Death Wish! That's right, I'm writing not one, but two stories at the same time! Am I crazy? Yes. Insane? Most likely, but it shall be done! Other people can do it, so can I!

For a brief second all movement, noise and breathing stopped. No clock could be heard ticking in the room next door, nor the volume of the T.V as the figures inside jumped to avoid a building explosion, the ceiling fan became frozen in time as it stood still in mid-spin and to Perry Platynis; it felt like his lungs just got completely sucked out of his body. He forgot how to breathe.

"Sir?"

"Y-yeah I'm still here. Sorry." His raspy voice answered the character on the other line of the phone. His left hand started to shake as he tried his hardest to keep a steady grip on the utensil.

"Sir, do you understand why we called you?"

Perry found it extremely difficult to answer. He knows, he knows why they called him at this hour of the night, he knows because he just heard it. If he hadn't of heard it he would never have known. Instead he would have just stayed sprawled on his bed, snacking away watching an action flick he doesn't even remember the name to and just finish the day off as another regular, normal, boring work day.

Perry Platynis is a detective. Not a private detective no, he would never be able to handle the strange, and abnormal investigations individuals hire someone to do. No, he is a police detective and he works for the Danville Police Department. This doesn't necessarily mean he puts on a trench coat with a fancy deerstalking hat and carries a magnifying glass like Sherlock Holmes with a trusty sidekick doctor named John Watson standing by his side. The closest thing to a Watson that he has is the next door neighbor's cat, but even then it's just using him for treats, hardly loyal at all.

His work typically involves putting cases together that get thrown on his desk and figure out where downtown drug dealers tend to hide, not once using his licensed hand gun, which he is thankful for. The most his work demanded was the occasional missing civilian and trying to piece the clues together before the 48 hour window closes, and he has to admit even that tends to leave one feeling uneasy.

And now, if it wasn't for this call, this day would have been like any other day in his life.

It would have been, had it not been for this call.

"Y-yes, I understand, but-?"

"Sir, we need you to come down and pick him up. The boy has no other guardians and you are the only living relative in the states. He doesn't need strangers taking care of him, he needs a family member."

"Well, y-yes I get that but I-"

How can he reply to that? How can anyone reply to that? The boy doesn't need strangers, he needs family. Everyone needs family, that's one thing you can't go on living without, but the thing is, he's hardly ever seen his family outside his mother and father. There was the occasional visit from Uncle Lawrence when he was seven years old but then when his uncle moved to America it all became a faint memory. He knows nothing of them outside of that. He didn't know they had a son, he didn't even know he had a cousin until now! He is a stranger!

Still, he is family, and the one thing his momma imprinted on his head is never abandon family. He's not about to start disobeying her now.

"I understand, I'll be there as soon as I can." He finally replied, gaining the confidence and strength he needed for the situation.

"Thank you sir, we're waiting at Gateway Park Asylum."

Perry quickly slammed the phone back in its socket and made his way towards the door out of his room. His apartment complex isn't anything fancy, nor is it cheap; it's built to house a single human comfortably and without hassle or complaint. He has the basics, a fully functioning kitchen, living room furnished with a family and single couch, a table fit for two (If there was another), a bathroom in the middle of the intersection from living room and bedroom that he just walked out of that has a walk-in closet companion.

As he got his keys from the table and put his shoes on near the doorway outside, a thought came to mind, where is his cousin going to sleep? He only had one bedroom in the apartment and was never planning on housing a child anytime soon.

He decided he will figure it out when they get back, right now his cousin needs him and he has an hour drive to start. Grabbing his coat and practically running out the door, Perry slammed it shut and made his way towards his black Nissan Altima, fixing his jacket over his shoulders and jumping in.

Since it was almost midnight the roads were empty of pedestrians and vehicles with a few stragglers here and there. Perry was speeding through intersections, roads and curves, not caring if he got stopped by one of his fellow coworkers. They will understand his situation.

