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Ferb stared at his brother through the glass, it was an experiment from one of the villains of town. Separate those closest to eachother so they'd do anything to get back to the other- including work for the- the... asshole. What Ferb had been told was that every few days they'd be allowed to see how the other was doing via a remote controlled 'window'. Ferb had figured out a while ago that it was just a screen, his brother wasn't anywhere near him.
Phineas was staring down at the ground, counting the cracks silently, it was uncharacteristic of him, being so quiet- but he couldn't help it. He kept thinking about what had happened. He and his brother had been brought here by Jeremy- of course they trusted him, but they hadn't realized that it wasn't actually him until it was too late. Ferb had been taken from him, Phineas had fought as he got dragged down the hall, screaming for his brother.
He'd spent the last two hours in this room screaming and crying and begging for his brother back, it'd made his throat hurt, so he was quiet now, occasionally getting up and pacing around, hitting his hands against his thighs as a nervous stim.
Ferb just watched his brother start to break, it wasn't surprising to him how quickly it happened, in only a span of maybe four hours, Phineas was curled up in a corner with his head in his knees. He heard the door open behind him, and the Fletcher turned quickly, glaring at the person who had come to bring him food. He didn't try to run, if he got hurt then Phineas would blame himself for not being there.
"Ferb?" Phineas' head shot up at the door opening, and he practically flew across the room in a desperate attempt to get past the person who'd come in. His wrist was grabbed, he was slammed against the wall, and something was pressed against his side. Phineas cried out in pain as he lost control of his limbs, shocks running through his body and causing him to convulse uncontrollably as he was dropped. The door shut, leaving the Flynn laying there, still twitching and trying to stop the feeling of pins and needles.
Ferb had watched this happen, a scared look in his eyes. The screen shut off immediately after, and Ferb swallowed down bile, they were gonna hurt Phineas everytime he tried to escape- but Phineas was stubborn and- Ferb took a few steps back, hands tangling themselves in his hair as he realized. If Phineas wasn't careful, he wouldn't come out of this alive.
--
A few days had passed. Phineas had tried to run out every single time they came to give him food, and every time he was left twitching on the ground, curled up afterwards and eventually starting to cough up blood thanks to the electricity messing with his organs. He wouldn't stop trying- he had to get to Ferb, even if they didn't bring him food as much now, he could run on only one meal a day- not like he ate it.
It felt wrong eating or doing anything normal without Ferb, Phineas knew he should be taking care of himself, but the worry plaguing his mind told him that everything was wrong, that Ferb might be dead and he was wasting time and energy by eating and sleeping and he didn't need it he needed to find out how to escape
Ferb had eaten, slept, and generally took care of himself, but his silence became more than his regular silence, he had felt the emotions drain out of him as the days passed. He only kept himself at an okay state for the event of having to break Phineas out- he knew his brother well enough to know that he would've dropped any thought of keeping himself alive if he didn't know Ferb was okay.
He curled up on the little sleeping bag he'd gotten for being well behaved, pulling the cover over himself and staring at the wall. He had to think, he could do something if he just tried, but he was losing the energy to even hope. "stay alive phin" he whispered, fiddling with the front of his shirt. He heard the door open, seeing food get placed down.
"...is he okay?" he asked after a minute, and the man stopped, staring at the kid who was now sitting up in bed. "...Your brother is fine, just a troublemaker." and the door shut, Ferb felt tears welling up in his eyes, and after a moment he had his head in his hands, that was hardly enough reassurance, but even hearing that Phineas was okay was enough for him right now.
--
A week now, maybe two. Phineas didn't know. He had eaten limitedly- if only to keep himself alive- but he hadn't stopped trying to break out, tried to find any loose part of the wall, tried to break the screen- succeeded, but that only left him realizing now he would never be able to see Ferb. He was sitting against the wall, mumbling to himself.
