What Makes You Beautiful

Clang.

"No!" A redhead called to his friend through his laughter "Buford wrong side wrong side!" The bully immediately turned to face his friend "Weld it beside Ferb!"

"Ferb, man!" the teenager called in teasing exasperation "You could have told me!"

"I'm the man of action" the Brit replied, flashing a smirk at his brother when nobody else was looking

"Ferb! I know what we're going to do today!" Phineas exclaimed through giggles "We'll teach Buford how to weld! He clearly needs the lesson!"

Phineas approached his brother, blueprints in hand, and handed one side to Ferb, pulling it up so their faces were hiding. Once securely hidden from their friends, Ferb's stoic mask dropped and he snickered.

"Nice, Ferb" the redhead teased, voice a hushed whisper "I'm calling sabotage"

Ferb snorted and opened his mouth to retort, but it snapped shut when Isabella approached. He shot a quick apologetic glance at his brother before dropping the blueprint and hurrying away to join Buford and Baljeet beside their project of the day. The Indian called a cheerful greeting to the Brit, and Ferb waved in response.

Phineas frowned in disappointment as his brother fled, but plastered on a smile when he faced Isabella

"Watcha doin?" she asked softly, smiling widely at her friend and secret crush

"Nothing, just checking the blueprints" he responded softly

"Oh, okay" she replied

Phineas looked up, opening his mouth to respond, and closing it quickly when a large ball landed at the foot of their structure. Everything was quiet, five pairs of eyes trained on the object, and it suddenly lurched up and devoured the whole project. Seconds later, the ball was gone.

"See mom!" Candace screamed desperately, dragging her mother into the backyard and proudly holding out her hands, gesturing into the empty yard

Linda sighed exaggeratedly and stepped inside the small space, placing a hand on her hip

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

Candace's eyes shot open in shock and she whirled around, a disbelieving shriek ripping its way out of her lips when she laid her gaze on the backyard, void of any projects.

"But- It was right here!" she cried out frantically

"Hi mom!" Phineas called, waving eagerly to his mother

"Hi sweetie!" she called back before turning to her daughter and sighing, reaching out and grabbing her hand "Come on Candace, you can help me make some pie"

"But mom, Phineas and Ferb-" her mothers stern glare silenced her almost immediately "... Yes mom" she sighed and allowed herself to be pulled in the house

Phineas lowered his hand, smile diminishing slighly and Isabella reclaimed his attention moments after

"My mom just called, she needs me home. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay" Phineas agreed, waving as she left "Bye Izzie"

Buford and Baljeet left only moments later, Buford mumbling something about his goldfish and carrying Baljeet away. Ferb turned to his brother and smiled widely now that they were alone

"Well, that was sudden"

Phineas hummed softly in confusion, before it clicked in his mind.

"Oh!" he cried, turning to face his brother "Yea... sudden"

"Phin?" Ferb cocked an eyebrow "You okay?"

"Fine Ferb" he brushed off "I'm... fine"

Ferb didn't buy it, and opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by their mother calling them for snacks. Seizing his chance, Phineas rushed into the house, knowing Ferb wouldn't call him out on his silence when they were in earshot of others.

Yet a large part of him desperately wished the Brit would.

"Hey" he murmured "Where's Perry?"
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

Perry was silent as his owners entered the house. As soon as the door closed he was on his feet and placed a fedora on his head. He slipped around to the back of the tree, and a hole opened and send him tumbling back into the tree. Seconds later he found himself in his secret hideout. The monitor in front of him flicked into life in front of him and his boss appeared on the screen.

"Agent P" the man greeted "We actually don't know what Doofenshmirtz is up to today" he admitted "Lately he's been selling or destroying various inators he had created" It took the agent a great deal of self control not to furrow his brows in concern "We're counting on you to find out what hes up to, and put a stop to it!"

The platypus saluted the man and leapt to his feet, rushing over to his jet pack. He strapped it on and without hesitation he shot off towards D.E.I.

He promised he would build something. What's going on? I thought we had fixed this. God, Heinz please be okay.

The platypus dropped down onto the scientist's balcony and discarded his jet pack, rushing into the room. He reached over, fingers fumbling against the wall until he found the small translator Heinz had built him. He opened his mouth and pressed the device to the roof of his mouth. He took the other half, and clicked it down at the back of his throat. He gagged for a second, before gulping and calling out for the scientist.

