A/N: I know that Doofenshmirtz was tied up when he got his mind erased with everyone else, but for the sake of some fluff, let's pretend he wasn't. ;P

This was a request for a friend of mine on deviantART.

Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

On with the story!

"I love ya, pal."

Doofenshmirtz was standing off to the side, hand-cuffed, watching this gooey goodbye unfold. He'd never really been one for goodbyes, it just seemed so sad and final. He'd had to say goodbye to so many things in his life, so he tended to stay away from them whenever he could.

But he had to admit, it was sad to watch Perry saying (or chattering) goodbye to his owners. Phineas and Ferb, the two boys he'd finally found out were Perry's owners, were exceptionally brilliant. They'd rebuilt his Other Dimension-inator and they'd gotten it to work. Doofenshmirtz wondered why Monogram hadn't recruited them to be secret agents as well.

Yes, Doofenshmirtz had actually grown quite fond of the boys, even though he didn't like their unwavering need to 'do the right thing'. Maybe he would build some sort of device to make them evil, and he could recruit them to work for him! He could do so much more! And because they were Perry's family, the platypus wouldn't hurt them, so Doofenshmirtz could do whatever he wanted!

And that was the exact reason he was going to get his memory erased in a few minutes.

Doofenshmirtz's short burst of excitement quickly faded as he remembered this fact. He would go back to the same old routine, forgetting everything about the adventure he just had. Even though his alternate self was a little too evil, Doofenshmirtz couldn't help but be inspired. He had so many new ideas for some Inators after seeing them in the other dimension, but he would forget all that. He would just go back to the same ridiculous Inators, each eventually getting foiled by Perry the Platypus.

'Geez,' Doofenshmirtz thought to himself. 'Getting your memory erased can be a real bummer.'

But as he glanced over at Perry, he could see that the platypus was taking the memory erasing a lot harder than he himself was. After all, he would be the only one to remember what happened. (Well, Monogram and Carl would remember, too, but they were hardly there, so they didn't count.) He would have no one to share it with. He'd just have to keep the memories to himself. It seemed kind of lonely, in a way.

Doofenshmirtz definitely knew what that felt like.

He chose this moment to walk over, standing next to Perry. The platypus didn't even acknowledge that he was there, focusing too hard on his owners. When Doofenshmirtz placed a comforting hand on Perry's back, Perry flinched in surprise, not excepting such an act of kindness from the usually evil doctor. But Perry didn't nothing to stop it, actually stepping slightly closer to the taller man.

And that's when the bright flash of white light filled the room, signaling that the Amnesia-inator had been turned on, and everyone's memories were being erased. As Doofenshmirtz looked away from the light, he realized that Perry was now shaking. 'He must be taking this really hard,' Doofenshmirtz thought.

Perry finally was able to turn away from the light and walk behind one of the other Inators that was in the room. It had been decided earlier that Monogram and Carl would help the children get home, and in the meantime, Perry had to watch Doofenshmirtz so he didn't get away. Therefore, Perry couldn't be seen even as a pet, in case one of his owners wanted to take him home. So, Perry had to reluctantly turn away from his family and hide.

When the light had finally subsided, all that was left was a room of extremely confused children and teenagers. As was planned, Monogram had come up with some crazy cover story to convince the children that nothing exciting had happened, and everybody was now heading towards the exit. Before Monogram closed the door, he gave a quick warning to Doofenshmirtz, "Don't try anything funny."

"Oh, please," Doofenshmirtz rolled his eyes. "I'm hand-cuffed, remember? And besides, Perry the Platypus will try to stop me if I do anything. So I'm not going anywhere." Monogram simply nodded before closing the door to follow Carl.

Doofenshmirtz sighed. He couldn't be trusted on his own for even five minutes. It's not like he was lying. He did not want to invoke the wrath of Perry the Platypus by trying to leave. He just wanted to get this over with. He was tired and he wanted to go home. Having to wait was becoming very tedious.

A slight tug on the bottom of his lab coat snapped Doofenshmirtz out of his inner rantings. When he looked down, he saw that Perry had reappeared, but still wasn't looking at him. Instead, all he was doing was gesturing with his finger for Doofenshmirtz to bend down to his level.