"Just gotta figure something out, Ferb is fine, Ferb is always fine, we'll both get out of this alive and okay and we won't surrender because we're smart and- Ferb will be fine- everything's alright.." he rocked back and forth where he sat, he could tell that his body wanted to cry, but by now he'd cried himself out. An hour of this went by before Phineas eventually fell asleep, slumping over to the side.
Ferb had slipped his necklace out by now- the matching locket that he and Phineas got when they were little, the only with Perry in it. He wore it around his neck, staring at it quietly, he had stopped eating now- and had barely slept for a day or two now. He was starting to get to the point of being willing to surrender. He just wanted his brother back.
He leaned against the wall, looking up at the ceiling and tightening his grip on the locket. He felt empty, it was wrong. He was the more emotional one of the two, all their friends knew this. He wondered how Phineas was doing, if he was overreacting still, if he was still alive. Ferb kind of doubted it, but even letting that thought cross his mind left him nearly breaking into a sob, so he forced it back.
--
A month? Maybe more? Phineas had kept fighting, nonstop, a burn was forming on both his sides, and he was stuck sitting where he was because of how strong the shocks had gotten- and how often. He couldn't think properly anymore, his heart was always beating loud enough for him to hear it. It hurt, every inch of him hurt all the time, but he kept fighting, kept trying to get out, no matter the consequences.
He wanted Ferb back- he just wanted his brother back. He wasn't going to give up, he was Phineas Flynn and he wasn't going to give up because he never ever ever gave up.
He had tried one more time, trying to crawl out, grab the guys knee to yank him down, and the taser had been pressed to his back, full blast. Phineas had felt a stutter in his chest, and his vision dotted as he fell, his hands automatically going to his chest, where was his heartbeat? He was twitching weakly again but he couldn't feel it.
Phineas stared blankly up at the ceiling, where was he? He couldn't remember. There was somebody panicking, and he kept coughing- he tasted blood, and a moment later, he was being picked up by somebody, taken somewhere. He whined softly, he didn't recognize them. and after a minute, he forced a scream out his body, feeling his breathing stutter again.
Ferb heard the scream when the door opened, and that was when he acted, he'd dodged the taser when he bolted past, and was running down the hallway at full speed, he almost tackled the person carrying his brother, he could see Phineas' feet and hands twitching and smell blood and-
He leaped up on the persons back, and his fingers went to the nerve in their neck- knock them down, catch Phineas- catch Phin...eas,
Ferb stared at his brother, his shirt was covered in blood, he looked malnourished and like he hadn't slept and his shirt was ripped and looked burnt and his sides looked like they'd been hit a million times and- he was twitching uncontrollably, he didn't seem like he could breathe. Think. Think think think think-
Ferb just started running, he had to get out before he could do anything else. He felt Phineas' hand against his chest, it felt so small, had his brother always been this small? "It's okay, Phineas." he soothed, though he wasn't sure his brother could hear him.
He slid under the legs of one of their captors, looking around desperately, think think think think- dart through the room, slide under a table, jump onto a windowsill, keep Phineas close. Ferb pulled himself up with his free hand weakly, keeping Phineas close to his chest. Think, okay.
He took his locket back out and flicked it until the laser part popped out. Cut through the window, jump through, thank Perry later for giving him a secret agent weapon. The minute he was on the ground, he found somewhere to hide before actually focusing on Phineas. Oh- god, no- he was unconscious wasn't he. Why were his eyes still open?
He set his brother on the ground carefully and felt for a pulse. There, quiet, unstable. What the hell were they doing to him? He carefully closed Phineas' eyes and looked around, somebody they knew would pass eventually, he knew they would, he had to hope...
Ferb pulled Phineas close to him again, holding his brothers hand carefully, trying to ignore the fact that the red-heads hands and feet were still vaguely twitching- and his head and body kept thrashing every few minutes. It was fine. Phineas was fine. "Don't leave me, Phineas.." he whispered after a moment, holding his brother tighter and pressing his head into his shoulder.