"Heinz?" he called softly

A whimper was his answer. He rushed through the house on all fours and burst into Heinz' room, where the scientist was curled up in a ball staring blankly at the wall. The platypus immediately pushed himself forward and he leapt up onto the bed, climbing up it and pushing himself into the scientists arms. He snuggled into the man's chest, hands fisting into his pajama shirt.

"Hello, Perry the Platypus" Heinz stated, voice a tired and pained whisper

"Heinz what's going on?" the platypus asked worriedly, pressing closer to his partner

"You don't want to know, Perry the Platypus" the scientist sighed

"Wrong" he sat up "I want to know" his hand went to the man's cheek "I want to help"

Heinz gently covered the platypus' small hand with his own much larger one and sat up, other hand bringing the mammal with him. He stood, hand slipping down to Perry's lower back to hold him up as he slowly left the room. They entered the dark main room and he flicked on a light switch. Almost immediately afterwards the light flickered to life, bathing the room in a faint light. Perry flinched slightly as the scientist shuffled his way into the kitchen, placing the terrified platypus on the counter. Taking the hint, Perry released the scientist and took a single step back. Heinz sighed softly, turning his back in the animal

"Would you like coffee, Perry the Platypus?"

He reached his long arms up and began digging through the cupboards, and Perry slowly approached. He cocked an eyebrow when Heinz' tail twitched.

"That still hasn't gone away?"

"Huh?" The doctor turned, then followed the animals gaze and snorted "No, it won't"

He reached farther up, sleeve slipping down causing a loud gasp to rip its way out of Perry's mouth. He rushed across the counter on all fours, skidding to a stop in front of the scientist, whom was trying to yank his sleeve back down. He guiltily looked away, and Perry furrowed his brows, reaching out and grabbing his arm. He pulled it forward and slowly slid the sleeve up, revealing angry red marks on the inside of the brunettes wrist.

"Heinz..." He breathed softly

"I'm sorry, Perry" he muttered, pulling his arm away from the mammal

Perry leapt up and threw his arms around the scientists neck, embracing him securely as tears filled his brown eyes. Heinz almost immediately embraced him back, and Perry nuzzled into Heinz' neck.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

"What's wrong with you?" Ferb whispered as he followed his brother out of the kitchen and into the living room

"Nothing, Ferb" he lied "I'm fine"

"I don't buy that"

"That's too bad"

The redhead lead his brother back outside, where Ferb immediately tried to corner him. The Brit placed a hand on the tree on either side of Phineas, pushing him against it.

"For you" he countered

Phineas frowned

"Let me go"

"Tell me what's wrong"

"Let me-"

"No"

"Ferb-"

"No"

"Ferb-!"

"No"

"You're what's wrong!" He hissed

Ferbs eyes widened in shock and he took a step back

"Me?"

Phineas groaned

"Not what I meant" he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly "Ferb, I don't understand you" he met his brothers gaze "and I don't like admitting that. I'm supposed to be able to read you like a book"

Ferb furrowed his brows in confusion

"I confuse you? How?"

"You never show anyone your true self" he stated, moving away from his brother. He turned and looked at the Brit over his shoulder "Anyone but me"

Ferb cocked his head to the side

"I don't-"

"Ferb why won't you show anyone who you really are?"

Ferb grimaced

"I'm... I'm nothing special" he muttered

"Wha-"

"There's nothing to see. I'm plain as plain can be" he shrugged and sat down "what's there to show?"

"But Ferb-"

"Phineas, you know it's true" he interrupted softly, letting a sigh pass through his lips "Now you on the other hand, have got plenty to show"

Phineas recoiled

"Wha-" he glared down at his brother "How on earth can you expect someone like me to compare to someone like you"

"And yet you expect someone like me to compare to someone like you" Ferb countered softly

Phineas faltered for a moment

"I just don't understand" he finally admitted "I... I wish I could say I did, but I really don't... And I don't like not understanding things" he crouched in front of Ferb and tilted his head to look into the Brit's eyes "You're amazing Ferb. Why won't you show the world just how amazing you really are?"

