessing that it hadn't actually started to rain when he had stolen the CD or it might have given away a clue to the crying young woman that he had been out at the same time of the crime...

Was it a crime, Perry wondered? Had OWCA, in fighting crime, resorted to it now too?

Was he no better than the criminals he fought?

Seeing Candace's pain, it was hard to argue against it, but it didn't exactly serve any purpose in helping the girl either, and so he pushed it away, to center on her instead. Perry only hoped that maybe OWCA, despite their trespass, could find something on the CD to help ease the source of her sorrow: her missing father.

Very soon after she had entered, while she was still standing there crying, the bags of spilled groceries now by her feet, Phineas and Ferb came in too, also drenched, but more or less just their raincoats, having gone out prepared, something their sister obviously hadn't, her clothes sticking to her body.

"Was that Dr. Doofenshmirtz leaving?" Phineas was saying, pulling his raincoat's hood down. "It looked like his van...Candace? Is something wrong? Did you hear anything about dad!"

Usually the worst scenario wouldn't have come to the optimistically cheerful boy's mind, but Perry had recognized a certain darkness creeping over the boy's disposition over the last few days. It seemed normal though, in light of everything. Their mother had first been lying to Ferb and he about their father's disappearance. Then they had learned from his older sister that they didn't really know where their dad had gone...

Then yesterday they had found the glasses, the same thing that had made Carl, whom wore his own pair, suddenly remember the existence of the traffic camera on the street, when he had been talking about lenses.

With all of this happening, why Phineas wouldn't be becoming more moody, would really be the question to ask. It was amazing he was holding up as well as he was.

"No. Nothing happened with dad...it was just...well, I got a ride home with Heinz and along the way, Albert tried to hit us..."

"Goodness gracious," Ferb said, sounding so much like his dad that Perry's little heart broke. "Are you okay?"

"Yes...that wasn't even it! What made me so upset was that it made me remember the traffic cam they put back on the street lamp and...and I thought maybe it would...would help shed some light on what happened to dad...but....but...but...the CD was gone! Just like everything important goes missing on me!"

It went unnoticed by the siblings as the little teal platypus, lying on the carpet outside of the foyer, squirmed slightly as if something had caused him shame.

"Gee, Candace, that's not your fault," Phineas said as both he and Ferb rushed over to place a hand in comfort on their older sister's back. "That just proves that something isn't right about all of this. It's like some shadowy secret organization is trying to cover things up!"

Their pet moved again, in more unnoticed guilt.

Candace tried to stop her tears at her brother's kind words but then was helpless as they began to flow freely once more. "Then...when I invited Hei...Hei...Dr. Doofenshmirtz in for spaghetti, he said no and he just left, shoving the wet sloppy bags in my hands...he...he doesn't like me at all!"

Phineas seemed to cheer up slightly, his hand rubbing Candace's back in solace. "Oh, I'm sure that you're wrong about that, Candace! I'm sure he really likes you infact."

"No...no, he doesn't," she argued, sniffing, but more calm now.

"I mean, I could be wrong," Phineas said, suddenly questioning himself, "but I think that he does."

Perry wasn't so convinced.

Having fought Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz for years, he had a pretty fair inkling about his longtime frenemy's feelings and reactions and the highly trained secret agent had yet to discern what he believed Doof's feeling for the girl were.

Did he like her or hate her?

He still couldn't tell.

All Perry knew was that Candace working for Dr. D had made his own self highly uncomfortable, for reasons that were fairly obvious: if his life as a secret agent for OWCA was to ever be discovered by the Flynn-Fletcher family, then that meant his station with them was officially over.

And it was time for them to finally say their goodbyes.

So, it had disturbed him greatly, at first, when Candace Flynn had become his enemy's intern and those two aspects of his life were painfully intercrossing, not to mention the fits it had momentarily sent the organization spiralling into, certain that this was their doom.

Only, miraculously, the worst had not happened.

And tragedy had been avoided.

Candace had been able to work for Doof without her ever discovering the man's connection to either LOVEMUFFIN or OWCA and his long rollercoaster of a history with her brother's pet platypus. And Doofenshmirtz remained oblivious to the fact that Candace's family hosted his nemesis.

Maybe there was a separate Mysterious Force working this all out too, Perry had to wonder. If there was, he was grateful to it for letting him stay with his family.

In this one instance, however, listening to Candace's tormented feelings over her boss, Perry was also thankful that he could stay silent in complete blamelessness: Heinz Doofenshmirtz alone knew how he truly felt for the young woman.

Her little brothers feelings, on the other hand, were also blessedly obvious.

"Come on," Phineas said taking her hand, as Ferb grabbed hold of the other. "You had a rough day. Why don't you let Ferb and I fix you supper?"

"No...no I can't let you do that."

"Of course you can!" Phineas happily scoffed. "I've been wanting to try this new device Ferb and I devised to make straining the noodles more efficient and enjoyable for weeks!"

"It isn't dangerous or weird, is it?" their sister asked skeptically.

"Of course not!" Phineas stated as they disappeared into the kitchen. "It's fun!"

With them safely in another room, Perry stood, the disc in his hands. He hoped they all had fun...it was what they needed right now. On the other hand, he had to fulfill the next step in the mission he had been given: go to his lair and review the footage with Monogram and Carl.

Which he doubted would be fun at all.

Hopping into the umbrella stand by the door, Perry the platypus looked sadly in the direction of where his family had gone, and wishing he could join them instead, disappeared as the bottom of the stand gave out beneath him.

* * *

Minutes later, Perry wished that he could have been with Phineas, Ferb and Candace even more, the footage on the camera having meticulously been gone through, regarding Lawrence Fletcher, at least, and the secret now horrifyingly revealed to the three employees of OWCA, if no one else.

"You have to destroy that CD," Monogram was saying, a look of horror on his face. "There was too much of you on it...and besides...well...I don't think that should reach the general public until OWCA has figured how to stop it.

"Yes, Agent P!" Carl the Intern said, his hands clasped to his cheeks in dread. "You must destroy that CD! It's all so...so disturbing!"

Perry cringed at what they were asking him to do. He understood his commitment to the organization and where the men were coming from, but still the CD offered Phineas, Ferb, Candace and Linda the answer they were looking for...even if it wasn't something that would bring them any peace.

Was living with the doubt any better than witnessing the horrifying truth?

He looked at the CD he was holding and frowned, his thoughts clearly evident.

"Don't even think about it, Agent P!"

Perry rose from his red scoop chair and began walking to the exit, more than just thinking, but with the actual CD, still a complete circle, in his hand.

"AGENT P, I DEMAND YOU DESTROY THAT CD!" Major Monogram shouted out, perhaps the most livid Perry had ever heard him.

His own tone, and the following gasps of Carl Karl, must have made the man realize his own harshness for his voice softened as his best agent stopped at the doorway.

"I know this is a terrible conflict of interest for you, Agent P, but...it must be done."

His little shoulders sighing heavily in regret, the platypus turned around and before the eyes of his boss broke the CD in his hands, a tear coming to his eyes.

"Good," Monogram said, straightening his nehru jacket.

Perry went to leave again, but the Major prevented him again, by asking something else of him.

"Agent P...do we do any good here? Do you think we do any good? Or would it have been better for me to become an acrobat, like I wanted? Would that have been better than enlisting animals to fight villains most people will never hear of, and whom are all so naturally pathetic they can actually be defeated by animals? There are worse things out there..."

Perry didn't know how to respond to that. Past the insult, he didn't know now how you could fight something you couldn't always see, afterall. And it had suddenly occurred to Perry, that there was plenty that they didn't see...all of the dark corners of the world and the human mind and heart.

All the monotreme could do was offer his boss a weary sigh, as he turned around and walked just as wearily back to his home, leaving Monogram to face the darkness of his own thoughts on his own.

* * *

That night, Perry spent alternately sleeping with the three Flynn-Fletcher children, offering to them whatever comfort he could inside of their darkened bedrooms. It wasn't much, but it was something, at least.

By the time that he reached Candace's bedroom, making sure he didn't disconnect her charger, this time, he'd already suffered several nightmares about what he had seen on the traffic camera footage and so he chose to remain awake instead.

Candace had apparantly fallen asleep, but it too seemed horribly troubled, the poor girl turning to and fro, in the depths of some nightmare of her own, one where she seemed to repeat, alternately, the questions "Do you like me?" And "Should I stay or should I go?"

More distressing was when the girl suddenly asked, inside of the darkness, "Are you watching me?"

Perry gasped, but realized, when he saw her eyes still tightly closed, that she was still asleep, and had not been referring to his role as spy hiding inside of her family.

Gently, he patted the young woman's leg, buried beneath several sheets, and then tried to fall asleep, himself beside them, eventually grateful for his failure.

It was for the better anyway.

When you stayed awake, the blackness couldn't touch you.

* * *

While Phineas and Ferb were at school, Candace gone to work and Linda fast asleep in her bedroom, Perry returned to his lair to try to work things out with Monogram and Carl what the next course of action should be.

Because, while now they had actually seen what had happened to Lawrence Fletcher, it still didn't explain nearly enough what was going on and they were still in effect fighting blind.

Worse, Monogram revealed that he was having trouble contacting some of OWCAs best agents. Causing the Major to admit that this had been going on for days now.

"Sir! Why didn't you tell us?" Carl complained.

"Because I didn't want you to worry, Carl," he snapped. "You know what a baby you can be about these things."

Only to Perry it looked like the other way around, that Carl seemed remarkably okay with the news, not great but okay, while his boss certainly wasn't.

"Do you think it's connected to what we saw on the camera?" Carl continued, undaunted, used to Francis Monogram's bad moods and insults by now. "They were acting a little...shall I say bothered?"

"Probably because they were animals, Carl," Monogram folded his arms. "They sense these things ahead of time, you know. Like earthquakes."

"Earthquakes, sir? That wasn't an earthquake we saw on the footage!" the intern countered.

"It's a comparison not something concrete...I just don't want you blowing your concerns out of proportion," Monogram defended, and yet, when he sent the boy off to go get them some coffee, he was seeking reassurance from Perry almost immediately. "You don't think that the OWCA agents disappearances do have something to do with what we saw, do you, Agent P? Please tell me you don't think that's it...we are doing something effective here, right, please tell me that, Agent P!"

"Tell you what, Sir?" Carl asked, startling the man, whose imploring, frantic eyes had been filling most of the screen in Perry's lair.

"Nothing," the Major said, standing up straight again. He took a sip of the coffee then looked displeased with it. "This needs more sugar, Carl," he had said, and as soon as the Intern was gone, his face was back up into the camera, asking the same old questions that Perry couldn't answer.

He felt better talking to Carl.

Carl, whom also felt bad about the destruction of the CD, Perry discovered, but whom also felt it was necessary to spare the Flynn-Fletcher children from what had been recorded on it.

Especially, the daughter, whom he seemed to wish to protect.

Carl always had had a small crush on Candace. Perry had been willing to let it slide because he knew of the boy's awkwardness and how it had probably been inevitable for the boy to develop an innocent obsession with the daughter of the family he was supposed to be monitoring.

It hadn't helped when Phineas and Ferb had accidentally switched his brain with their sister, Perry realized, and Carl had become obsessed with the notion of a crime fighting teenage girl. He was so sold on it being a red head, that he couldn't quite muster the same enthusiasm when Stacy became Agent T.

