Eternity's Dime

Chapter Twelve: Sweevil

After a long conversation with Isabella that didn't help at all, she was insistent that he was overreacting, Phineas crawled back into bed. He curled up under soft, warm covers, wanting to ignore the world.

Ignore this newest screw up in a long line of screw-ups.

A blaring alarm echoed through the apartment.

Phineas groaned into his pillow before pulling himself out of bed, just in case this one of the few times it wasn't a false fire alarm. He took his time getting dressed before snagging his phone, wallet, and keys.

"Perry?" He didn't see his pet. Thinking about it, Phineas didn't remember seeing the platypus when Ferbs was there either. Either way, if Perry managed to get out of the apartment on other days, he could get out today too. With that thought, Phineas continued on his way out.

They say not to take an elevator during a fire.

Phineas took the elevator.

The few other tenants who hadn't gone to work or didn't work gathered on the sidewalk outside. He'd barely stepped around the small group when someone grabbed his arm.

Phineas followed the arm to the lady staring at him. "Hello, Mrs. Thompson."

"Do you know what happened?"

"No, ma'am." He had an idea. The man who lived the penthouse had probably blown something up again. At least the whole top of the building hadn't gone up this time.

She was squinting at him with eyes as gray as her hair. "You remind me of my downstairs neighbor."

Sighing, Phineas forced up a smile for her. "I am your downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Thompson."

She didn't seem to be listening. "He's a nice boy. He helped me with my groceries." A frown pulled at her lips. "I can't seem to recall his name."

"Phineas," Phineas supplied.

That made her smile, the laugh-lines around her eyes growing more prominent at the movement. "Yes, that's right. Do you know him?" Before he could answer, she turned back to the building. "My granddaughter was supposed to visit today. I do hope she doesn't see the smoke and worry."

Patting Phineas' arm, she smiled at him again. "I should introduce you to her. She's a lovely girl. About your age."

"That's alright, Mrs. Thompson." He didn't know where she was going with that, but it didn't matter. He somewhat doubted she'd remember this conversion long enough to bring him up to her granddaughter.

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak another female voice cut in.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Thompson, but I need to borrow Phineas." And then he was grabbed by the other arm.

What was it with people and grabbing him today? With a call of good-bye, Phineas allowed himself to be led down the sidewalk.

"Figured you needed a recuse before she got to the pictures." Vanessa glanced over her shoulder at him with a small smile.

"I wouldn't have minded if she had." It wasn't the first time she'd talked aimlessly to him. He really didn't mind. She was old and lonely.

Basically, where his life was currently heading. Minus the children and granddaughter.

Letting go of his arm, Vanessa casually swiped a lollipop as they passed by a kid. The little boy immediately started wailing.

Phineas sped up a bit, wanting to get farther away from the scene sure to follow.

"Yeah, I know," she said, stripping the plastic off the sucker.

Casting a look behind him, he could still see her standing at the edge of the crowd. "Do think she'll be okay until her granddaughter shows up?"

"Yeah, someone there will help her. Her granddaughter's not coming, anyway."

Phineas frowned. "How do you know?"

"She mistook me for the girl a while back. Turns out, her family hasn't come to see her in years. They won't even pitch in to get her a nurse or anything." Sticking the lollipop in her mouth for a second, she shrugged. "So someone has to keep an eye on her."

Even as long as he'd known her, she still found ways to surprise him. But maybe he shouldn't be. She'd never been anything but nice to him and Candace.

"I never knew she was that alone."

"Yeah, I think, other than me, Dad's the only person who frequently talks to her." Her pace slowed. "I mean, my family's screwed up, but we still talk."

"Speaking of your dad," Phineas jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, "was that his doing?"

"Probably, Uncle Perry was still there when I left and so was Dad's newest inator."

Phineas would never be over the fact that one of her uncles and his platypus shared a name.

Vanessa spun on her high heel, long brown hair flying around her shoulders. "And those two things together means somethings bound to explode soon or later. It doesn't matter if Dad's not actively evil anymore, his inventions still end up exploding."

Phineas just nodded. When she got into the "good" and "evil" talks, she always lost him. It didn't matter that he'd been hearing those debates since he was little and she'd come over to complain about her dad to Candace. And about...

His eyes widened as it dawned on him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What's it like for your parents? Being disowned soulmates and all?" With anyone else, he wouldn't dare ask, but with Vanessa, it felt okay. She was pretty open about her life, even if she wasn't about anything else.

Yanking the lollipop from her mouth, she pointed it at him with a glare. "Don't even think about it."

"As much as I like pointing, I'm not planning anything. I just—I'm curious." He made himself keep his voice casual. Pissing her off was still not an option. Neither was giving her the idea that this was something his mom, or worse, Candace should know about.

"I grew up having to watch the world treat my dad like shit because no matter where he went or what he did, the people there knew he left his soulmate. No one deserves to go through that." By the time she finished, the words were no more than a whisper. "I don't know what's going through your head, but don't."

"Yeah, okay. I wasn't going to." Did he agree with her? He wasn't sure. He sure felt crappy enough to believe he might deserve it. "Where are we going?"

Turning back around, Vanessa restarted their walk. "Little Duffer's. It reopened last week, and there's no way I'm going there by myself. Helping an old lady is hurting my evil cred enough."

It sounded fun. He remembered going there when he was little. "What about work?" Last he checked, she had a job.

"I'm off today. There was a raid at our new 'abandoned' warehouse. Now, are you coming or are you afraid of getting your ass kicked by me in mini-golf?"

Ignoring the first part, Phineas laughed, running to catch up. "In your dreams."