A/N: Thank you so much for all of the fantastic support! Especially 1Ninja2Kat3 gosh, I'm touched! Honestly, I'm so very humbled, thank you!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still do not own Phineas and Ferb

In the days that followed, Vanessa and Ferb met with increasing regularity. They met with less intentionality than a kind of innate draw to one another; they would stumble into one another's path almost serendipitously. It became a kind of running joke between the pair. Ferb would raise his eyebrows suspiciously, as if to question her continued presence in the city, to which Vanessa would reply with an offhand remark about how he must be growing sick of her.

Of course, he never did. In fact, he grew more and more appreciative of her presence each time she smiled at him or opened up about some detail in her life.

His infatuation reached a level of uncharacteristic obviousness that even his friends began to notice. His agent remarked one night (they had been out at a bar, celebrating his film's recent success), that the famous heart-breaker of L.A. must be losing his touch after Ferb turned away not one, but two attractive women who'd approached him. Ferb merely chuckled, but his face had revealed the depth of emotion behind his façade. For someone so widely known for keeping to himself, Ferb shocked his agent by wearing his emotions plain on his sleeve.

Vanessa, similarly, found herself in a better mood than she'd been in for years. She felt so freed by her detachment from her former, evil ways, she was positively giddy—an emotion foreign to the chronically sullen woman. But it was short lived. The isolated bubble she'd encased herself in ruptured quite suddenly one afternoon, about three days after her arrival, with a phone call.

"Ma'am, I apologize for interrupting your, umm, vacation," her assistant sounded timid, but with a hint of resentment and disapproval in her voice. "but there's been some complications."

Vanessa frowned, her instincts kicking in. "What's going on?" she probed.

"We've had some clients express their concern over your absence." Her voice was firm now. "People are beginning to question how well E.I. can function without your management. Our numbers are dropping, fast. Many of your employees have received job offers with your competitors, particularly from Aloyse Everheart Elizabeth Otto Wolfgang Hypatia Gunther Galen Gary Cooper von Roddenstein."

"Wait a minute." Something clicked when the woman used Rodney's full name. "You're switching companies, aren't you?"

Her assistant hesitated. When she continued, there was a sudden harshness and determination in her tone. "I'm just not sure staying with E.I. would be the best for my career, given current circumstances. And," she added callously. "I'm not the only one who thinks so."

Vanessa stood, mouth agape, completely taken aback by the lack of loyalty from her own personnel. "Well, that's probably appropriate," she snapped. "considering the fact that, as of tomorrow, Evil Incorporated will no longer exist." It was a snap decision that shocked even Vanessa. But as soon as she said it, she knew it was true. She was done with that evil part of her life.

"You can't be serious!" She sounded incredulous. "What about all of your clients? Your employees? What about your father?" Venom bit deep into her tone and Vanessa recoiled at the sudden fierceness in her usually docile assistant. "I've seen the records," she continued. "I know just how much of our capitol gets invested in his little side projects. I know you're just placating him, but did you ever consider how much he relies on you? You know what? I'm not surprised—this is just like you, Miss. Doofenshmirtz. Whenever you decided to do something, you just go ahead and do it—no consideration at all for the people around you who may care about you, who may depend on you for something. So, you know what? Have a lovely vacation, ma'am. I hope you get that advice you wanted and 'find yourself' or whatever. It's been a pleasure." Click.

Vanessa stood, dumbfounded, listening to the dial tone for a solid two minutes. She couldn't believe what just happened. But there was some part of her that did recognize a bit of truth in those statements. Hadn't the point of traveling here been to get advice about assuaging her own guilt? And yet, all she'd done since she'd arrived was relax in the city, distancing herself from her problems instead of facing them. And her father…

She hadn't given a single thought about what giving up this business would do to him, not only financially, but emotionally as well. Something heavy settled in the pit of her stomach. This was so like her. Looking back on her life, she recognized this fatal character flaw. So there's a problem? Don't confront it, don't solve it: just complain or tune it out like she used to do with loud headphones and a slammed bedroom door whenever something didn't go her way.

"God," she muttered, running a hand through her hair, heat rising to her cheeks. "What the hell have I done?" She'd been trying to prove something to herself: that she wasn't evil, that she could stick to her guns. Instead, she'd only proved how self-absorbed and incompetent she was.

Fuming, Vanessa made for the door, intent on going for a drive to clear her head, but when she pulled it open, she found a figure in her path. Ferb stood in her doorway, arm raised mid-knock, a single rose in his free hand. Upon noticing the distress in her features, he frowned and gestured to retreat into her hotel room. Vanessa paused, then swung the door open and let him inside. What the hell, she thought.

They sat on the loveseat in front of the television, which remained turned off. Vanessa sighed and Ferb waited patiently for her to speak. "Remember how I told you about taking over my dad's business?" she began. Ferb nodded. "I don't want to go back to that, Ferb. I don't want to be evil, you know? But it's not that simple. My assistant just chewed me out over the phone…I never thought Lacey felt that way. She called me selfish, more or less, and she's right. Abandoning the company means that I abandon my dad. I know he's evil and all, but he's still my dad. I just don't know what the right thing to do is…" She hung her head, conflicted. Ferb reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Vanessa…" She looked up, meeting his gaze. His bright eyes shined into hers, stirring up a curious feeling in her stomach. "Sometimes the right thing to do is not always apparent. Your father loves you, he will always love you—evil or not. You just have to be able to live with yourself. Personally," Ferb paused, lifting his hand from her shoulder to lightly brush away the hair falling in her face and tuck it behind her ear. Shivers ran up her spine. "I must confess that I've always had a bit of a weakness for the villain…"

Ferb leaned in slowly, tipping her chin up gently with a brush of his fingers. Then he lightly touched his lips to hers.

A/N: Ahhh! It finally happened! Please, please, please, please, review with your thoughts