But now Carl, whom seemed to becoming stronger where Monogram was growing weaker,  deemed that, despite their guilt, they had done the right thing.

"OWCA will handle this," he said assuredly. "I have complete faith in our organization."

Perry indicated a concern to the intern, one that kept reoccurring to him now, if not their boss whom had repeatedly shot it down.

Not that the intern was any different.

"No, I am still not picking up any strange signals at Doof's, Agent P. Nor do we see anything strange...from the reports of the agents that haven't gone missing, anyway. I really think that Francis is right where this is concerned. You've got to just let it go..."

Perry sighed.

He supposed he should, still wondering what had gotten into him these last few days...Doofenshmirtz and he were friends now more than enemies. He still wondered if some darker aspect of himself actually missed his battles with the evil scientist.

Like he wanted Doof to go bad so he could battle him again.

Maybe, without those fights, his days felt a little empty, like the house now.

At the end of the work day, soon to when Phineas and Ferb would be back from school, although the secret agent was still irreversibly always on call, both Monogram and Carl thanked him for his help that day and bade him a good evening.

"Yes...thank you, Agent P," Monogram said, covering his mouth with his hand. "I know, it looked like I was unraveling there for a bit, but I am okay now...I am okay. I just want you to know that."

"Yes, you are, Sir," Carl said, patting his superior's back.

"Who said you could listen in, Carl," Monogram spat in startled annoyance.

"You just had your hand over your mouth, Francis," Carl said, his hands on his hips, "Hardly, the Cone of Silence."

When Perry left them, with a tip of the hat, they were still arguing about referencing old 60s sitcoms and the general effectiveness of the referenced device.

Before Phineas and Ferb returned home, Agent P had some things he wished to take care of himself, definitely without OWCA's knowledge or permission. He swiftly sat down in front of Lawrence Fletcher's computer, his heart aching at how cold and abandoned the chair felt and the loud creak it made from lack of use.

He anticipated Linda calling out, asking if her husband was home, like she was apt to do these days, but when no call came he assumed she was still sleeping and he began to do the necessary and extravagant job he had been planning on since yesterday, the sound of keys tapping the only noise echoing throughout a house which suddenly felt too empty.

And somewhat haunted.

A shadow moved on the wall behind him, and Perry turned quickly, causing the chair to creak again, but when he looked at the wall there was nothing there but his own shadow...

Which suddenly brought Perry no more real comfort.

Clack.

Clack...

Clackity...

Clacky

Click...

Click...

There. Just the soft hum of something burning and then that was it.

Perry took the evidence of his handiwork, printed out two labels and applied both, before walking out of the house and to the mailbox.

The platypus was aware that, by now, the traffic camera probably had a new CD inside of it, but he needn't fear because that was after the date they were all obsessed with: the day they had all last seen Lawrence Fletcher.

Opening the mailbox door, he placed the contents of his hand within it, swiftly closing the door and having to deal with his feelings of being a traitor as he did.

There was something he realized, however, that the organization he had made a pledge to didn't want to accept:

Sometimes Phineas and Ferb just seemed actually smarter than OWCA.

Perry wasn't sure why that was, but it was the truth.

And it certainly wasn't something he could tell Monogram now, not when the man's insecurity and paranoia seemed to be getting the best of him. So this was the best course of action, no matter what the Major thought.

It was also the only thing he could think of doing where he still could live with himself, Perry the Platypus fully accepted.

Seeing the bus turning up the road, Perry quickly went inside, going to the couch and plopping down on it, like he had been sleeping there all day. Then he slowly waited until the boys came into the house, like clockwork.

"No, I don't know who it's from, Ferb, it just has a label on it that reads 'A friend,'" Phineas was saying, studying the envelope in his hand.

The younger boy looked at his slightly older brother as if he had actually spoken. "I don't think we need to wait until Candace comes home. I think if it was time sensitive, or had to do with dad, she'd want us to open it right away."

Ferb nodded in concession.

Perry continued to lie on the couch, his eyes unfocused so it looked like he still wasn't interested in what the boys were doing.

Now instead of clacking keyboard keys, the sound of ripping paper filled the house and Perry's eyes became focused, with neither boy realizing it, as they read what was on the label on the circular shaped item in their hands.

"Ferb...do you know what this is?" Phineas Flynn asked in excitement. "I think this is the footage from the security camera across the street, the same one Candace tried to get! Forget the homework! It can wait. Ferb...I know what we're going to do this evening. At least as soon as Candace gets back!"

Perry smiled, grateful for two things: Phineas' voice being filled with hopeful determination and that Sal Tuscany CDs were incredibly easy to break.

Chapter Text

Candace wasn't in a good mood come lunch.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz had been particularly snappish that morning and she had the unsettling feeling it was because of what had happened the day before. When she had fallen on top of him while trying to retrieve the camera's CD...He found more fault with her than usual, was more impatient, and even demanded things before she had finished the previous set ones. Those moments when he chose to ignore her became almost welcomed, in comparison.

Perhaps,  she had overstepped her bounds, she began to realize, and by asking him in for supper, maybe he believed she had given herself airs, making herself equal to him, whom was her superior.

She didn't know why Phineas believed that the man liked her so much. He seemed to actively hate her instead. Except...she had started to believe that he did like her. Even just a little, which made this all the more painful.

Like why had he even saved her from Albert's unwanted attention, if he hated her so much? That was a mystery to her. Or maybe it had been for Vanessa's sake, whom had dropped in that morning, seeming out of sorts herself.

"Are you okay?" Candace had asked her friend, having caught the woman rubbing her forehead after a brief discussion with her dad, whom had seemed equally concerned about his daughter, even telling her to, perhaps, get out of Danville to have a "nice little vacation" as he had put it. Candace had overheard the girl arguing that she needed to stay, for Monty's sake, whom had begun to become worried about, what he described as his own father's "increasingly erratic behavior."

While Doof went off, shoulders slouched more than ever, to fetch whatever his daughter had come for - something she had accidentally left there - Candace had taken the opportunity to speak to Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, whom she hadn't seen for a few days.

It was seeing her friend's obvious distress, once her dad had left, that had given Candace the strength to approach her and voice her own concern.

Not that her friend particularly welcomed it.

"This doesn't really concern you, Candace," Vanessa had said, partly as if talking to her made Vanessa feel even worse.

"I just wanted to know if you are okay."

Vanessa stopped and had glared at her, leaning forward with almost complete loathing. "I've seen what you've done to my father."

"What do you mean?" Candace had asked, knowing she irritated the scientist, but unsure what she had done, other than misfiled a few things or handed him the wrong tool on occassion.

The girl, only a year older than her, had replied,"My dad was a lot happier with you not around. He was right! I shouldn't have stuck my nose in his business...I think I finally get that now."

"Here it is Nessa, I found it," Heinz had been saying, coming out of another room in the penthouse and stopping as he saw his daughter talking with his intern, apparently realizing that she, Candace, had used his absence to step towards his daughter and initiate a conversation. He had looked suspiciously at her, but a little frightened too, while Candace's eyes had dropped to the item in his hands.

The Mary McGuffin doll.

The same one that her own dad had accidentally sold to Vanessa, whom had then refused to give it up, seizing on it like some grand evidence of her father's love for her, as if that wasn't evident enough.

Vanessa had then ripped it from her father's hands, just as she had taken it from the young girl at the thrift store, whom had been allowed to hold it for all of five seconds.

"There she is," Vanessa had said, taking hold of the little doll and hugging it to her face, looking first at her father, then at Candace, with a scowl making her usually pretty face, suddenly menacing. "I remember how you got this for me, dad," she said, still throwing eye daggers at her friend. "Showing to me that I will always be your one and only special little girl."

Candace had been as unsure to take that as Dr. Doofenshmirtz had been, flinching, as if he thought his daughter might have possibly lost her mind or he was embarrassed by something she'd said.

"See you later, dad," Vanessa had then said, actually bumping into Candace, on purpose and forcefully too, as she had walked towards the door.

"Well...that was...strange," Heinz Doofenshmirtz had commented through a grimace and with a gulp. "Not very much like my Vanessa's usual behaviour."

"No. No, it wasn't, " Candace had agreed, and her boss hadn't even spent the energy to contradict her, as he had been doing all morning.

In that moment, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz had begun to remind her disturbingly of Suzy Johnson, Jeremy's little sister, whom had seemed to detest her in fierce jealousy until she too had seemed to sense the growing lack of passion in Candace Flynn towards her cherished big brother.

At lunch, remembering that earlier exchange, Candace reasoned that Doof would have hardly saved her from Albert's manageable but annoying advances to please his only child...unless he wasn't aware of the change in his daughter's attitude until that instance.

He hadn't seemed to be.

Just like Dad's darkening mood or Linda's too...

What was going on with everybody, Candace had wondered then? Nobody seemed to be acting quite like themselves. Even Phineas and Ferb were acting oddly, not to the extent of Vanessa or mom, but they still seemed slightly different. Phineas was seeming less enthusiastic and cheerful and Ferb, not having his thoughts communicated quite so often by his brother, was more often trying to voice them for himself, then seeming to instantly retreat into his mind because of the painful exposure...

But with them and mom it was understandable, what with dad being gone.

But Vanessa? Whom usually liked her?

At least, with Vanessa's dad, well...he'd always kind of hated her anyway, she guessed. That wasn't anything new.

Candace Flynn began to harbor a feeling of unease and guilt...everybody seemed to be going insane and it all fit in with her own bad mood recently. She hoped she wasn't responsible...like the Mysterious Force was punishing her for her own dark mood by taking it out on those closest to her.

But that in itself was crazy too. Something Stacy would be the first to point out to her was nothing more than something called magical thinking.

It was a hard feeling to shake, though, like trying to escape from your shadow.

Now she was back sitting at the same cafe she'd visited on her lunchtime the day Lawrence Fletcher had gone missing, and she was wondering if she would start equating the place with the bad times in her life. Like something that had once brought her joy, coming to it during those first weeks working for Vanessa's dad, had suddenly soured like old cream, and she would begin to resent it, even seeing it again conjuring up the ghosts of those bad memories and pain.

One more traumatic event could have been added to that list soon, that was, she supposed, if she cared.

Having thought about her other friend, her best one, now so many miles away, Candace decided to call Stacy, wanting to hear that she still liked her, at least.

Stacy Hirano had seemed instantly guilty however. Every second spent of their conversation giving the impression that she couldn't wait for the call to end. Finally, Candace gave her friend what she seemed to want, her mood not having lightened from the conversation. "You know I love you, Candace...right?" Stacy suddenly asked, preventing the mutual hang up.

"Always," Candace replied.

"That I would never do anything intentionally to hurt you...that it would be something that had happened that was totally unplanned? Not that anything happened...it might have but I didn't...because I still love you so much...you're my best friend forever! Nothing can change that."

Oh, Candace realized.

At least something was going right.

Hopefully Jeremy and Stacy had finally accepted what was going on between them, even if Candace felt so confused about her own feelings for Doofenshmirtz and his feelings for her in return. It sounded crazy to compare both relationships, but that was where Candace was currently situated at the moment: feeling crazy. And it did sound like Stacy had respected their friendship enough to stop it before anything had gone too far...She'd acted decently, which was all the proof she needed of her still being her friend.

"I understand, Stacy. Really I do," Candace softly, gently reassured her friend. "I've known for a while now...and it's always been okay with me."