"I don't need to" Ferb muttered

"Ferb-"

"Phineas look at me!" he hissed, leaping to his feet, the sudden movement startling Phineas into falling backwards and landing on his rear end "The only thing special about me is maybe the color of my hair!" his eyes narrowed "When I let people see the real me, they do nothing but point out my imperfections. And god do I ever have a lot of them"

Phineas narrowed his eyes

"I don't do that"

Ferb turned his back on his brother

"You're different" his tone turned cold "Just drop it, Phineas"

Phineas faltered for a moment, face falling as he stared at his brothers back. Ferb huffed and pivoted on his heel, making his way to the back door to go inside, and struggling to keep his facade of perfect composure in tact.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

Perry pushed away and faced the doctor, forcing up a smile

"So..." he tried weakly "What's the scheme for today?"

The scientist paused as he stirred around the coffee in the mug in front of him, shaking himself out of it moments later and handing the cup to the platypus. Perry took it with a murmured thank-you, and Heinz only nodded. He leaned over and held out his arm, and Perry took the hint and climbed onto the scientist's shoulder, coffee cup securely in one of his furry paws.

"No evil scheme today, Perry the platypus" he replied softly, making his way out of the kitchen "However I do have plans"

Perry chattered absentmindedly as he sipped the coffee, purring approvingly. Heinz was amazing at making coffee just right. The human absentmindedly stroked the platypus' head, and Perry leaned into the touch. Finally, the man came to a stop in front of a rather small (in proportion with the others) machine.

"What's this?"

The scientist allowed a small smile to flit across his face

"This, Perry the platypus" he murmured "Is the Platypus-inator"

Perry didn't have to ask to know what that meant. Instead, he turned his gaze on the scientist and cocked an eyebrow

"I know I already made one, this" he shot a dark glare at his tail "Is proof of that. However, last time I was humanoid, and could talk like every day people without use of a translator. The point of this one-"

"Is to turn you into a platypus just like me?"

"More or less" the scientist agreed "I'll still have all of my thoughts, personality, and memories, I'll just look just like you, and not be able to speak" he paused "I'm going to turn myself into a platypus"

"But Heinz, why would you-"

"Don't make me trap you, Perry the platypus"

Perry huffed indignantly and sipped at his coffee.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

Phineas pushed himself to his feet and stood tall as his mind raced, quickly creating lyrics. Once he had a verse, he parted his lips, voice softly flowing from the redhead and reaching Ferbs ears, catching the Brit's attention

"You're insecure,
Don't know what for,
You're turning heads when you walk through the door" Ferb turned to face his brother, brow furrowing as the redhead slowly approached him

"Don't need make-up,
To cover up,
Being the way that you are is enough" he held out a hand and Ferb eyed it for a moment before slowly reaching out and taking it

"Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you" Phineas used the hand held in his to pull the Brit close to him, his free arm wrapping around Ferb's waist

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful" Phineas raised their joined hands to brush a strand of green hair from his partners face, smiling widely at him

"If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful" Ferb freed himself and made to walk away, and Phineas immediately leapt in front of him, stepping towards him in a motion that prompted Ferb to step backwards

"So c-come on,
You got it wrong,
To prove I'm right,
I put it in a song,
I don't know why,
You're being shy,
And turn away when I look into your eye eye eyes" he leaned closer, gazing into Ferbs eyes and the Brit immediately looked away, biting his lip

"Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you" Candace, hearing the singing, peeked her head out the door and grinned at what she saw, immediately calling her mother and father over.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed" Ferb paused in the motion of flipping his hair out of his face, a blush staining his cheeks as he nervously smiled at the ground, struggling to avoid Phineas' gaze

"But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,

If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh," He grabbed Ferb again and pulled the Brit into a slow dance around the yard, both unaware of their family watching them with identical grins on their faces

"That's what makes you beautiful

Na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na " Ferb managed a small smile at his brother, causing their family to gasp slightly at the display of emotion

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful" Ferb's blush darkened, and his smile slowly began to widen as Phineas pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around the redhead in return

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful" Phineas smiled widely at the Brit

"If only you saw what I can see" he brushed his fingers tenderly against Ferb's cheek, tightening his grip as he sang the next line

"You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh" he tipped Ferb back and the Brit couldn't help the small laugh that bubbled up

"That's what makes you beautiful"

The boys smiled widely at each other, and Candace immediately dragged her parents away, knowing the boys would not appreciate being watched.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

"You know, I could always blow it up to stop you" Perry stated

"Yes, but you won't"

Perry was quiet for a moment before sighing

"I hate that you're right"

"I know you, Perry the platypus" he smiled slightly in response "Now, I'm going to stand in front of the platypus-inator. Can you hit the switch please?"