With his speed Perry managed to make it to the Gateway Park Asylum Building in forty minutes top, rushing inside and looking around for any sign of a child or adult standing next to one.

The lobby of the building was filled with green armchairs of different sizes and shapes. On the set far to the left he could see a woman leaning over, placing her arm comfortingly around a child that placed his head downwards, his eyes and face obscured by his green bangs messily flopping over.

He walked closer to them. The pair was the only set in the lobby that matched what he was currently searching for, and he was positive that these two are the lady from the phone and his little cousin.

The lady looked over at him, seeing a figure inching closer and instantly recognizing the man. The folder with information on one Perry Platynis also has a picture of the man and right now she can recognize those brown, oval eyes and teal hair anywhere.

She maneuvered her way to him, avoiding the chairs on her path and greeting the man with a tired smile. "Mr. Platynis I presume?"

The man took her hand and shook, nodding. "Yes, that would be me. I'm sorry for making you both wait."

"Not at all, I was willing to wait all night with him if I had to, but seeing that you're here at last he can finally have as much of a proper rest as he can. I'm Mrs. Kennel."

Their hands loosened from each other's grip and both fell softly on their sides. Now that he was finally here Perry felt a little silly. He rushed out the door so quickly without a care in the world about his outfit. When they called him he was already in his night pajamas and ready for a rest, his pajamas are just a plain set of black silk pants and a long sleeved shirt with a single button on the top. Nothing embarrassing but hardly a respectable picture to represent ones 'self to someone wearing a suit and about to give him a responsibility he isn't prepared for.

"So how is he?" He finally asked.

"He's doing fine, tired from this whole nightmare and distant from everyone. It's expected of everyone going through the same ordeal no matter their age, but still heartbreaking to see.

Perry nods. It's always heartbreaking, he's seen it more than once and could never imagine the pain the victims and family go through, but now that it's happening to him, he has no idea where to even start.

"So what happens now?"

Kennel looked at him with a professional eye. "Now we give you temporary guardianship of the boy until we can look into this deeper. We tried looking for any relatives that the parents would have wanted their son to be looked after by, but they didn't list anyone. We looked outside of the states and found the father's brother but they still reside out of the country. By chance we found you and to our relief you lived just a city down."

She quickly pulling out a business card from her breast pocket and held it up to him. "We understand that this all was just thrown on your lap without warning but we believe this would be the best for him. You won't be alone however, one of our workers will come and visit by to make sure everything is okay and until we find a suitable home for him, he is under your care."

Perry slowly accepted the small, silver card, looking it over he saw the woman's full name and business number along with her personal number.

"If you ever need anything I'll be a dial away. Do not hesitate to call if something happens." She finished off with a look of hope and relief. Just their luck that they managed to find someone for the boy, something good happened on this day of misery.

Perry nodded at her. "Can I go see him now?"

"Of course." She quickly turned to the side and lifted her left arm in a continue motion, ushering for him to go to the boy.

Perry hesitantly walked towards him, every step taken cautiously, as if one sudden step would startle the boy and cause him to vanish. The boy didn't vanish though, even after he was only three steps away from him.

The child still had his head downwards, his eyes looking at the ground distantly, red and puffy from all his crying and tear trails running from the bottom of his eyes to the lower part of his cheeks. His body looked about right for a four year old, draped with a soft yellow shirt and blue shorts, his feet barely even touching the floor, just hanging numbly. His hair was a mess, or at least he thought it was a mess, it spiked upwards, left and right, it just spiked everywhere and he didn't know if that's how his hair is naturally or if the child is in desperate need of a hair brush.

But the hair, there is no mistaking it, green hair. Abnormal colored hair runs in his family, it's not uncommon, in fact his father had a pine green color going on before his age caught up to him and started turning it into a pistachio shade (One that Perry fears will happen one day), grand pappy had a forest green, great aunt Eleanor obtained a rare lime color, all their hair had one thing in common that distinguish them as relatives from everybody else, they all relate with the color green.