"It has?" Stacy asked in shock.

Candace smiled. "Yeah...I guess, I'm really not the same girl that I was."

And suddenly, instead of making her feel sad, the knowledge rather comforted Candace Flynn. After seeing Vanessa holding the doll to her face, like a spoiled child, she was even more okay with it than ever before.

When she received a call from Jeremy, a few minutes later, and while she was still sitting in the same cafe, Candace wasn't very much surprised.

He made some small talk, but sooner rather than later came to the real reason behind his call, probably urged on by a text from Stacy, if she had to wager. "Candace...you've been distracted recently...distant...and it's given me some time to think. Maybe...this isn't working out with us...you there, me all the way over here..."

Here it comes Candace thought, and it was with relief more than any other feeling. She felt like prisoners must have in ancient times, when their shackles were finally removed and they were set free.

"Maybe it's time we called for a break?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Candace Flynn replied.

"You don't," he said, sounding extremely disappointed.

"No. I think we should just realize that it's not working at all...and never will. You and Stacy fit each other very well. You do know that right? You'd be an idiot not to."

"You think so?" Jeremy asked in relief.

"Yeah, I really do."

"That's what I think too...but Stacy...she didn't want to hurt you."

God bless Stacy Hirano, Candace thought. At least, whatever had gotten into the people in Danville, it hadn't reached out to corrupt her best friend in all the world yet.

"You won't," Candace reassured. "Now, I'm gonna hang up so you can go convince her of it."

"Right on. Thanks Candace," Jeremy Johnson said. "You rock, you know that right?"

Candace said an obligatory, "Thanks," not feeling like she rocked at all before she ended the call.

So that was it, at least. Jeremy and she were officially over. That was a definite answer, as opposed to what had happened to Lawrence Fletcher. Fortunately, it was a band-aid which had lost all of its adhesion long ago and so the tearing off of it had lost any of its power to hurt. All there was was a nostalgia and the realization that she wouldn't be where she was now, if she hadn't been where she was then.

And, despite all the current pain and confusion, she rather liked herself, more than she had when she'd been Jeremy Johnson's girlfriend.

Unfortunately, some people still seemed to be stuck where they were.

"Hi Candace," Albert Du Bois said, slipping in to the chair across from her.

"Uh...hi Albert," she reluctantly greeted.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked and her refusal, she feared, would look more rude than his just having sat with her before asking permission.

"It's okay...but, I'll be leaving soon," she answered.

He looked disappointed, but all he would have had to do was look at the table, and how her sandwich was virtually only one bite now and her coffee was a puddle lying at the bottom of her cup.

"I can order you something else," he said, brightening up. "Anything you like. I have plenty of money. What with all the grants and everything. "

"I can't. I should be going," Candace argued. "Someone is expecting me."

"Now you're just making excuses," the young man said, folding his arms and sticking his bottom lip out about a mile to his right.

"No. I really need to get back to work," she said, partially lying to spare his feelings.

"With Heinz Doofenshmirtz?" Albert laughed. "He's old enough to be your father and what has he accomplished in that time? He's a has been, no, a never was, scientist and co called inventor! He can't make anything useful!"

"That's not true!" Candace said, feeling her anger growing. "I've seen some of his work. It's really quite impressive."

It was true. She wasn't sure how he could make things that transformed matter so effortlessly.

"Name one thing he created that actually lasted and wasn't made to be broken."

Candace couldn't. It was the same question she'd often asked herself. Why did a man as talented as Heinz Doofenshmirtz constantly find new ways to break his own inventions? And why did he even make them with self destruct buttons, like some sort of back up plan, so he could break it easily if things actually turned out well and didn't blow up in his face on their own? It was absurd really, but that just seemed to be something innate to him.

Candace stood up, grabbing her mug and plate and glared at her unwanted lunch guest. Suddenly, an answer came to her. "His daughter, Vanessa," she replied, before storming off.

Although, remembering her supposed friend's behavior from an hour ago, she wasn't even sure that was a good enough reply.

* * *

When she returned to the office, it was to find Doof in a better mood. Or rather, a more apologetic one. He was addressing her with a gentleness again, and constantly asking if she was okay.

Which she thought was sweet, but eventually flustered her.

"I'm okay, Dr. Doofenshmirtz!"

"You are...okay...I just thought, with the camera and your father and mother and everything...and then Vanessa going and acting so weird...I wanted to apologize for her, actually."

"It's okay too," Candace said, trying to smile.

"I don't know what got into her!" he declared, his voice screeching. "Usually she gets all embarrassed and likes to ignore me, she's not the possessive type. I can give her a talking to if she was out of line though...I really can...Candace."

Phineas and Ferb's sister stopped and studied him, finding the color rising to his cheeks, after having used her name, endearing.

She suddenly imagined him as some wonderful Magician in some old fairy-tale. She pictured him saving her from this whole mess, and even from Albert Du Bois, as he had done yesterday. It was a nice fantasy to entertain. Them tackling the monsters together.

Unfortunately, he was so often off put by her, she could envision him feeding her to one more easily.

"No," she said. "I overheard her saying her boyfriend's dad was having issues. That must be hard."

"I know his father," Dr. D stated, unimpressed. "Trust me, he always has issues."

"I've never met him," Candace confessed, and thought she probably never would. If Monty did marry Vanessa, from the way the woman was acting, Candace doubted she'd receive an invite.

"Count yourself lucky," Heinz Doofenshmirtz commented with a laugh and then changed subjects. "Still no idea what happened to your own dad?"

She shook her head.

"That's too bad," Heinz said and then returned back to his work.

Candace, meanwhile, kept hoping that maybe Phineas and Ferb would have come up with something, in between school subjects, or maybe at recess. Maybe when she got home...They weren't usually this late with results, afterall...

Home time having come around again - after some quickly sprung on her overtime - Candace watched her boss still working on his latest invention, even though she wouldn't be there soon to save him, if it blew up, and she couldn't help but remember Albert's cruel words. They seemed even more mean spirited seeing how like a child the inventor was while creating the machine. Did it really matter if they blew up sooner or later, when he was having so much fun?

And were self destruct buttons so very important?

Candace grabbed her purse and walked towards the door, looking out of the large windows and seeing a leaf blowing by. She stopped and stared at it.

"Could allergies make people act...wrong?" she suddenly asked her boss, remembering his words about decay in the September and October air causing allergic reactions.

"I really don't think so," Dr. Doofenshmirtz said.

"Oh...I didn't think so," she said, about to turn around.

"No, no...don't get me wrong, it's a cool idea. And they could drive someone crazy, I guess, with all of that sneezing and stuff. You think that's what happened to Vanessa?"

"I don't know," Candace shrugged. "I'm just grasping at straws now...even if it is really hay fever."

Doof lit up at her little joke. "I like that. Mind if I reuse it on my frenemy some time...well, I'll probably rework it, but would you mind? He really enjoys my puns."

"Go right ahead, knock yourself out" Candace said. "Goodnight Dr. Doofenshmirtz."

"Heinz," he corrected.

"Goodnight Heinz," she used the offered name, even if it was just his guilt over his daughter's poor social skills.

"Goodnight Candace," he said, turning back to his machine.

* * *

In the driveway to her house, Candace put her head back on the seat and took a deep breath. She needed it before heading back inside. After the down/up day she'd been having, she wasn't sure what to expect.

Stepping outside of the car, a solitary leaf blew on the wind, and Candace followed it in through the gate and into the backyard, hating to see it spoil the fine work that Phineas, Ferb and their friends had done, but hypnotized by it all the same.

It reminded her of their dad.

Something was crouched by the glass doors of the living room, spying on what was happening inside of the house, and it startled her quite badly before she realized who it was.

"Irving? Is that you?"

Albert's little brother stood up, looking at her in shame, but even more so with pathetic desperation.

"I...I don't know...do Phineas and Ferb like me? They aren't just humoring me are they when they let me join in?" the boy asked sadly. "Albert says they are...I can't get his whispers out of my head!"

Candace walked up to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "They really like you, Irving."

"Are you certain?"

"I'm positive. Maybe Buford secretly doesn't, but Phineas and Ferb do."

"Oh good!" Irving said with a sigh, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I am so relieved," he said, but still his shadow on the raked lawn seemed to tremble and grow. "I better get home now...Candace...be careful of my brother, okay? He really likes you, but he thinks you hurt his feelings or something. And if I know Albert, he'll be nursing bad feelings about that for months."

"Got it," Candace said and then watched the boy walking off, shutting the gate behind him. She walked in through the sliding glass doors and was immediately seized upon by her younger brothers.

"Candace! Candace! What kept you?" Phineas asked, grabbing her hand and leading her to the couch.

"Dr. D kept me late for overtime."

"Well, we're sure glad you're home now! Look at this!"

Ferb placed something into her hands and Candace inquired, "What is this?"

"We think it's the CD from the traffic camera," Phineas explained. "An anonymous friend sent it in the mail today...suspiciously with no stamp."

"It is?" Candace exclaimed. "Well, put it into the DVD player already!"

"We thought you'd never ask," Phineas stated, running over to place it in the already opened door.

Together the three siblings sat on the couch and buzzed through the CD together, anxiously trying to get it to the night Lawrence had disappeared. Perry came to lie by their feet, yawning as he settled down.

"It looks like it's been edited so it's in reverse order. Whoever sent it to us must have done that so it wouldn't take so much time! That was nice of them," the youngest brother said.

Passing by the accident she and Doofenshmirtz had almost gotten into with Albert, Candace was barely paying attention, looking at the remote to see if it could go faster. When she discovered it couldn't, and abandoned the hope, it was to find Ferb staring at her.

"What?" she asked him, not understanding the stare as easily as Phineas could, but then both of them stopped their shared look as their brother suddenly cried out, "There it is!"

"Is it?" Candace said. "Where!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Phineas apologized. "I only meant there we are raking the leaves. Ferb and I were wondering if that would be on here too."

"PHINEAS!" Candace cried in supreme frustration.

Candace soon noticed that Ferb was staring at her again.

"What is it?" she asked, a little confused and even frightened now.

"Candace...if we find a moment, I would very much like to talk with you about..."

"Hey, here it really is! The day dad disappeared!" Phineas Flynn cried out in an excitement he could barely conceal and which didn't concern itself with interrupting his brother.

Now they saw the day unfolding, from dawn to dusk and then the night time's arrival, with Candace gleaning the sensation along the way that some things had been cut out. Somebody had edited it, and she knew it must have been the very person who took the tape in the first place, the so called "friend" whom had given it back. She wondered if it was Buford? He was probably always up to some mischief he didn't want discovered.

She was still contemplating the possibility when all thoughts of it fled, as they finally reached the moment they had all been wondering about: after midnight, when Lawrence Fletcher had heard something outside of the house and then gone to check on it, all in the dead of night.

Candace saw herself first, however, staring outside of her bedroom window, and then to her embarrassment dressing in front of it too, having apparently forgotten about the fact that you could see inside so easily during the night.

"Fast forward over that and don't look!" she snapped.

"Gee...okay, Candace but you'd better hold the control again or I won't know where to push play."

Quickly, Candace grabbed it from out of his hand and then fast forwarded, nothing having gone on after that, only the darkening of her window and some leaves apparently being blown into the shadows, at least, one moment they were there, the next they weren't, when she finally saw Dad stumbling outside in his pajamas.