He heard a familiar voice, and looked up. "...Isabella?" he watched the girl freeze, she was with the fireside girls. She looked over to where he was, and he watched her light up like a bulb. "FERB?! You're alive- oh my god! Is Phineas with you?" she was running over, and Ferb carefully lifted Phineas again, standing up
"Please call an ambulance." he forced his voice to stay steady, watching the fireside girls freeze and stare in horror really made everything set in. Ferb could feel his chest starting to close up. "please"
Ginger had her phone out instantly, and Ferb felt the adrenaline fading, his legs hurt, and he was hungry and tired, and he was stumbling forward. Isabella caught him and supported him, "He's gonna be okay." Ferb forced a little nod as Isabella helped him sit, and he held Phineas closer, a weak sob coming from him after a moment, now that he wasn't trapped, everything was hitting him. Phineas had been hurt- no- worse, tortured by those- those assholes and Ferb hadn't done anything to help...
He was here now though. He ran a hand over Phineas' hair carefully. "We're getting help, can you hear me Phin? We're gonna be okay now.." he forced the tiniest of smiles, he knew Phineas would call him 'chatty' or something equally stupid if he knew how much Ferb was talking today.
He could hear sirens after a few minutes, and he felt Isabellas hand rubbing his back, but he didn't want to acknowledge anything besides Phineas' soft breathing, his brother would live and that's all he cared about right now.
--
Ferb laid his head on the side of the bed, his family had come in earlier, and his parents were still there- waiting for Phineas to wake up, they all were. It'd been days, and he was stable, bandaged up, there'd been a few surgeries to figure out the burns, and Phineas was, okay now. Probably.
It didn't stop Ferb from being worried, holding his brothers hand and refusing to leave the hospital, the beeping from the heart monitor and Phineas' soft breathing being the only comforts the boy had. Linda and Lawrence had agreed to let Ferb have some time alone with his brother when he woke up- they needed it.
So Ferb hadn't been in there when Phineas initially woke up, he didn't want Phineas to be distracted, wanting him to reunite with the rest of their family peacefully. It went well for around ten minutes- then Ferb heard it.
"Where- where is he?" a voice crack, he could hear Linda sigh- and soon Phineas was shouting "Wh-Where's Ferb! Where is he- he was there too where is he where is he- where is he where is he where is he where is he-" Candace carefully reached to touch Phineas' shoulder "Phineas, he's alr-" her hand got slapped off, and Phineas stared at his family, eyes wide and scared
"I need to see him- i need him, i need my brother where is he-" his heartrate was speeding up, and Ferb quickly entered the room, moving his family members away carefully and hopping onto the bed to hug Phineas.
Phineas clung to him like a lifeline, he buried his face in Ferb's shoulder, and Ferb looked apologetically back at his family. Linda and Lawrence just hugged them both real quickly before leaving. Ferb softly ran a hand over Phineas' back, careful of the still healing wounds."I- i thought- i thought they hurt you-"
Ferb felt his heart break, and he tightened his grip on Phineas. "I know- i know, you never get hurt, heh- I just." Ferb hovered a hand over Phineas' burns, and the Flynn pressed himself closer to Ferb. "Im sorry."
He pulled back a little, looking at Phineas with a serious expression on his face, moving his hands to hold his brothers shoulders. Phineas stared at him, and his eyes started watering, before he was openly crying. "i know- i know- i wo-wont do it again, im sorryy, im sorrrryyy" Phineas pulled Ferb closer again, flinching when the other boy brushed against his wounds.
Ferb sighed lightly, offering a little smile and readjusting so he wasn't hurting Phineas, hugging him tightly again. "...i love you too" Phineas muttered, hearing Ferb give a little hum. Ferb pat his back quietly, and Phineas relaxed in his brothers grip.
"never again." he whispered, and Ferb nodded. He knew he wouldn't be leaving his brothers side again for a good year.