Perry has teal hair; the child has green hair, different shades, different color values, but still family, the green family.

A small purple backpack rested on the chair's side, it puffed outwards ready to explode at any minute from having so many materials inside. Looks to be the only items the boy has gotten.

Perry crouched next to him once he was close enough and just looked at the boy. The boy he didn't even know existed about an hour ago and yet here he sat in front of him, crying his heart out and miserable. How do you even start to comfort someone like that?

"H-hey there little guy, I'm your cousin Perry." The boy remained unresponsive.

"Do you have a name? What should I call you?" Perry didn't know why he was asking the boy this since he already knew his name over the phone but he had to start a conversation somewhere.

It worked, the boy started to stir a little, mumbling something so faint he couldn't decipher it.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"F-Ferb."

"Ferb? Your name is Ferb then?" The boy nodded.

"Alright Ferb, I'm here to take you to my house, to our home. I have a T.V if you want to watch cartoons but since it's so late at night we're going to bed as soon as we touch the carpet, alright?" Perry tried lightening the mood however little one could in situations like this.

He got a small nod as his response.

"Then let's go, shall we?" Perry stood straight again and started walking towards the exit, turning back to make sure the boy was following him.

Ferb lagged behind, not once lifted his head from the ground and swaying side to side from the weight of the bag.

"Would you like help with your backpack?" Perry offered.

The boy shook his head and only cuddled the thing closer to his side, walking on ahead of him.

"Thank you for this Mr. Platynis." Mrs. Kennel waved them off. "Have a good night."

Perry waved back at her. "You too Mrs. Kennel."

He followed after Ferb in the parking lot, only gaining the lead once he found he didn't even know which car to go to. Sitting inside with the doors locked and double-checking the seat-belts were firmly in place Perry started the car and began the one hour long drive back to his apartment, the music from the radio becoming their only source of sound.

Where does one start in all this? How do you comfort a child that has just lost his parents earlier in the day? Perry is a detective, he pieces together clues, solves puzzles and patterns and catches the bad guys red-handed while rescuing civilians. He doesn't comfort them nor does he find himself giving them a home. This is all new to him.

A particular song came on the radio, maybe music will help him? "Hey look, it's the Bieber kid, do you like Justin Bieber?" From what Perry understood from the younger generation, or at least from the girl generation is that Bieber was a big hit, maybe his cousin likes it?

Ferb remained unresponsive.

Perry sighed. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan either." He quickly flicked through the radio stations trying to find at least one decent song. He found it on a station that seemed to be having a tribute to the 80's and it was still going. The song he would recognize anywhere, it was, is a classic in the Uk and basically his infanthood. We Will Rock You by Queen.

He wanted with all his might to let the song continue but he didn't know if Ferb would appreciate it. Something about the younger generation saying this music is too old or out of date for them. Before he could change it however, he found a small hand wrapped itself around his wrist, not fully enclosing it around nor having a tight grip. He turned to face where the hand came from and found Ferb, even though he wasn't exactly looking at him, had faced towards him. His look still obscured from his hair but the message loud and clear. Leave it there.

And so Perry did, he left Queen continue their song undisturbed, the tension from the car lifting slightly and pressure from his shoulders lessening.

Twenty minutes into the ride Perry discovered that Ferb had fallen asleep on his seat. Head leaning on the handle of the car, his feet huddled together on the seat and his arms wrapped around protectively on his backpack. The poor kid must be exhausted from the day, he would be too.

Slowing the speed of the car to lessen the intensity of the bumps and cracks of the road and lowering the music's volume Perry relaxed the rest of the way, A-Ha's Take On Me playing on the station.

Perry's apartment came into view, and before Perry knew it he was awakening Ferb from his slumber and motioned him to his home. Ferb rubbed his tired eyes from some of the left over tears that had dried and became all scrappy on his cheeks. Jumping out of the car and following after Perry, backpack swaying back and forth.