"Here he is, you can look now," she instructed and the boys took the hands away from their faces.

"Turn the volume up, Candace," Phineas instructed.

Pushing it to full volume, they soon heard their father's voice too, instead of just seeing him cautiously moving around in the dark, illuminated by the row of solar powered backyard spotlights that Phineas and Ferb had helped modify.

"Hullo? Is there anyone there?" Lawrence's voice, so sorely missed, was asking, his hands out searchingly, as he practically tiptoed around the backyard.

Some sound heard by him, even though his children couldn't, seemed to lead their father over to a place below his daughter's now darkened window, where the spotlights eerily cast his shadow on the wall below it. The man seemed to become transfixed on some of the already decaying leaves around the bottom of the house, some of the same ones which had been found underneath the glasses Ferb had discovered while looking for clues.

"How sad," they heard Lawrence Fletcher mumble to himself, but about what they didn't know.

Not until the answer came from the most unlikeliest of places.

The shadow of the man, cast on the wall, began to move now, while its caster stayed in place. It grew and turned, facing the body of the person it was meant to capture in blackness but had suddenly appeared to become free of...

Just like Peter Pan's own shadow had forsaken him.

"That's what happens to all living things," his shadow said in a voice that sounded like a dark echoey reflection of the original. "We rot and we die and then we all rot some more...Isn't it so ghastly lovely? But you don't need to worry about that now. No, not ever again."

While Peter's shadow had sought to abandon the forever child, Lawrence Fletcher's shadow had no desire to forsake his aging giver it seemed.

With fingers that reached out, moving away from the wall and causing all three Flynn-Fletcher children to grasp and scream, they watched as it reached out for their lost father...

"No!" the man had cried, turning to run. However, he couldn't escape it. His feet tied to the shadow itself, seemed to pull him towards those clutching, grasping fingers at the same time, until they had caught hold of him.

Trying to struggle free, his glasses fell off and on to the grass of the yard.

The two children and young woman watched in horror as their father seemed to be swallowed by his own shadow, his hands still reaching out in fear until only the tips of them were seen and then nothing more. Nothing but the black silhouette of what he had once been.

This wasn't to be the end of the whole dreadful thing however...another shadow soon appeared, this one much larger and with an indefinable shape...

Indefinable except for its glowing eyes and extremely long and frightening teeth.

Teeth it used to devour Lawrence Fletcher's own shadow, whom seemed not to care that it had been eaten by the thing at all, both creatures laughing during the whole horrible act.

Staring at the shadow that was left, the very thing that soon crept into the darkness that the lights didn't touch and then disappeared, Candace Flynn suppressed a shudder...for she felt as if she had seen that shadow before...or had known it for a very long time.

Sometimes given shape in her nightmares or that vague uneasiness and desperation whenever one of Phineas and Ferb's inventions had disappeared.

"What was that thing?" Phineas asked.

Thinking of the shadow, how it had seemed to be looking right at the camera and through its time in the past to where she would be sitting now, Candace Flynn suddenly grabbed on to the one thing that didn't make her want to scream in terror, the only thing that brought her some solace, despite the threat of insanity closing in, because she knew it could give comfort to someone else.

"MOM!" Candace cried, running to the player, and almost tripping over Perry, as she opened the machine's door and took out the CD.

"CANDACE!" Phineas cried out as both he and Ferb, whom was badly shaking, rose to their feet.

Their sister didn't listen.

She chose not to hear them.

Here was the proof that their mother needed that their father, her husband, hadn't abandoned them, not like the first one had and certainly not of his own free accord.

"MOM! MOM! MOM!" Candace cried out, running up the stairs, two at a time and rushing to their mother's bedroom door, throwing it open without a knock or single thought.

And the whole time, the CD was still in her hand. It hadn't vanished, or disintegrated or turned invisible. It was still held between her fingers. Still wonderfully there and tangible.

Unfortunately, as the door flew fully open, and she saw the bedroom now lying before her, Candace could not say the same for her mother.

For she had come running up the stairs to find a woman whom was not there.

All that remained was the woman's shadow on the wall, shown now from the light of the hallway creeping in, making a rectangle on the wall that Candace's own shadow was captured in as well. Linda Flynn-Fletcher's shadow was wild and desperate thing, that seemed to be searching for lost things and finding fault within itself, but which soon spoke to her daughter standing in the window.

"I believe you now, Candace," the thing which had swallowed her mother now spoke to her in the odd echoey tone that Lawrence Fletcher's own shadow had possessed. "But the truth is, I never wanted to...it was so much fun just thinking you were crazy..."

The shadow stopped its one moment of pleasure, to contort around some more, clutching at its hair and bending in grief and frustration.

Soon it would be put out of its misery, however, it merely needed to wait.

Then it too, just like her second husband's, willingly joined the blackness of the much bigger shadow, the one with teeth and eyes, which had apparently been hiding in the corner the whole time, but now came out to feast, as well as to gloat it seemed. For it turned and offered Candace a wink and a licking of those same horrible teeth after it had swallowed her mother's darkness whole and Candace was left with the unsettling feeling it desired to do so much more to her, but to make her suffer besides.

That was when the scream left Candace's mouth, as if it had somehow called this out now too, and the shadow went slinking out, satisfied, from her mother's window, perhaps through the tight slit at its bottoms or sides, leaving the young woman to collapse to the floor in sheer agonized dread, screaming at something that was no longer there, even after her brothers had found her there only several seconds later. Phineas and Ferb held Candace tightly as they followed her gaze to the growing dark of the Danville night outside, and Candace eventually let their words that everything was going to be all right eventually calm her, not because she truly believed them, but rather only because they were usually always right while she was continually made to appear wrong.

Chapter Text

Phineas, Ferb, Perry, Isabella, Baljeet and Buford reached the end of the flight of stairs and all toppled out into a pile in the hallway before them.

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro was instantly glad that she was on the top of that pile, being the only girl in the group and aware painfully of that fact. Although the thought of being beneath Phineas excited her in ways that seemed strange and unfamiliar...

Grown up.

The thought of being underneath Buford, however, was not so thrilling. Especially with how angry he had seemed with her the last few days and how he refused to talk about it, even when she had offered to let him eat as many bugs as he wanted to, which usually could coerce him into doing near about anything.

Not that his attention was on her now, thank goodness. It was thoroughly on complaining, and questioning Phineas' leadership, which was how it had often been in the past before he had been allowed to be one of them.

"I dunno why we couldn't just use the elevator," Buford commented.

"You did not see the large 'Out of Order' sign hanging on it?" Baljeet Tjinder asked in complete bewilderment at his bully's lack of observational skills.

"I thought that was some kind of Phys-Ed stunt, ya know? Like wanting us to run around the field when it serves no purpose. Kind of like track or relay races."

Baljeet shook his head. "Although Physical Education is one of my least favorite subjects, I do not know why we had to skip school this morning, at all" the boy complained.

"It's for all of our safety, Baljeet," Phineas explained, hurrying out of the pile of his friends and making Isabella quickly roll off of it too, not wanting to be there if Phineas wasn't.

Although she, like Baljeet, was still confused as to why Phineas wanted to risk being caught out of school without permission.

When Phineas had called her place that morning and wanted to know if she would be willing to sneak away from school and join him for a day of hooky, the girl had been excited, and looking forward to it as a reprieve away from her home life, where her parents had been acting weird for too long.

Phineas had never actually played hooky before. He'd always dutifully gone to school, although she'd caught him staring out the window, wishing he was outside and doing something else, on a regular basis.

"Aren't you worried they'll call your mom, though?" she asked, wondering what the attendance officer's luck would be in busting Phineas and Ferb. Could they succeed where Candace failed?

"Not anymore," he had said, and even if she had had reservations about doing something her own parents would never allow, Isabella knew that she was going to spend the day with Phineas, whether or not it was right or wrong, because he needed her.

She just hadn't known then that, just like always, she was lumped in with everyone else, not separated or designated as special by the boy she had placed higher than anyone else in their group.

Now all together, Perry forming the rear, they marched to the waiting door and equally waited as Phineas knocked on it.

In a few seconds, they heard footsteps coming and a familiar screechy voice saying, "Perry the Platypus, is that finally you? Sheesh, you sure pick sometime to show up, let me tell you, when my intern comes to work looking like she didn't sleep at all last night and rambling on about shadow creatures. And now, with my stomach needing an antacid..."

His voice trailed off as he opened the door and became aware of whom his guests truly were. Although, how he had known Perry was going to be there, Isabella hadn't a clue.

"Ahhh...a group of schoolchildren...including my intern's little brothers, the bully whom used to work for me, a Fireside Girl whom gave me a patch once, to get back to earth and...a...a platypus?"

"Hi Dr. D," Phineas said, brushing past him and into the penthouse apartment, as his friends all filed in behind.

"PHINEAS! FERB!" Candace exclaimed seeing her younger siblings at her workplace. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in school, where it's safer," Candace shouted, her face getting that familiar cranky expression she used to when trying to bust them, but even worse because her boss was right: she did look like she hadn't slept a wink, even with the eye that was badly twitching.

"We can't be sure of that," Candace," Phineas corrected. "After school it gets dark so quickly, about an hour and a half later, and that's when both mom and dad were taken. Shadows have more places to hide at night. We need to tackle this during the day. Besides, I asked Dr. D, the last time we were here, if we could use his place for a headquarters and he gave us permission."

Candace threw her boss a surprised look, silently asking if this was indeed true. Doofenshmirtz sheepishly felt the back of his head and said, "I think I remember saying something like that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I did say that. Sorry."

Candace sighed in defeat. "I guess, I have a phone call to make, to a certain school...where my brothers aren't going to be today."

"Thanks sis!"

"Tell them I'm out on account of diarrhea," Buford shouted out. "They don't want me there when that happens. Not on account of the last time."

"Eww, I don't even want to know,," Candace said. "Besides, I am not making excuses for the rest of you. Just Phineas and Ferb. Get your own parents to aid in abet with you playing hooky. "

Isabella thought of her own parents whom had been so strange lately. She had wanted to talk to her mother about Phineas, but she hadn't had the time...

And her Nana...she couldn't even reach the retirement home...and when she tried to visit, she hadn't been allowed in, the staff acting weird too and saying there was a case of the Norwalk or something...which would give Buford's diarrhea excuse some validity, but none of them wanted to go there.

Isabella still could remember the incident he was referring to...Phineas and Ferb had told him to not attempt another bread bowl hot tub at home. Like ever again.

Now, Buford walked up to Vanessa's dad, ready to complain, "Hey, how come you don't fix ya elevator?"

"It's broken?" Doof exclaimed in shock. "I didn't even realize it."

"Whatcha mean you don't leave your house?"

"No...I...well, usually the elevator goes out of order, but I thought it was fine when Vanessa came to visit yesterday. Usually she would mention it."

"I don't care whether she did or she didn't, just fix the stupid thing, you're the big inventor," Buford criticized and then stomped off.

"Excuse his rudeness," Baljeet seized the opportunity to apologize, looking a little more smug about it than apologetic. "He is crass and possesses absolutely no manners."

"It's okay," Doof said. "He used to work for me. It was one of those things I actually hired him for."

"Oh. So it is a case of instant karma then," Baljeet remarked, sounding even more smug. "You have simply brought this upon yourself then. Continue. "

The boy walked away, leaving Doofenshmirtz looking around even more confused at how his house had been so suddenly and easily trespassed into, all so he could be insulted.

