Who I Am Inside

Chapter 1: On Instinct

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb. I promise that this story is written only for entertainment and not for profit. I am not making one red cent off of this. The only way that would ever happen is if the producers and writers ever decided to use this idea but I don't think they read Fanfiction stories. If they do, I have this to say: If you use this idea and don't pay me at least a dollar, I'll be very, very sad. My ideas are worth something. Everyone's are.

A/N: Second Phineas and Ferb story ever, first one I ever started writing but the second one I'm posting. Most of the credit for my courage in writing this story goes to TheCuriousWriter who looked over the first few chapters of this story and gave me advice. TCW is also responsible for my passing crush on Doofenshmirtz and the reason why I can now type and spell that name in my sleep… yeah, thanks for that…

Anyway, to make this clear right off the bat; I'm posting this now because I want to see what people think. This story will feature more of Perry the Platypus than my other story which I believe so far has only mentioned him in passing. As pairings go, I will NOT, that N-O-T write slash or anything resembling bestiality EVER (Unless of course, and only in the case of slash or femslash pairing, there was a couple that I actually believed were Homosexual but as of now for this fandom I have no such beliefs). As for Heterosexual pairings you can probably count on me for some pretty good Canderemy in the future. You may see some hints of Phinbella if I'm writing them as little kids and maybe further down the line a future fic with a bit more than hints. I'll probably NEVER write Ferbnessa (even in future fic form) and I'll be pouring on the Linda/Lawrence so be prepared for that.

Okay, this Author's Note will end up longer than this chapter if I don't stop soon but I wanted to get that all out there in the open before any Perryshmirtz fans got their hopes up on this one.

I hope you enjoy this story. Comments and suggestions are most appreciated.

"Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today," Phineas Flynn said as he sat in the back yard, staring at their bikes "Let's have a bike race!"

Ferb nodded, indicating that he thought it was a good idea.

It wasn't long before Phineas had gathered all the neighborhood kids together in their backyard and produced a map showing the route that the race would take. "And we'll complete the first one back to the house wins," he finished.

Candace, who for once decided that what her brother's were up to was not at all bust worthy, was the one who dropped the flag so the race could begin.

The children left in a pack but soon the leaders began to split off from the pack and after a few blocks Phineas found himself with Isabella in front of him, far in front of him, and Ferb, Baljeet and Buford behind him. A block or so later and Buford had pulled ahead so that he was just behind Isabella. Another block found Baljeet making a surprise surge that placed him almost neck and neck with Buford.

Phineas and Ferb were left in fourth and fifth place. As Phineas rounded the corner onto the street opposite the news stand he could see that the front three racers had already gotten across the street safely. He and Ferb were neck and neck as they stopped to look both ways at the intersection.

It appeared safe enough so Phineas started across. He was nearly to the other side of the street when a car came hurtling through the intersection, hitting the bike.

"Phineas!" a lone scream from the boy on the bike just behind him was suddenly all that could be heard as the limp form of the boy who had been struck flew through the air.

XXX

Heinz Doofenshmirtz loathed paying a dollar and twenty five cents for his morning paper but he had to admit that he did enjoy the brisk morning walk to the newsstand that sat a jaunty three blocks from his building. He was perusing the available magazines and wondering if it was worth it to buy coffee at the café or if he should just make some sort of inator to steal all the coffee in the Tri-State Area so that people would have to pay him for their morning coffee when he heard the sickening screech of metal on metal and a boy screaming a name at the top of his lungs.

He turned just in time to see a limp red headed body land on the street, a car, the car that had hit the boy, speeding away, not even slowing. He took note that the boy who had been hit was already unconscious and could not have been the one who screamed and who was still calling out the same name. He took note that a green haired boy, appearing absolutely distraught, was still sitting atop a bike in the street, the other boy appeared unharmed.

Doofenshmirtz took all this in within a fraction of a second. By the next fraction of a second he was moving. He ripped off his lab coat immediately and used it to stem the blood that was flowing from the small body and pooling on the pavement.

He checked the boy's pulse and found that there was none. None, none whatsoever. Now Doofenshmirtz was not the type of doctor who would have been trained to treat a dying child. However, many years ago when his then wife had told him that she was pregnant, the evil scientist had taken the time to learn infant, child and adult CPR along with several other lifesaving techniques. He had still kept up with the training over the years and now he used it.

He compressed the boy's chest and gave him rescue breaths before once again checking the pulse. Still there was no sign of life from the child. Again, he compressed the boy's chest and gave him rescue breaths and there was no reward when he went to feel for a pulse.

Again, he repeated the procedure and finally there his efforts were rewarded with a flicker of life beneath his fingers. The boy let out a raspy cough and he managed to open his eyes a fraction.

The newsstand owner had called an ambulance and as the boy looked up at Doofenshmirtz in confusion and clearly in pain, the ambulance's sirens could be heard in the distance. It wasn't long before the noise seemed to return to the area. Passersby started to murmur and many of them were pointing at Doofenshmirtz.

The ambulance arrived and the boy was loaded into the back of it. The green haired boy had wanted to go with him but the EMTs had blocked his way, telling him that he would just get in the way and the best thing he could do was go home and let his parents know what had happened to his brother.

Doofenshmirtz watched as the boy turned to look at him with a look of gratitude in his eyes. A random woman passing by on the street pointed at Doofenshmirtz and shouted "He's a hero! I saw him save that boy's life!"

The green haired boy grabbed Doofenshmirtz's hand and whispered two words that were barely audible above the rising chatter among the onlookers at they closed in around the man with admiring gazes.

Doofenshmirtz ran then. He ran all the way back to his apartment. He had saved a life. He had done an ultimate act of goodness. This was terrible. This was awful. This was in total conflict with his personality, wasn't it?

Yet once he was safe inside the solitude of his apartment and could sink into the sofa cushions knowing that no one would be following him here to praise him, the soft words of that green haired boy echoed through his mind.

"Thank you."

And he hated himself because the knowledge that there was a boy on his way to the hospital, who wouldn't be alive if not for him, made him feel good.