Chapter 6

Night fell and forced all the kids to return to their homes, as they mumbled with disappointment. No one knew what happened to the ride after that, but it didn't bother them. After all, they were finished with it anyway.

Ferb finally came back downstairs once he heard the back door slide open. He saw that Phineas had settled down on the couch. He came over and sat beside him.

"I'm sorry, Phineas."

"Huh? For what?" Phineas asked in confusion.

"For being so rude to you the other day. And for pretending I didn't know you, and for acting so apathetic with you when you were being nothing but curious…."

"It's okay," Phineas interrupted. "I forgive you."

Ferb smiled at Phineas' understanding. "It's just, time travel is dangerous. And I wanted to leave you all out of its risks as much as I could. I've messed time up enough as it is."

Phineas looked down shamefully. "I… I hope you don't mind… that I opened your wallet."

But Ferb just chuckled. "By then you knew it was me anyway. And you could have tipped it upside-down and counted all the cards. I wouldn't have minded."

Phineas looked up in shock as if Ferb had just suggested the unthinkable. "But it's your wallet!"

"Hah, Phineas, you're too nice for your own good," Ferb said as he patted him on the back. "But that's why everyone likes you."

"Daaaaaaad?" Candace hollered from the front room. Ferb and Phineas both looked over to see that she was staring out the front window, with Ferb beside her staring out into the darkness as well.

"Yes, Candace?" their dad called from the kitchen.

"There's some guy standing on our front lawn."

"Who is it?" his voice shouted from the other room.

"I dunno, it's dark and he has a hood over his head," she replied as she squinted through the glass.

Coming in with his hands in a rag, their dad approached the front window as well. "You're right. He's just standing there."

"He's been there for, like, twenty minutes," Candace commented. "Do you think we should call the cops?"

Their dad tossed the rag into the nearby laundry basket and put his forehead on the window with his hands cupped around. "He doesn't look like a burglar."

Curiosity finally overtook Phineas and he succumbed, jumping off the couch and joining his family by the window.

"Huh," he said when he reached them. "He kinda looks familiar."

Ferb had been left alone in the other room, and finally gave in. He moved over to see what the commotion was about, and stood back a little ways to peer over the shoulders of the four other observers.

His heart leapt into his throat and skipped a beat. He whispered a word that went inaudible by the others. "…Phineas….?

"Hmm?" they all said as they turned around to look at Ferb. But he was still staring intently with wide, disbelieving eyes at the figure in the yard.

"THAT'S PHINEAS!" he screamed as he collided with the front door, trying frantically to open it as quickly as he could. He almost tripped over the concrete sidewalk as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards his brother. As soon as he was within reach, Ferb wrapped his arms around him and squeezed just hard enough that he would not break his spine.

"Phineas! I thought you might be gone for good!" Ferb said as he release his grip just slightly.

"I came back! Somehow…" Phineas replied as he returned the hug. "When I did, I didn't even know I had been gone. At least until I realized there was no one else in the garage, and Mom and Dad came out yelling, saying I had been gone for four days."

"Oh, Phineas, I'm sorry. I should have told them something before I left, they must've been worried sick."

"You had me worried sick! When they told me that YOU had been gone for four days too, they had assumed you were with me-wherever I was. I told them you weren't, and… and… nobody knew where you were." Phineas backed away again, but both he and Ferb kept their hands on each other's shoulders.

"Nobody? Didn't Baljeet tell you?" Ferb said with guilt and concern in his voice as he tried to keep his eyes from turning glossy.

"Well yeah, that's when I called him thinking maybe one of our friends knew. Then he… then he told me what you did." Phineas couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and hugging him again. "Thank you, Ferb."

"I'm glad to have done it," Ferb said breathlessly. "I couldn't just leave you… wherever you were."

"And I couldn't just leave you stuck here," he replied. "Which is why I went STRAIGHT to work and made this." Phineas held up a yellow box with a few buttons, dials, and wires sticking out of it.

"What's that?" Ferb inquired as he looked at it.

"A recall remote."

"A recall remote. Phineas, you're a lifesaver. Have I told you you're a genius?"

Candace, their dad, as well as Phineas and Ferb exited the house and had been on the front steps as they watched the scene before them. Eventually, Phineas couldn't keep quiet.

"Hi, Phineas!" he called out as he ran over to the two of them.

"Hey, Phineas!" Phineas replied, reaching down as they high-fived each other.

"We had a blast with Ferb today," Phineas announced. "Are you going to stay with us, too?"

The two teenagers gave each other a glance. "I think we really should be getting home," Ferb explained, but Candace had run into the house.

"Oh, no you don't," she said once she had come back out, flinging a little digital camera in her hand. "Not until I've got photographic evidence."

Phineas turned back with an excited look. "Oh, can we? That would be so cool!"

Ferb rolled his eyes, and looked at his brother. He had the exact same look that the younger Phineas had. "C'mon, Ferb, remember how awesome that would've been when we were 10?"

"Heh, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Ferb grinned, as Candace gathered them all around. The four of them waved and smiled brightly as the camera's flash went off, and immediately Phineas and Ferb ran over to Candace to see how the picture turned out. Satisfied, Phineas looked up to say goodbye, but discovered that the driveway had been left strangely empty.

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All My PnF Fanfics:

PnF: Timeloops (Viewing)

PnF: Ghosts

PnF: Stolen Identity

PnF: Stuck Like Brothers

PnF: Mind Trapped

PnF: Species is a Constant

PnF: Lifeleap (Currently Posting)