Eventually, Candace came back, announcing "I made the call, but don't expect me to make a habit of it...I still think that school is a whole lot safer." Isabella then noticed even more how haunted the girl looked. To Isabella's mind there was no other word for it. Candace kept holding herself too.

Something else Isabella noticed was how Vanessa's dad kept on glancing at her. It was like he was afraid she might break and he didn't want that to happen. His face was etched with concern and the shadows, always prominent underneath his eyes, looked even more pronounced as his gaze continually darted in the young woman's direction, and then away, like he was afraid someone might notice and say something about it in critique too.

Perhaps, if she hadn't always been worried about that same thing with Phineas, she might not have even noticed it, Isabella knew.

"Come on, you too Dr. D," the triangular headed boy announced, addressing his sister's boss.

"ME?" the man squawked, pointing at himself in insecure surprise.

"Of course! We might need your help, you being a scientist and all," Phineas exclaimed with a wave of his hand. "We have something we need everyone to see, for our sake as well as your own."

Everyone followed the boy at that grave warning. Just like always. Isabella had always known he was a natural leader...the problem with leaders was that they also were also very fine on their own...Followers needed someone else. Leaders didn't. And Isabella, a natural born leader herself, feared that it was just another indication that Phineas didn't need her...and she didn't need him either.

The line of people's shadows were cast on the wall of Doofenshmirtz's apartment, but everyone was so busy marching to his living room that they failed to see the youngest girl's in the group growing and breaking free a little, standing in place as the others moved forward. Eventually, it caught up again as the destination was reached, however, this going by unobserved also.

Gathered around Doofenshmirtz's TV now, the kids, plus Dr. D and Candace, all watched as Phineas played a CD for them, the one he explained had been left in their mailbox the previous day.

It had been taken to just one scene in particular, Candace looking grateful for that fact and a blush on her pretty, yet tired face. Doof glanced at her again, a blank look on his face that Isabella couldn't read. What had be been thinking, she wondered?

When the TV finally played the scene of Lawrence Fletcher being attacked by his own shadow, and then it being devoured in turn by the other shadow-of-indistinguishable-form, they all gasped. Buford even let out an uncharacteristic scream, as he clutched on to his nerd for strength it seemed. Baljeet, had lost his previous smugness, however, grasping on to his bully for comfort too, as he also screamed in terror, his rational mind going irrational.

Phineas, Ferb and Candace were the only ones whom didn't make a sound.

Not even a peep.

They had apparently seen it before, and several times too, trying to make sense of it. Now they were conditioned to no longer feel horror, only a vague sense of sadness. Ferb was holding his hands in his lap and staring at them in a deeper sorrow, perhaps, than the rest, having known the man they had just watched disappearing into darkness for all of his life.

"What was that thing?" Isabella asked, frightened because she had never seen anything like it before, and yet something about what they had just seen felt...familiar. Something inside of herself too...Although, she could never confess that aloud, especially in front of the boy she adored. It was just too embarrassing.

She remembered the day before school, however, after the other Fireside Girls had told her that she was really just a Tinkerbell to Phineas' Peter Pan, and Ginger had said that she could be a Wendy and it still wouldn't make much of a difference, because Peter had been incapable of caring for anyone except for himself. It was impossible not to connect the shadow to what had whispered from both outside and inside of herself from the dark corner of the school she had run to.

But seeing how upset Phineas Flynn was by what had happened to his father, Isabella refused to believe it. It just couldn't be true that Phineas was as selfish as Peter Pan, whom had never grown up.

"We don't know what it is Isabella, but it seemed to have gotten to our mother too...when Candace rushed to show her the CD, all that was left was her shadow."

"It's true," Candace said, rising to her feet now, even though she was still hugging herself, possibly even tighter than before. "She had become just like dad, and then...that other shadow...the leader or whatever it is came out of a corner and ate her too."

The memory seemed to disturb Candace, whom turned around to try to control her overwhelming fear and not show it to them, whom she deemed as younger and more vulnerable. Isabella glanced at Dr. Doofenshmirtz and saw him watching the pretty young woman whom worked for him. She also noticed the way his mouth opened in a cringe and how he looked like he wanted to get up to comfort her, his arms itching to, but he chose to stay where he was sitting instead, his hand reaching out for a second before flopping helplessly to his lap.

Isabella refused to mimic his cowardice, but instead stood and went to Phineas, her hand resting on his back. "Don't worry, Phineas. We'll get your mother and father back. If they just got swallowed by those shadows, isn't there a good chance that they are still okay in there?"

"You're right, Isabella," Phineas said, looking at her with such innocent hope that her love was renewed for him, the darkness fleeing, at least momentarily, from her heart.

Quick to join in, after seeing Isabella's interaction with the other boy, Baljeet commented sagely, as if he were his Uncle Sabu, "Yes. At least, your burden will be lighter now that you know the truth."

Buford bluntly turned to his nerd. "How can that make their burden lighter? It was a shadow that ate 'em! Those things are dark!"

"No. I mean that now they have received enlightenment they can begin to formulate a plan," Tjinder gave it another shot.

And Buford shot right back, "There you go talkin' about light again! We're discussin' shadows here, the absence of light. And you like to act so smart!"

Baljeet looked like he was back to gloating but also angry besides it. "AND YOU LIKE TO ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONE IN POWER, BUFORD VAN STOMM! BUT WE BOTH KNOW THAT IS NOT THE TRUTH!"

Everyone became silent as they watched Buford seem suddenly smaller, while Baljeet, though smaller, seemed much larger.

"Awkward" Vanessa's dad commented and although nobody verbally said anything they all virtually agreed.

"Stop it guys," Phineas finally said, trying to act peacemaker. "Don't fight! We need to band together, if we have a chance of defeating this thing...now Ferb and I spent all last night, when we weren't comforting Candace, that is, trying to figure out what that shadow thing might be and how to fight it."

"As long as it doesn't cut into my plans for Halloween," Buford said, trying to regain control of his former attitude and reputation as he folded his arms and tried to appear tough. "I stole a lot of toilet paper and I intend to use it. And not on myself. I want you all to know that diarrhea bit was just an excuse...you know that, right?"

Everyone ignored Buford as Phineas and Ferb proceeded to give a lecture on shadows and their thoughts about what had happened.

What followed left everyone feeling like they were actually at school, as the two boys went on to show and explain their various theories, although it made for a far more interesting class than anything at school.

Albeit, one with still no real, clear answer.

"We were thinking that you can examine these glasses, Vanessa's dad, and see if you can find anything on them," Phineas said, as Ferb handed him his father's lost, and necessary, seeing aid.

"I can try...I'll have to conclude my day's normal work..." he cast another furtive glance at Candace, "but...I'll get on it afterwards."

"Thanks," Phineas and Candace said in unison.

The scientist took the glasses, using it as an excuse to free himself from listening to the rest of the kid's discussion, and to get away from them, left to return to the work that probably interested him more.

The children were soon left alone. Candace looked like she longed to stay, but knew she needed to accompany her boss, since she was still on working hours and he was still paying her, afterall.

The children all sat around the TV, an image of the shadow creature paused on the screen and giving them all the heebie jeebies. They discussed several things again, Ferb remarkably quiet, or Phineas not able to translate his thoughts for them.

Once he did speak, but it brought nobody any real comfort but rather only goosebumps.

His eyes on the TV, his thoughts, no doubt on his father being taken over by his own shadow, the introverted boy asked out of the blue, "Have you ever tried not to touch your shadow? Do you know how impossible that is?"

They all became silent, as Isabella realized that they had all played that particular game, at some point in their lives: to find your shadow on a wall or on the ground and to try not to touch it. But it was always a losing game: reach your hand out to it and you couldn't help but touch it...and your foot, well it was always standing on it.

"Maybe they got tired of us always stepping on them," Isabella mused out loud, thinking of her own dark thoughts and how often she pushed them away.

"That's just dumb," Buford commented, but there was something in his eyes, like he too had his own hidden thoughts and feelings he chose not to show.

They watched the footage a few time, and once Phineas looked around to ask "Where's Perry?" but they didn't really get very far, Phineas thinking that maybe Ferb might be able to increase the image of the last shadow creature and increase the brightness to the picture, and that was about it.

Eventually all of their stomachs began to growl, it being past noon now, and Isabella volunteered to find the kitchen and fix them all something to eat, if Dr. D said it was okay, of course.

She found Vanessa's dad actually in the kitchen, however, having beat them all into fixing them up something for lunch himself.

Isabella was left with the feeling, though, that he was using it as an excuse to get away from the presense of the melancholy Candace, after he commented, "Candace...she was going to get you all lunch...but I said I would because then I wouldn't have to see her," aware he said the last part out loud, he exclaimed defensively, "I didn't mean that...I just...usually she takes lunch at this little cafe near here. It gives me time to think...people don't think I do that...but I need to be alone sometimes to think. It gets crowded up here."

He pointed at his tall forehead, tapping it a few times.

"Don't you usually have that large robot around to help you out?" Isabella asked. "What's his name? Norm?"

"Yes, Norm," Heinz Doofenshmirtz said, pouring Candace's coffee and adding the cream and sugar. "I haven't seen him around recently. I guess he took it too personally when I told him to get out of my way the other day. He's really touchy that way."

"I'm sure he'll come back," she commented.

Doof went back to fixing up the food.

"It's been a while since Vanessa was a child," he confessed. "I can't quite remember what kids eat, all I remember is Birthday party stuff and, meh, I wasn't very good at that sort of thing either. She used to enjoy telling me I wasn't anyway. I guess, I'm not good with children."

He gave a little shudder, indicating that they slightly scared him.

"Sandwiches and popcorn will be fine...and what is that stuff?" she asked, staring at the tray.

"Almond Brittle."

Isabella confessed with a shrug, "I only know Peanut Brittle..."

"This is better," he declared with a shrug of his slouched shoulders. "At least, I like it better, that's why I have it instead. I'm sorry...maybe that's selfish of me. It wouldn't be the first time I was accused of being petty."

It was weird, but with his inventions and childlike manner, he was kind of like Phineas, she realized. Isabella looked back sadly in the direction of her crush.

"You look sad...well, you just saw your little friend's father get gobbled up by a giant shadow...uhm...depressing...but it seems like more than that," Vanessa's father stated. "Care to share? Remember me...I'm good at adulting," he joked.

"I...I like Phineas, for like ages, I've liked him! But I'm afraid he won't like me back," she confessed, her hands clasped together, still staring in the direction of the living room. "I feel bad about it all...even worse recently."

A pause.

"You're both the same age...there's nothing to feel bad about," he said, his back to hers, and she heard glass tinkling again. "You can have your fantasies and daydreams, even your happy ending...with no guilt or shame involved..."

"Yeah...but...what good is that...I want the real thing!" she said in desperation.

Something on the counter suddenly moved and crashed to the floor. It seemed to be a jar. Or, at least, it had been. Now it was just smashed porcelain. Trash.

"Guess I didn't put that back right," Doofenshmirtz commented.

"You want me to bring this out for you?" Isabella asked, looking at the tray and knowing he probably would be busy cleaning up the mess for a little while.

"Sure...thank you...except these...I'll give Candace her coffee and I'll take mine," he stated like a disapproving adult. "Thank you very much."