After a moment of hesitation Perry nodded, but first turned the doctors head and pressed their lips together. Heinz immediately returned the kiss, and when they parted he blushed slightly

"You'll be okay right?"

"Peachy" Heinz assured with a tender smile

Perry nodded and hopped off the man's shoulder and onto the control panel. Heinz went and stood in front of it, and called to Perry that he was to hit the button. The platypus hesitated, hand over the self destruct button, but after a moment he closed his eyes and slammed it shut on the green button.

The machine shook slightly, and a light shot out of it, hitting Heinz in the chest. A moment later, Perry had to slam his eyes shut to shield them from the blast of red light that exploded in the room.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

Ferb took advantage of his weight and flipped them over so he was pinning Phineas against the grassy ground, smirking down at him.

"You know why I never show the world my true self?" he asked softly, and Phineas shook his head "I don't need to. Know why?" Phineas shook his head again "I already have"

"Wha-"

"You are my world"

Phineas blushed

"Really?" he whispered, and the Brit nodded "T-Thanks Ferb. You're my world too"

Ferb smiled, and leaned down, connecting their lips in a soft kiss. Phineas' eyes fluttered shut and his arms reached up, wrapping around Ferb's neck gently.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

When he opened his eyes, there was a heap of clothes on the floor where the man had been standing previously.

He leapt off the machine and hurried over, yanking back to clothing to reveal a brown platypus. The animal sat up, gazing around curiously for a moment, clearly wondering where he was. After a moment recognition flashed in his eyes, and he shot his gaze over to Perry.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing happened. The animal huffed indignantly before lurching up and throwing his arms around Perry. Perry, startled as he was, still managed to hug back. After a moment, he tightened his grip, relief coursing through his veins.

"I'm glad you're okay" he murmured

When they parted, Perry furrowed his brows

"One thing you didn't think of" the other platypus cocked his head to the side "Where are you going to stay?"

Heinz' jaw dropped to form a small 'o' shape, brows furrowing when he snapped it shut. Before he could say a word -or make a sound in this case-, Perry spoke

"You know what, that was stupid" he shook his head quickly "You'll stay with me" he grabbed Heinz' hand and lead him to the balcony, grabbing a jet pack and securely grasping the brown platypus as he took off, a name tag clenched firmly in his fist.

When they stopped outside the Flynn Fletcher household, he stuck the name tag on Heinz' back and took off his hat, dropping onto all fours as he entered the back yard, Heinz following closely behind.
PDPFPDPFPDPFPDPF

When they boys parted Phineas smiled gently at the Brit

"I love you, Ferb" he whispered, moving a hand to cup his cheek

"I love you too, Phineas" he whispered, nuzzling into the hand

They looked away from each other when they heard to chatters.

"Oh, there you are Perry-" Phineas grinned hugely when he realized there was two platypus' standing in the yard. "Ferb look!"

He scrambled over to the two animals, Ferb following slowly, and Phineas reached out, offering each one a pat on the head

"Hey Perry, who's your friend?" Perry chattered in response. Ferb noticed the name tag and pulled it off, offering it to Phineas. The redhead took it and read the name "Heinz Doofenshmirtz" he paused "Do you think that's the name of his owner?" Ferb shrugged, and they turned to Perry, whom chattered.

Phineas seemed to clue in, and looked down at it

"Not a bad idea" he muttered "Ferb, we should keep this platypus!" he exclaimed eagerly "We can name him Doof!"

Ferb nodded in agreement, and before ht boys could say another word the platypus' scurried away inside the house. Phineas and Ferb watched in silence for a moment before Phineas stood, grinning down at Ferb and holding out a hand to help him up

Linda chose that moment to peek her head out

"Who want's pie?"

"I do!" both responded

Phineas squeezed the Brit's hand approvingly, while Linda gawked in shock. After a moment, the woman nodded, smiling widely and ushering them inside

"Well, come on then, we don't want the ice cream to melt!"