Thankfully, Perry lived on the first floor so they didn't have to go through the hassle of climbing multiple flights of stairs, he opened his front door and welcomed Ferb in. The boy just stood beside the door awkwardly, clutching his backpack for dear life.

"Sorry that I don't have a proper room for you but you can have my bed, I'll just sleep on the couch. It's actually really comfortable, I find myself sleeping on it more than the actual bed anyways."

Perry motioned for Ferb to follow him and he led the boy into his room, showing him the bathroom as they passed by it. "Here's the bathroom so when you're ready freshen up and let's hit the hay okay?"

Still no response.

Instead of ushering the boy to do things Perry decided it would be best for him to work on his own speed. Maybe he needs to adjust to the new environment? Looking around the room he has to admit it doesn't look suited to house a child one bit. No bright colors, no toys, no bean bag chairs. Just a normal, boring, business looking apartment. They would have to go on a shopping spree tomorrow.

Letting the boy work on his own pace Perry went ahead and started preparing himself for bed, turning off the T.V he left on when he rushed out the door, freshening up in the bathroom and brushing away until finally grabbing a blanket and a few pillows and heading towards his destination on the family sized couch.

He wasn't lying when he said the couch is really comfortable. He's slept on it so many times he lost count in comparison to the bed which he only sleeps on about four to five months every year.

Looking over to his bedroom door one more time to make sure his cousin is doing alright Perry saw the lights were already off. Following suit he turned off the light from the ceiling in the living room and proceeded to fall asleep.

He woke up suddenly during the night for some unknown reason. Looking over at the time he found he only slept for thirty minutes and slumped back down with a sigh, it was going to be one of those stubborn nights.

He failed to notice a small figure standing beside him from the couch until said figure shifted slightly to the right. Leaping up at the sudden movement Perry quickly flicked the light on from the small lamp placed on top of a mantel near the couch and turned to face the figure.

Little Ferb stood there and for a brief second Perry managed to see his face clear of his hair, his cousin has big, rounded, deep navy blue eyes and a fairly large square shaped nose, but before he could observe more of his face, Ferb ducked his head downward again, obscuring his sight. His fingers twirled against each other and tugged at the bottom of his pajama shirt, shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

"Oh hey Ferb, you scared me for a second buddy. Is something wrong?"

Ferb didn't answer; instead his hands started to grip his shirt tighter and twisted the fabric more, wrinkling it.

Perry wasn't a professional in body behavior but he knew enough to understand, Ferb didn't want to be alone. And after what he's been through today he couldn't blame him.

"Tell you what, I'll go to the room with you and keep an eye out, how's that sound?"

He let go of the fabric from his shirt and nodded.

The older man got to work on getting his pillows and blankets from the couch, flicking the light off and leading the way back inside the bedroom. Ferb jumped onto the queen bed as soon as they entered and took up the left side, Perry fixing his pillow and draping the blanket over another before adjusting himself inside the coverage, making sure to keep as close to the edge as possible to give his cousin more room before turning off the light.

A few minutes into the night he felt a shift on the bed, Ferb had scooted closer to him. Perry had faced towards the outer side of the bed so his back faced towards his cousin, which was now hugged by him.

This broke his heart, what the child must be going through in order for him to want comfort from a complete stranger, a family member he's never even heard of. These are dark times for any child; any person for that matter, but the impact is twice as hard.

Perry softly maneuvered the arms away from his back and turned inward to face him, trying his best to not accidently squish him, wrapping his free arm around the tiny body. Ferb instantly cuddled closer the moment his arm touched him, face burying inside his chest and small hands gripping his shirt. This encouraged Perry to wrap him tighter, show him he is not alone, that nothing is going to happen; nothing will happen because he will be there for him, will protect Ferb and make sure he is okay.

This would have been a normal, boring day for Perry Platynis, had it not been for a phone call.