"Won't they get cold if you clean that up first?" the girl asked.

"Nah. So what? I just pour two fresh cups," he said with a shrug.

Oh. Maybe after their talk he was getting braver about his whole situation with Candace, whatever that was. He seemed intent on making sure he would have some kind of interaction with her through the coffee, at least.

"Good luck," she said walking out of the kitchen, her hands full.

"With what?" he asked, still seemingly also clueless to whatever he felt for Phineas' sister as the girl with the crush on his intern's brother was confused about what was going on between Candace and him too.

* * *

After lunch, they'd gone through the DEI penthouse and then moved out to the building's balcony. Isabella decided against cleaning up the tray to rush and catch up instead, the sunlight drawing her out there instead of lingering with the shadows she now felt surrounding her in the penthouse.

It was a nice day outside. Too nice to stay inside and be talking about such horrible, frightening things.

They had seen a few of Doofenshmirtz's inventions along the way, snooping without his permission, and the balcony offered several other things to examine.

"Boy this dude has some pretty creepy things...like that box of junk we found in the closet...all those nuts and bolts. I remember stuff like this from when I worked for him though," Buford commented.

"There it is again! You actually worked for Vanessa's father?" Baljeet asked in reemerging shock. "I cannot believe it."

"Yeah...it was during our break-up...when you went to climb that mountain. Actually this guy here wanted to laser his face onto it, if I remember correctly...actually, he was a pretty cool guy. He seemed to want to take over the whole Tri-State area then. Glad he got over that pipedream."

Ferb had gone to look at one of the inventions on the edge of the balcony, looking through its telescope at something. Isabella noticed Phineas trying to communicate with him as the green haired boy seemed excited suddenly, his spirits lifted for the first time that day.

"Let me see!" Buford said, quickly taking hold of the telescope out of Ferb's hands. "Hey! Alls I see is the Du Bois house. Big freaking deal!"

Phineas didn't look like he could care less, however, he seemed more frustrated that Ferb was trying to still tell him something and, for the umpteenth time that day, he was failing to understand.

"I don't know what you're trying to say!" the red head cried in apology, a hand on his brother's back.

"Maybe I can help," Isabella was saying, having a good relationship with Ferb, suspecting he even liked her sometimes, although she could never return the feelings.

"Sorry Isabella but Ferb is trying to tell me something and...and...I don't know what it is!"

"But that was what I wanted to..."

"Excuse us," Phineas said friendly yet still firm, taking Ferb away to the corner, where Isabella saw the boy pointing frantically to the city below.

A cloud moved in the sky over her head, and Isabella felt a little less light able to reach her.

Isabella looked over in the direction of Vanessa's dad, whom was approaching Candace now instead of labouring on either his lab work or his homework of Lawrence Fletcher's glasses. The intern was looking out at the city, her arms resting on the rail and Doofenshmirtz was approaching her cautiously, like he would a butterfly that had landed on his balcony, one he was afraid he'd frighten by drawing nearer and would soon watch helplessly as it would fearfully fly away from him.

Isabella looked back at Phineas, whom was still trying to talk with Ferb and failing it seemed, causing the green haired boy to retreat further into his shell, although he kept pointing at the telescope and the city as if he'd seen something important through it, but who know what that was, and without Phineas to understand him, it was unlikely anybody would...

Isabella looked up at the sky to the dark cloud above her, just in time to see a leaf blowing by, resembling a monarch in flight.

Just like butterflies and leaves, Peter Pan could fly away too, only he didn't need wings or the wind to do it, she thought.

Isabella frowned and looked from Phineas to Doof and Candace, hoping that they were having a better time at communicating than Phineas was with Ferb or she was with Phineas, himself.

Meanwhile, Buford was still gazing through the telescope.

"I still don't understand what the big deal is! It's just the Du Bois house!" Buford was still saying. "Even if their mother's hot, they don't even give out good candy for Halloween!"

Chapter Text

Candace Flynn looked out over the Danville skyscape and wondered how a day could be so overwhelmingly lovely in temperament after a night where everything had seemed so ugly. The horrors from last night still etched within her mind, she could also search memory and not recall a single day she had enjoyed the view from the DEI building as much as she was doing right then. Had she been too busy to before? Or had the terror from last night simply heightened those areas of beauty, the way that a shadow highlighted those areas of brightness which it played within?

She was so intent on her enjoyment of the beauty of this Autumn afternoon that she didn't hear her boss, the owner of the penthouse with it's glorious view, softly approaching her.

Tucking a strand of hair which had fallen loose from the bun, Candace felt her heart racing as he joined her side, staring out at Danville and the magnificent sight of the whole Tri-State area lying before them.

"I always love the colors of the leaves at this time of year," Doof said with a sigh, his voice trembling slightly in embarrassment. "Orange...it's my favorite color, you know."

"No. I didn't know that," Candace replied. "You don't have a lot of it in your apartment."

"Because...I never feel like I deserve it...it's such a bright and happy color...beautiful. Who knows...maybe when I reach, at least, one of my goals..."

They were both silent until she heard herself speaking again, voicing the first worry of the day she had had in the safety of his building.

"I'm sorry about my little brothers and their friends just barging in like this...they like to do things like that...the word ingratiating springs to mind."

"It's okay," Heinz Doofenshmirtz said, placing his long arms on the railing and mimicking her stance. "Actually...it was kind of nice...Vanessa seemed to grow up so fast...she didn't want her dad around embarrassing her. I'm awkward around them, I don't know what to do sometimes...but I love children. Really I do."

She looked out at the city. "Ever think about having more?"

"No," he replied quickly. Too quickly for her liking. "Not really. I'm a little too old for that."

For some reason, her heart felt like it had plummeted off, right over the railing from where they were standing.

If she looked closely, she could even see it, although it might have just been a leaf.

"Candace...I needed to ask you something."

"Mmm hmm," she said, wondering what it would be, something for work...if she'd mind leaving sooner rather than later, especially since she'd showed up that morning rambling about shadow creatures? It probably wouldn't even make a difference that he had seen them for himself. Infact, that would probably make him hand her the pink slip all the faster.

"How come you're taking this all so calmly?"

The young woman turned to face him, genuinely surprised by the question.

"Are you kidding?" she stated, feeling embarrassed now. "I showed up to work talking about shadow things that had devoured my parents. Hardly calm."

"Yeah...there was that...but you were also fairly reasonable about it, all things considered," he said almost in awe and with a certain amount of bewildered respect. "Anyone else...they would have fallen apart. Heck! They wouldn't have even showed up for work, acting like everything was perfectly normal...why...I want to know...why was that?"

The smile on her face was unintentional and not wholly hysterical. "Probably because it's not the first time things went batshit crazy on me...I'm used to things like that happening. I can't remember if I told you or not, but my brothers would always invent these outlandish things, like I'm not even sure how, but they were complicated, big and elaborate, and just really cool, although I would never tell them that. But they were also really, just dangerous a lot of the time. But when I would run to tell mom and bring her there to show her to get them to stop...they were always gone! They had just up and mysteriously vanished."

Doof listened quietly, not saying anything, but when her eyes darted at him, his expression was serious and a little sad but not judgemental in the least so she felt it was safe enough to continue, even if it did sound ridiculous up on the building and on such a clear and normal afternoon.

"It was always like something was trying to break me...some Mysterious Force saving them but punishing me and I was never sure why...So, I guess...I was just used to it by then...last night, I mean. Seeing that thing...the last thing that ate them both. It was familiar...it was even kind of a relief, although I would NEVER say that to Phineas or Ferb...but the way it looked at me...it felt like finally seeing what I had been up against this whole time."

Heinz waited a little while to speak, but when he did his voice was understanding more than critical. "I felt like that when I was growing up in Gimmelshtump...like I was always being punished...but I felt like it was my parents doing somehow. I...don't know if I ever outgrew that."

Her heart broke for the man again, her thoughts returning to having seen Phineas book on Peter Pan and her impression that, just like Peter, a part of Heinz Doofenshmirtz had never properly grown up, only it was not lost in some Neverland, but rather some place frightening, like Pleasure Island after midnight, when all of the boys had been turned into donkeys, screaming out for their mothers whom were never coming to save them.

The shadows underneath his eyes looked now more pronounced than ever and her heart continued to ache in both sympathy and empathy for him.

She was reaching out to take hold of his face, unsure of what she intended to do after that, and he looked fearful and excited, aware of her hand nearing his cheek when suddenly Buford's loud voice broke through everything, unfortunately including the moment of shared intimacy Candace realized she had secretly been craving to happen between Doofenshmirtz and herself.

"I still don't understand what the big deal is! It's just the Du Bois house! Even if their mother's hot, they don't even give out good candy for Halloween!"

At the bully's words, a fact struck Candace that had previously gone right over her orange head.

"Oh no," she moaned, her hand now falling to her side before it reached Doofenshmirtz's face. Her back now pressed against the railing wall.

"What is it?" Doofenshmirtz asked, looking almost relieved...as well as disappointed.

"Last night, when I came home, I found Irving Du Bois creeping at the glass doors to our living room...he had this HUGE crush on Phineas and Ferb and he was worried that they don't really like him or want to include him. He'll be hurt if he finds out the boys played hooky without him."

"Gee, Irving was afraid of that?" Phineas asked, Ferb and he walking towards their older sister. "No way! We love Irving. We'd never exclude him. The only reason we didn't ask him now was that we knew he had this big school project he wanted to hand in today. Plus, he's proud about his perfect attendance record. We didn't want him to miss a day of school and break it on account of us."

"And you were not worried about the same thing with me?!?" Baljeet cried in outrage. "Gee...thank you for thinking of me."

"You're welcome, Baljeet," Phineas said, the sarcasm obviously going straight over his triangle shaped head. "I know!" Phineas exclaimed, his finger raised. "Candace, how about you go and pick him up after school and bring him here?"

"I really should be going home at that time, Phineas," Isabella popped up. "Or else my mom might worry."

"My mom won't worry," Buford said, "But tonight's taco night. And if you think I'm missing taco night, you're all crazy."

Phineas Flynn gave it some thought. "I know!" he exclaimed. "How about you take everyone home but bring Irving and us here afterwards, Candace," he suggested. "That way, he will feel special! What a great idea"

"Not so great..." Candace cringed, finally allowed to voice her dissatisfaction with her brother's suggestion.

"Why not?" Doofenshmirtz asked, the only one whom had noticed the increase in her anxiety and seemed concerned about it.

She turned to face him. "Irving is Albert Du Bois' younger brother...Albert is that guy you rescued me from in the parking lot of the Super Food Stuff Mart...the same guy who tried to ram his car into yours while you were driving me home."

Ferb touched Candace's arm and the young woman believing he was trying to offer her comfort in his usual silent way said, "Thanks Ferb," before continuing to explain her reluctance to Heinz Doofenshmirtz. "Going to the Du Bois house after dark...I'm not real comfortable with that."

She glanced at the children surrounding them, trying to covertly let her boss know that it was for adult concerns and not for their innocent ears and minds to know of.

"Oh, I see your problem," Doof said in dawning awareness. "What if I were to come with you? Would that make it any better?"

"Would you mind?" Candace asked, her arm being squeezed tighter.

"Sure, no problem," Doofenshmirtz said with a wave of his hand. "My nemesis hardly has the decency to drop by anymore, so I should have the time."

