Phineas and Ferb does not belong to me.
A couple days later, Phineas waves goodbye to Jeremy. The boys have just taken him for a wild tuxedo shopping tour, and they’re all exhausted, not having found anything.
“Have fun?” Perry is sitting on Phineas’ bed reading a book that he found on the shelf. “I must say, it is nice to not have to go mindless every time I hear you coming.”
Phineas sits next to him. “And I like that there aren’t anymore secrets, right?”
“Phineas, unless it is to protect you, Ferb, Candace and/or Isabella, there will never be anymore secrets, okay?” Perry places a bookmark in between the pages. “Now, do you want to come down and see the stuff that I bought you for Christmas and birthdays every year since you brought me home?”
“Yes, yes I do.” Ferb pulls Phineas to his feet, and they all go down the elevator under Ferb’s bed. “Wow… I’ve been under this bed several times, and I never noticed this.”
“It requires my theme song to become operational. You boys did go down the tree tunnel once, though. And the vacuum tube above the couch.” Perry winces at the memory of “Agents P and F.
Phineas turns to Ferb, “I am so sorry. I should have actually listened to you.”
"No kidding.” Ferb rolls his eyes. “This elevator is taking a long time.”
The elevator door opens, and Perry leads the boys into the lair that he shares with Candace. “So, Candace and I brought Isabella down here already. Candace will meet us in a bit, but I’m going to give you guys your things first. Now remember, you guys were really little when you first adopted me, so some of these things might not make sense to you now.” Perry hands them each a key. He points to two doors, each marked with a letter. One with a “P” and one with an “F.”
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After the wipe, Ferb and Phineas are hugging Perry. “You’re welcome.” He chokes, barely able to breathe.
Candace comes in and laughs. “Guys, get off of Perry. He can’t breathe.”
“Oh, sorry.” Ferb lets go and helps Phineas up.
“Are you ready?” Perry looks up at Candace, who is staring at the ground.
She nods. “I think so.” she walks over to another closet. The door is old and battered, with a worn red “B” on it. “Phineas, how well do you remember Bucky?”
“I was looking for him the night that Mom and Dad got married.” Phineas shudders slightly. “During the thunderstorm.”
“Yes, and the next day, while you were in the hospital, a man came to see Mom. He told us that Bucky was a secret agent, and had died on a mission the night before. He had left us all presents and Mom told him to keep yours, because you were too young. But he saved them for you. Bucky didn’t know Ferb too well, but he got him a welcome to the family present.” Candace opens the door gently, and Ferb follows his step-brother inside. She sits down on her pink chair, and takes off the necklace that she’s wearing. She opens it and looks.
Perry patters over and puts a hand on her arm gently “Are you okay, Candace?” He asks, looking at the pictures of her and Bucky in the locket. In one, Candace is holding a baby Phineas, but she told Perry once that the other picture was taken before he little brother was born. Bucky is holding the end of a leash in his mouth, the clip attached to a dog collar around little Candace’s torso. She’s obviously laughing, and Bucky… well, he’s probably laughing too. Perry’s eyes threaten to water, and he shakes his head. “Aww, could you close that? It’s making me soft.”
Candace looks at him, shocked out of her reverie by Perry’s statement. “Aww, Meat-Brick. Deep down inside, we all know that you’ve got a heart.” She grins mischieviously. “I mean, you even helped Dr. D on his square dancing date.”
“Shh… I don’t want them to know about that.” Perry glares at her, then he looks back at the locket and his expression softens. “He was like the father that I never had, you know.”
The 25 year-old smiles at him gently. “He was my best friend. And when Dad left… Bucky was always there.”
“Yeah. He took an extended vacation to stay with you, Linda, and Phineas. But he came back to O.W.C.A. to train me.” Perry looks up suddenly to see Ferb standing in front of them. “How long have you been there, Ferb?”
Ferb laughs. “Pretty much for this entire conversation. I’ve always been good at observing quietly.”
Candace smiles sadly and closes the locket, fastening the necklace around her “coup de crayon.” She stands up, and goes over to look in on her younger brother. Phineas has so far only touched one present. A baseball, autographed by his favorite team. Every single player. It’s in a sealed glass box, and Phineas is staring at it. “Wow…”
Perry has walked up beside Phineas. His watch beeps. “Oh come on! A mission, now?”
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