Not Even Me

Cezille07

A/N: Hello everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity thank y'all again for the success of "The Full Force of Time." Thanks for all the feedback (and tears), and for prodding me to do a sequel. ^^

I've never really done a sequel in my life for two reasons: One, I get tired of a plot after being so absorbed in it, and move on to other fanfic ideas before I even draft a complete outline. (Besides, the original plot more or less contains all the emotional stuff I want in it anyway.) Two, well...no one's ever asked. ;)

Now that that issue's covered, I'd like to remind people that sequels aren't a look-back on the previous storyline, not a reiteration, but a continuation. I realize I did leave a lot of hanging questions last time. For one, Monogram won't stop until Doof, who he believes killed Perry, is legally apprehended; so what drastic measures is he gonna take? What will Vanessa do about Monogram...and for her mourning father? What about Phineas and Ferb? We never got to find out how they dealt with permanently losing Perry. And Perry...has he really left his nemesis...or perhaps even Time can never break them apart? ;D

Disclaimer: "Phineas and Ferb" (and all related characters, trademarks, etc) belong to Disney. "The Full Force of Time," however, is mine. ;D

Chapter 1. Feather Touch.

Afraid?

He had never been afraid. Not counting, of course, the handful of times Heinz actually came close to endangering the boys. No, there were only a couple of instances when anxiety—and he still denied the term "fear"—gripped him:

The first time happened years ago. For all the blocking out he did to focus on his job, the details couldn't elude him. His father had taken him that spring morning to the riverbank. The whole forest was alive with color and sound, and various other species kept greeting them a happy spring. It was about his second spring alive, he mused as his father discussed the difference between good worms and bad worms.

"Focus, Perry," his father said. "You're going to do this without me and survive, eventually."

"I'm listening, dad," Perry answered bitterly. He had never liked having his parents tell him about life being short, about someday fending for himself and for his two sisters. He briefly wondered what they were doing at home.

"Alright. Now observe this earthworm, see how—"

Then a piercing scream cut through the air; an eye's blink and they both raced back to the burrow. Perry peeked through the last bush at the streamers hanging at the entrance. A pastry scent, much like...a cake's, wafted toward him. What was going on? A party?

...His first birthday!

But his father was suddenly gripping his shoulders. "Get back to the river, swim as far as you can downstream, and never look back," he said.

"Why?" asked the young platypus, but before he was answered, his father pushed him towards the river and charged at two humans pointing guns at his mother. Perry didn't know what guns were, then, but the sound of that one bang, and the sudden streak of warm, dark red blood on his father's chest, scared him enough to obey the ambiguous request.

No one mentioned that when he came home hours later, utterly exhausted and worried about what he had witnessed, that only the ruined burrow and his family's blood spattered all over would greet him.

The second instance...happened just now, as he watched Doofenshmirtz embracing his lifeless body.

"C-curse you..."

It rolled right out of his tongue, like he'd intended. With difficulty, true, but it was all he needed to start.

"Curse you," he repeated. He inhaled, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Curse you!"

The words echoed in the hall lit only by a faded moon. Heinz felt himself tremble, but biting his lip, he ignored the shaking and went on to cry one more time, "Curse you...Perry the platypus."

Finally, his knees gave way, and he fell into a crumpled sit. "Perry the platypus..." he whispered. Two more tears dripped off his long nose, into a drying puddle. Now the room felt intensely quiet. He needed to scream again, to remind himself that he was still alive somehow, just alone...again.

"...You're unfair."

Without loosening his hold on the platypus still in his arms, he lay down on the purple-carpeted floor of his living room. Another set of droplets for the tear puddle about him. Doofenshmirtz ran his fingers along the short length of Perry's static body, shivering as he did so. Goosebumps suddenly covered him.

Sure, it had only been fourteen hours. It just hadn't sunken in yet. Every part of him wanted to throw this fake doll outside the window. He had been holding it for over half a day; right then, in the eerie stillness of two in the morning, the object looked very real, so believable. It just might be Perry, but his entire being simply rejected the idea.

Perry can't be dead.

Perry the platypus didn't just leave the scene like this, after making him feel so human, his entire emotion set fully functional: excitement, shame, fear, appreciation, friendship. How did a platypus do that? How could a platypus do that?

Heinz, still with a violent shudder, sat up again and gazed at Perry. He looked just like he was asleep. Peaceful.

"Curse you...how dare you leave me alone?"

There was a scream from somewhere shockingly close. Vanessa's eyes shot open, her chest rising and falling quickly. She glanced at her bedside table where her iPod sat charging. It only needed a slight press on the Home button to show her the time. Two in the morning. Groaning, she realized that the scream that woke her up was her own.

It was a terrible nightmare, and not the first one that night. All of them had contained Perry by far.

"Vanessa, honey, are you alright?" Charlene appeared behind Vanessa's unlocked bedroom door. She rubbed sleepiness off her eyes and studied her daughter's quick breathing. "A bad dream?"

"Yeah," replied Vanessa as she unplugged her iPod charger. She had left it running since they arrived home before supper. "I'm, uhh, sorry I woke you up."

"Oh honey, never mind that. Would you like me to get you a glass of water, dear?"

"No, thanks." Vanessa looked at her mother and sighed. "I'm okay." Her arm mechanically grabbed a picture from under her pillow; it was one of her earlier birthday parties, where she and her father were together, albeit with some resentment on her part at the time. Charlene saw either that motion, or her daughter's suddenly sentimental face, that she left without another word.

Vanessa pulled the covers over her head and curled up, staring at that photo. She was barely seven years old then, wearing a striped party hat and a helium balloon. Behind her stood Heinz, holding her shoulders proudly. She had seen him display stronger, happier smiles, most of them in the middle of an evil scheme at DEI. However, something about this pose reminded her of every failed birthday party, and every failed birthday party reminded her of the only successful one.

Which brought her mind back to Perry.

She emerged from under the covers and allowed her eyes to adjust. Once she was certain Charlene was asleep, she crept downstairs to sneak a phone call to someone else who needed to stop thinking about the platypus.

He had been so at peace with the world. There was nothing but the warmest feather touch of a blanket—every sensory percept was shut down except for this immense happiness, this permanent embrace. For what felt like eternity, he could but savor the pulsing joy of the experience.

And it all ended with a telephone ring.

His eyes jolted open, and though his every power tried to scream, no sound came from him. If he moved, the motion was sluggish and rigid. Afraid? Yes, Perry was afraid. He didn't understand what was happening...what happened...to him.

But then the blanket would calm him again. He looked up to see Heinz still crying, and shivering quite violently, with a lifeless platypus in the threshold of his arms.

A/N: As you can see, we've still got a ton of drama comin' up ahead, so don't go anywhere! Please leave a review and tell me what you think so far. :D