Suddenly her brothers pet platypus went walking by and gave one of his famous chatters, announcing his presence. "Oh there you are, Perry!" Phineas exclaimed.

"Where?" Heinz Doofenshmirtz cried out, looking around in alarm, but nobody replied, the children going back into the penthouse while Candace's thoughts were with Heinz having volunteered to go with her to Albert Du Bois' home. Maybe her fantasies of him saving her from Albert weren't too ridiculous...

No more than Mysterious Forces or shadows that came to life and were consumed by other shadows.

Soon, Heinz and she joined Phines and Ferb and the others back in the apartment, Candace rubbing her arm where her stepbrother had been holding it, the boy, perhaps trying a little too hard to offer her his sympathy and comfort.

She looked at the back of Heinz Doofenshmirtz's pristine white labcoat, a secret unseen smile stealing across her face at the thought of the man's gentlemanly protectiveness.

He had to care for her...even if it was just a little.

* * *

When the sky was darkening outside, and they knew that Irving would be back home, as well as the fact that it was time the others all headed there too, everyone, including Doofenshmirtz, filed out of his apartment, with him locking the door safely behind them.

"Can't Norm do that?" Candace asked.

"No...as I told one of your brother's little friends, he's been missing for a few days."

"That explains why I haven't seen him," Candace said, searching the memories of her last few days at work and when the robot had gone missing.

Turning for the elevator, Doof stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the Out of Order sign hanging there. "What? It really is broken again."

"Told you!" Buford piped up.

"Huh..." Heinz said, staring at it. "That's funny."

"It won't be funny if I miss those tacos!" Buford threatened.

"Come on," Candace said, grabbing hold of Doof's arm and dragging him to the stairway, even though his eyes remained on the elevator doors. "Let's go before Buford turns into an even worse monster than the one that ate my parents."

* * *

They visited Irving's house after having dropped Isabella, Baljeet and Buford at their own.

"You stay here," Candace instructed.

"But Candace!" Phineas said.

"No!" Candace said, still concerned about Albert's physical obsession with her. "It won't take long. We'll be right back."

"Okay," Phineas agreed, his good-naturedness overpowering his constant need for stimulation.

"Candace," Ferb said, his eyes meeting hers with some urgency. "Be careful. Please."

The green haired boy was more mature than their brother and Candace wondered if he understood her worry more than Phineas did. "I will," she promised. "Besides, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is going with me."

Ferb's worry looked in no way relieved, but then again, his having had a crush on the man's daughter for ages, he was probably familiar with the man's clumsiness and penchant for his own inventions blowing up in his face.

Heinz and she left the van-truck parked outside and walked to the front door together.

Candace knocked, while Heinz Doofenshmirtz stood behind her, the unlikeliest of bodyguards.

When Mrs. Du Bois came to the door, she didn't look well and she in turn looked at them like they were a couple of unwanted pharmacists making door to door house calls. "Uhm...I'm Candace Flynn...Phineas and Ferb's sister," she explained incase the woman didn't recognize her.

"Oh right...the crazy one," the woman replied, making Candace flinch.

"Ahh...uhm...Phineas and Ferb wanted to know if Irving could come and play with them."

The mother's eyes darkened. "Those two brats," she said. "They left my poor boy feeling so alone and unwanted when he saw they had all skipped class without him...you call that friendship?"

Though her temper was flaring, Candace chose to remain civil, remembering the sad boy hiding outside of her house. "I can explain that...they..."

"Don't tell me," she snapped. "Tell my poor little boy!"

She then stepped to the side, allowing them entrance. However, suddenly the house looked too dark, the light inside now seeming like the shadows, as if reality had been inverted.

Gathering her courage, Candace stepped in, with Doof close behind.

"And who's this?" Mrs. Du Bois snickered.

"My boss."

"Ohh...evaluation report," the woman said. "After hours work. Interesting. Gives us more to gossip about regarding you behind your mother's back," she commented.

My mother doesn't have a back, Candace longed to reply. She doesn't even have much of anything anymore.

"It's the last door at the end of the hallway...Even a crazy person should be able to find it."

Aware of the insult, Candace moved forward hearing Doofenshmirtz saying something to the woman, but refusing to look back, continuing to walk towards the door at the end of the hall and get out of there fast.

Unfortunately, there were other doors, and one soon opened to reveal Albert standing there.

"Candace!" he exclaimed in delight. "What a wonderful surprise! To what do I owe this...pleasure." His words trailed off as he inevitably spotted Doofenshmirtz.

"We wanted to bring Irving over so Phineas and Ferb could explain what's going on."

"Well," he said, eyeing Heinz from his starfish shaped hair to his feet. "That would be a relief...he's been in there crying since he got home...'Oh Phineas and Ferb don't like me!' and 'Oh...they hate me!'. It would be a relief if you take him out of the house. It is important work that I'm doing here and I don't want to be disturbed."

"Oh is it?" Heinz asked, trying to look over the younger man's shoulder, in real interest. "What is it?"

"The transformation of matter," Albert Du Bois said, stepping out into the hallway and shutting the door tightly behind him. "I am paving the way to become something greater than what we are! Shining light into the dark corners of the world!"

"With a chemistry set your mommy and daddy bought for you," Doofenshmirtz mocked.

"Better than one my EX-wife paid for," the young scientist spat back at his elder.

Both men were glaring at one another with pure, unadulterated loathing, their fists clenched to their sides, but too possibly cerebral to actually resort to physical violence.

Candace, helplessly made witness to this, began to notice the way that their shadows moved eerily on the hallway wall...the shift in them, both darkening, but Heinz's almost worst, as if his feelings were stronger and more passionate.

"We don't have time for a scientific pissing contest," she replied, grabbing Doof's labcoat lapel. She thought she could hear Irving's cries now, but they were stifled and somewhat distant.

"Irving," she was saying, before she even reached the door. "Irving, it's okay! Phineas and Ferb will tell you what happened!"

She knocked on the door and then opened it, but found the room empty, save for countless photographs of Phineas and Ferb, tirelessly documenting their backyard exploits. It would have been a sight to previously make her busting centered self drool, but now, while still hearing Irving crying but not seeing him,  she was more focused on finding the boy, reminded of her mother's shadow on her bedroom wall.

Unfortunately, staring at Phineas and Ferb's faces she started to hear them begin to cry too...

"IRVING! NO! IT'S OKAY! DON'T...CANDACE! CANDACE!"

The sound was coming from outside of the house, and frantically Candace turned towards it, only seeing Heinz standing there now behind her, the door to Albert's room still shut, with him presumably having retreated back into it.

"PHINEAS! FERB!" the older sister cried out to her little brothers, rushing past Doofenshmirtz but grabbing his hand along the way, and nearly yanking his arm from out of its socket.

"Owww!" he cried out and Candace apologized in a blur.

The living room was empty when they passed through it now, Flynn wondering what her boss had said to the angry, insulting mother anyway. Some Drusselsteinian insult? Whatever it had been it had worked in scaring her off.

Throwing open the Du Bois Household's front door, Candace looked in horror at the startling sight awaiting them.

Moving about frantically in Heinz Doofenshmirtz's van-truck, Phineas and Ferb alternately pushed against the windows in desperate pleading or clung to each other, and Perry, in equal desperation.

"Oh no!" Candace cried out, Heinz hands on her upper arms from behind.

Irving had apparently come out of his room to talk to Phineas and Ferb, himself.

As did his shadow.

The shadow crept below the automobile, all the way to the other side and both it and the youngest Du Bois brother each banged on their own side of the van-truck respectively.

"PHINEAS! FERB! YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE!" the little boy with glasses cried, banging on the window with his tiny fists. "I JUST SAW YOUR EMPTY SEATS AND I KNEW YOU HAD DITCHED ME! WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME?"

His shadow, meanwhile, far larger was banging dents into Heinz' van-trunk, screaming out in hatred, "I DON'T NEED YOU! YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT YOUR FANS! WHO ELSE DOCUMENTS YOUR WORK! YOU OWE ME EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! YOU IGNORE ME LIKE I DON'T EXIST! WELL, YOU WON'T SOON EITHER!"

Candace broke away from Doof"s hold, which felt more instinctual out of his own terror, rushing towards her brothers.

"CANDACE!" Phineas cried, clinging even more to Ferb, whom was equally holding him back.

"I'M COMING!" their sister cried, reaching the side with Irving first.

"Irving!" she cried, trying to pull him away, and hoping his shadow would follow...only the shadow was too strong.

The young woman soon felt Doofenshmirtz coming and grabbing them both from behind, trying to give the added body weight to pull the boy away.

However, Irving's shadow had swiftly stopped his assault against the van-truck entirely now, focusing instead on pulling his caster towards itself and underneath the vehicle.

"NO! NO!" the boy was now crying in fear as Candace and Heinz fell on to their bottoms and on to the sidewalk outside of his house. "NO! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU PHINEAS AND FER..."

He didn't get to finish his words, Candace losing her hold as the shadow seemed to grow more powerful, yanking the poor screaming child out of their hands and pulling him into the darkness beneath the van-truck.

"IRVING!!!" Phineas and Ferb screamed together, getting out of the vehicle after seeing their friend's suffering.

Doof, Candace and her little brothers all ran to the other side of the van, where they saw that Irving was no longer there and all that remained was his shadow.

"I don't need you," the Irving shadow now said, far more calmly than it had been. "I have him..."

Phineas and Ferb clutched on to their sister, and Doof's hands clamped down on her trembling shoulders, as Candace let out a cry. The other shadow had been summoned once more, the devourer of other shadows, now having grown even larger than the last time she had seen it, seeming to change shape from something she hadn't been able to fully make out before becoming the shadow cloud she recognized.

It looked at her before it consumed the Irving shadow,  which allowed it to become a part of the shadowy mass and increase its substance.

A mass which was eyeing her in hunger.

A blast of light appeared suddenly and the shadow was instantly gone.

Heinz, Candace and her brothers looked to find Perry having apparently unintentionally turned on its lights,

"Way to go, Per!" Phineas praised the platypus.

"Back into the truck." Heinz instructed, noticing, like Candace did, the amount of shadows that the street lights were creating.

Fearfully, quickly, they all rushed inside, the scientist pulling out onto the street.

He drove to the Flynn-Fletcher household and stopped, where everybody stared at the empty looking house in both weariness and apprehension.

"Maybe, you would like to stay at the penthouse for the next few days," Heinz Doofenshmirtz suggested.

Candace turned to look at her boss, truly moved by his kindness. "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

Phineas hugged Perry, "I think that would be a good idea. It already feels like a second home."

Ferb, however, seemed less certain. He kept staring at the street light which had recorded the footage of the backyard and then to the area around where their father had been consumed by his own darkness.

"But...Dad, he..." Ferb said, and Phineas soon placed his hand on his brother's back. "We know Ferb...that's where dad was...but now he'd want us to be safe."

Ferb shook his head in sadness.

Candace soon placed her own hand on her step brother's back. "Everything's going to be okay, Ferb," she tried to comfort, but as they drove away, and she saw him looking out of the window at all of the shadows lying before them, she shared in his doubt.

Chapter Text

Perry believed he had never once been so terrified fighting Heinz Doofenshmirtz as he had been seeing Irving Du Bois and his shadow self both framing Doof's van-truck and attacking it in unison, all while Phineas and Ferb had panicked in mortal dread inside of it, their usual resourcefulness having seemingly fled.