"Oh, no, Perry the Platypus, I am not falling for that again. Last time you did that, I had a broken nose for a week!"

Perry simply shook his head - well, all Doofenshmirtz could see was the fedora turning back and forth - and continued gesturing. When Doofenshmirtz finally gave in and bent down, Perry wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck, burying his face into it. At this, Doofenshmirtz stood up quickly, surprised. But even when Doofenshmirtz was standing straight up, Perry still had not let go. His grip wasn't painful, so it wasn't like he was choking him or anything. It was almost like Perry wanted Doofenshmirtz to hold him.

When Doofenshmirtz realized this, his eyes widened. But then he heard a small sniffling noise in his ear, and he knew exactly why Perry wanted to be held. He was sad and lonely, just like Doofenshmirtz knew he would be. When the boy's had figured out Perry's secret, Perry had probably felt liberated in some way, no longer having to hide a whole part of his life from them. But now that they didn't remember, he probably felt like he was losing a whole relationship with them, and it was probably really lonely to feel like that.

Doofenshmirtz adjusted his arms as much as he could around the hand-cuffs so he was supporting Perry's weight in some way. When he did so, he felt Perry relax a little, now just gently wrapping his arms around Doofenshmirtz's neck. Doofenshmirtz began to gently stroke his soft fur, knowing that just the smallest touch can sometimes be a huge comfort when you feel like this.

But this seemed so out of character for Perry. He usually seemed so tough and resolute, like nothing could bring him down. But apparently, there was something that could bring him down, and that was losing his family. But even as Doofenshmirtz thought of this, he decided that his big plan to capture the boys wasn't such a good idea after all. He didn't want to do anything to make Perry act like this.

Even at the realization of that, Doofenshmirtz didn't seem too surprised. He always considered Perry as more of a friend than a nemesis. He'd said it countless times to other people - Mitch, Norm - and he really meant it. Sure, Perry had his job and Doofenshmirtz had his aspirations, but once those were out of the way, the two usually got along together fairly well. Perry was Doofenshmirtz's only real friend.

"Perry?" Doofenshmirtz finally said, noticing that Perry's sniffles had died down a bit. Perry had let go of his grip around Doofenshmirtz's neck, so Doofenshmirtz took this as a signal that Perry wanted to be put down.

When he was down on the ground, Perry finally looked up at Doofenshmirtz. His eyes were puffy and red, but he had a slight smile on his face, the only way he could communicate "thank you" without words. Doofenshmirtz smiled back.

"I'm so sorry," Doofenshmirtz said. Perry looked up at him in surprise. Since when did Doofenshmirtz care?

Oh, to hell with it. He wasn't going to remember any of what he said anyway. "Ya know, Perry, you may have to keep hiding this side of you from your owners, but you'll never have to hide it from me. I'm never gonna leave you alone. I'll always be there, whenever you need me." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You're my best friend, Perry the Platypus. I could never leave my best friend."

There, he said it. And even though he would forget that he had said, it still felt liberating to know that Perry now knew what he thought about him. Now he just had to see how Perry would react.

Perry didn't do anything at first, instead opting to look at the floor. But after a while, a gentle smile crossed his features, which expressed more than words could ever say. It meant that Perry accepted him, something which had never been done before. Doofenshmirtz smiled happily, grateful of everything.

But of course, Major Monobrow just had to ruin everybody's happiness. Just by him and Carl walking into the room made everything so tense. Perry's and Doofenshmirtz's smiles instantly faded. They both knew what the Major's presence meant. It was time for Doofenshmirtz to get his mind wiped.

Doofenshmirtz bent low, whispering so only Perry could hear. He took Perry's small hand, but because of the way he was bent down, Monogram and Carl couldn't see it. "Don't worry, Perry the Platypus. Remember what I said. Even though I won't remember I said it, it doesn't mean any of it isn't true." Perry just nodded, smiling sadly.

Doofenshmirtz took a deep breath before standing up, ready to face Monogram. "Okay, whenever you're ready, I guess."

Carl guided him to the middle of the Amnesia-inator, backing away quickly once Doofenshmirtz was all set up. Suddenly, a white light filled his vision as Monogram immediately pressed the button, and Doofenshmirtz simply forgot.

Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!