The Secret Agent's battles with his arch nemesis followed a standard routine, afterall: approach Doofenshmirtz, get trapped, listen to the man's exposition and explanation (which sometimes included a traumatic backstory but sometimes didn't), wait until the man had started up his latest inator - or was on the verge of success - and then thwart him. It was fairly standard, well within the laws of reason, although, at the start, some of the inventions had genuinely impressed and surprised him, but it had lost all of its magical mystery after a while and become mundane, especially when faced with the scientist's general incompetence.

Just like Phineas and Ferb's own marvelous inventions had lost some of their luster, what with his constant exposure to them.

But what he had seen tonight was something else entirely. It battled with his rationality, as well as his courage, making him genuinely fear for his beloved boys safety for the first time since they had encountered the 2nd Dimension Doofenshmirtz.

It had taken every ounce of his courage and devotion to the Flynn-Fletcher children to finally think of the van's headlights, turning them on the shadow which had appeared out of the darkness and sending it back to it as well.

When it had retreated, and his family, including Heinz Doofenshmirtz, himself - for that was what he viewed the man as now, family -  were safe and had climbed back into the vehicle, only then had the trembling in his small, semi-aquatic body began to ebb like the tide, Phineas constant pets to his back being like a contrasting wave-like rythym of solace.

Now they had all gone back to the DEI building together, none of the humans aware of how many times he had actually visited it during his double life.

And when Doof had offered the three Flynn-Fletcher children his spare room, Perry had almost felt like this was how it was supposed to be: his family all together as one.

There had just been the one bed, Heinz seeming frightened to offer the use of Vanessa's room to the three, his hands wringing one another extra harshly, but Candace, Phineas and Ferb had actually seemed reluctant to be separated, clinging to one another from the moment they entered the apartment to the moment that Heinz Doofenshmirtz had shown them the extra bedroom.

Candace lying in its middle, her little brothers had held on to her from either side, almost immediately falling asleep like that, all three of them still dressed in the same clothing they had been wearing all day, right down to Candace's now stained lab coat.

Perry plopped down at the end of the bed, attempting to keep his unfocused look, as Doof stood in the doorway and conversed with the young woman.

"Maybe in the morning, we can go to your house and get your clothes."

"That's fine," Candace said wearily. "I have some money saved up...I think a trip to the Googolplex mall might be in order."

Doof nodded and Perry knew what everyone still awake was thinking: they did not want to return to that house this soon. They possibly even desired to avoid the street now, completely.

"Sounds like a good idea," he commented, holding the lapels of his lab coat and looking it over. "I got grass stains on this. Time for a new one. I'll drop by Lab Coat Emporium or Retro Pharmacist, Limited while we're there. I can pick you one up too," Doof's face appeared to lighten, until it darkened suddenly as he said a little sullenly, "Oh right...you won't be here much longer."

Perry unintentionally perked his head up. Was Doofenshmirtz beginning to care for the girl, afterall...or had Phineas been right and he had the whole time? He suddenly had to wonder.

"I'd still like another," Candace stated. "It would make me feel better."

"Would it?"

Candace nodded. "Mine has grass stains too. We fell together.

Doof blushed, smiled and started to leave, but turned back once to ask, "We almost saved the boy...didn't we?"

Candace didn't seem to know what to say, her face was etched with doubt. "We tried," was all she ended up saying, her eyes darting to her brothers sleeping by her.

"But...it didn't seem too painful, at least," Doofenshmirtz said, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, the fear seemed to be the worst thing for him. Once the shadow got him, he seemed safe enough...and then when the other..."

His voice trailed off and Perry wondered if he was realizing he was only making excuses or if he was contemplating another one of his endless backstories.

"Heinz..."

"Yes."

"Can you start those tests on my father's glasses," Candace asked. "Maybe that will reveal something..."

Doof looked seized by doubt and insecurity, probably aware of how much this mattered now and his propensity for failure. "I...I don't know what I can do...or if there is anything to find. A pair of glasses isn't like a video camera...it can't record what the eye sees."

"But it is, at least, something to do," she said. "You know. Like a security blanket."

Heinz Doofenshmirtz face darkened a little more, his expression souring. "Don't mention security blankets...back in Gimmelshtump, I remember that I once had this perfect, fuzzy, purple and orange security blanket, until my brother Roger..."

The scientist's face softened, probably realizing, just as Perry also felt, that Candace Flynn was not in the mood to listen to one of the man's tortured back stories now. Perhaps later, but right now she was dealing with her own grief and that of her brothers.

She craved security not its disillusionment.

Surprisingly the man, displayed a little unselfishness for a change and said, "I'll get to work on them...before bed. Right after Acquaintances."

"Thank you," Candace said. "I hate to ask for more but...Do you mind turning off the lights when you go?

"Why?" Doof asked in surprise. "I'd think that after..."

"Because I feel safer in it...at least, when you're here, I do," the girl confessed.

Doofenshmirtz studied the young woman with more interest than he was showing towards Lawrence Fletcher's glasses and then nodded, walking over to turn off the lights before he left and closing the door gently behind him.

Perry remained at the end of the bed, his highly trained ears hearing the theme to the famous and now finished and in re-run series playing in Doof's living room, as soon the sounds of snores swiftly filled the guest room too.

After a bit, Perry was thinking about sneaking off, when suddenly the door opened and Heinz Doofenshmirtz was standing there again, looking at his sleeping guests for a few seconds. He was little more than a dark outline in the doorway, which made Perry shiver after the last few nights' events, but soon the man was gone and taking a big sigh, the little mammal hopped down from off the mattress and on to the floor, walking on his hind feet now and with his famous fedora resting on his head.

Perry covertly maneuvered his way out from the bedroom, intent on searching for one of the apartment's secret entrances to his lair, the ones his enemy didn't even know existed.

However, then, his thoughts darkening about the man, and the suspicions he kept trying to bury and OWCA refused to listen to returning, the urge to prove himself right pushed to the foreground of his mind and he tiptoed to the man's laboratory, attempting to see if he was working on a secret inator afterall, one that would help to explain all of this.

His teal body pressed against the wall, Perry peeked around the lab wall and was surprised instead to find his foe hard at work, not on any inator, but on studying Lawrence Fletcher's glasses instead.

He really had intended to do it, afterall, Perry realized with a pang of guilt.

Instead of pushing it aside to focus on his own plans and desires, Heinz Doofenshmirtz was sitting at a desk in his lab, wearing his own pair of glasses and looking through a microscope at the pair of dirt covered glasses, an expression of complete seriousness on his face.

Floored by his enemy's compassion, and still ashamed with himself, Perry resumed searching for one of the gateways, choosing on one in the closet, which hopefully wouldn't draw too much attention if he used it.

Tripping on a box in there, afraid to turn on the lights to help see better, Perry managed to feel around and finally managed to activate the passageway, a door at the back of it opening to a tube, which he entered and quickly slid down, ending up almost immediately in his favorite red scoop chair, but not instantly greeted by anyone's face on the screen.

Something was wrong, he thought, staring at the empty screen, an eerie feeling taking hold of him.

More panic was suddenly seizing the platypus, until he let out a sigh of relief and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, as Carl's face, at least, appeared there instead of nothing.

Not that his relief lasted for very long.

"Oh Agent P, it's horrible!" Carl Karl exclaimed. "More than 70 percent of our agents have gone missing! We even called in Lyla Lolliberry for backup, but, as it turns out, she was visiting the Tri-State area a few days ago anyway, for unrevealed reasons, and nobody has heard from her either since then! To make matters worse, Francis Monogram...well...he...his...his shadow got him, Agent P!"

Perry's mouth fell open in horror at the terrifying news.

"His wife told me when I phoned her, after seeing the footage...yes we have his house under surveillance too...she started raging at me then about how nobody ever saw her and how I spent more time with her husband than she did these days! Then she disappeared too! One minute she was ranting at me, then there was nothing except this swallowing sound and this kind of unnerving laughter...it was horrible!"

Perry shook his head in disbelief, his tiny hands clutching at the control panel before him.

"I've been trying to reach Monty...but...it doesn't look good, Agent P...he kept obsessing about his dad, how he had disappointed him by joining the organization yesterday. Oh dear...maybe that should be your next mission: Find Monty Monogram and take care of that, making sure he doesn't turn into his shadow and get eaten by that other, growing shadow thing. Oh, I don't know! But...I think that's what Francis would have wanted...that is his son...I never was. And, I mean, we don't know how to fight this thing! A best offense is a good defense...and we need to keep our numbers up."

Perry gave a salute, agreeing with this course of action and hoping that Phineas and Ferb could think of something to help mount some plan of attack. They were the smartest little souls he knew of on the planet. If anybody knew what to do, it would be them.

Deciding to locate Vanessa Doofenshmirtz to get a lock in on Monty's location, Perry hopped out of the chair, hoping to save the Monogram boy in honor of a man that the Secret Agent had never truly expected to miss this sorely, not until he was gone, nothing more than a shadow of a memory...

* * *

Ferb saw Perry coming back into the bedroom as the digital clock told him that it was now 3:00, the witching hour. The poor, tiny creature looked depressed and somehow unsuccessful, for whatever reason he had. Suddenly the boy realized that they had not bothered to bring Perry's things there with them and he hoped that that was not it.

Although, the platypus using something as a temporary litter at the DEI building that he shouldn't be was the least of their concerns, at the moment.

A possibility was forming inside of his mind, but Ferb could not articulate it properly and he had so few things to work on that he was growing increasingly frustrated and despondent...

And he was suddenly doubting himself and his abilities too.

Nor did he, himself, feel as smart as he usually did. It could be simply anxiety, which in itself worked contrary to wisdom, but it felt more than that.

Phineas' inability to understand him was not helping either. He felt horribly alone without his brother's understanding, like Meap without his translating facial hair.

A void seemed to be growing around him and Ferb felt it trying to pull him inside of it, worse he had always felt that way before he had found Phineas Flynn.

Feeling lost in the dark, Ferb carefully reached inside of Candace's lab coat and grabbed for her phone, intending to call Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, the second person whom understood him best and whom he desperately wanted to talk with now to help clear his thoughts.

The light of the phone offered some hope in the darkness and it was a comfort that Perry was awake and with him in the shadows.

Finding Vanessa's number easily in the contact section of his sister's phone, Ferb was shocked and dismayed when a message soon played lowly, his having turned down the phone's volume, revealing that Vanessa Doofenshmirtz had blocked Candace's number apparently, for he was immediately directed to her voicemail instead.

Ferb Fletcher looked up to find Perry staring at him in the night, interest in eyes that had suddenly seemed more focused, before he turned the phone's light on him fully and saw the same distracted look within the platypus' eyes as always.

"Strange," Ferb commented, this thought coming out clearly in the dark of Dr. Doofenshmirtz's guest bedroom because it was so wonderfully simple, when everything else suddenly felt woefully complicated.

Candace groaned beside him and Ferb watched as Phineas clung tighter to her, both with their own troubled dreams.

He loved them both so much and Perry as well, Ferb knew.

He could not tell them that now, but he did.

And he prayed for their sake that he was wrong, his feeling of stupidity and helplessness just seeping into other areas of his reasoning now that his beloved family was in danger.

Because if his theory was correct it was bad.

Incredibly, hopelessly bad.

And very dark besides.