Aren't You A Little Young To Be Building An Interdimensional Portal?

Chapter 8

Phineas and Ferb get right to work. They manage to find everything they're going to need just by calling in a favor. Not only that, but they gather all their permits, meaning that everything they're doing is completely legal. And, perhaps most shockingly of all, this all seems easy to them.

"This is weird, right?" Dean asks his brother quietly. "It's not just me?"

"No, this is definitely weird," Sam agrees, his voice just as low. "But I guess in this dimension, kids can be expert inventors and no one bats an eye."

"I didn't think it was possible to open a portal scientifically," Dean says. "I thought it was a magic-only type deal."

"Anything's possible when Phineas decides to do it!" Isabella says cheerfully.

Sam and Dean both jump. How long has she been listening for?

"Does he really do this every day?" Sam asks.

"Oh, yeah," Buford says. "Every day this summer — which feels like a lot more than one summer."

"It does, doesn't it?" Isabella agrees.

Sam and Dean share a look, but neither of them knows what to say to that. God, this is a weird universe.

"Isn't he a little young to be building an interdimensional portal?" Dean asks.

"Yes, yes he is," she replies.

That's not what Sam's worried about, though. He knows that people age differently. At eight years old, Sam was taking middle school math classes. At eight yeras old, Dean was hunting monsters. If these eight-year-olds can build like an adult, they can build like an adult. Sam just wants to make sure it's safe, so he asks, "Has anything he's made ever not worked?"

"No, it always works," Buford says. "It just doesn't usually stick around for long."

"Right, someone mentioned that earlier," Dean says. "How does that even happen?"

"No one knows," Baljeet says. "It always disappears right before Candace brings their mom out."

"Who's Candace?" Sam and Dean ask in unison.

As if on cue, a young girl steps out of the house and demands, "What do you think you're doing?" as she glares at Phineas and Ferb.

"That's Candace," Isabella says.

"She's Phineas and Ferb's sister," Baljeet adds, in case there was any confusion.

"What's her deal?" Dean asks.

"No one knows," Buford says.

"She's been trying to 'bust' Phineas and Ferb all summer," Baljeet explains. "But, again, everything always disappears right before Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher can see it."

"So their parents have no idea what they're doing?" Sam asks, gaping at him. That's so incredibly unsafe, not to mention how expensive this must be.

"Their dad does," Isabella says. "I don't think their mom does, though."

"And their dad is okay with this?" Dean scoffs. "Our dad would have killed us if we did anything like this!"

"I'm telling Mom!" Candace practically screeches, running back inside.

"So, what, everything's going to disappear now?" Dean asks skeptically.

"What 'everything'?" Buford asks. "They haven't even started."

"The blueprint, for one," Sam says.

"She won't think anything of it," Isabella says. "This has a funny way of working out."

Candace returns to the backyard, dragging and a woman who must be her mother. The girl points at Phineas and Ferb, who both had been looking at the blueprint until they appeared. "See?"

"Oh, what are you guys doing?" their mother asks, like she thinks this is cute.

"We're building an interdimensional portal to help Sam and Dean get back to their world," Phineas says matter-of-factly.

"Really?" she says, amused. "And who are Sam and Dean?"

"They're over there," Phineas says, and Ferb points at them.

She seems taken aback when she sees them. "Hello?"

"Hi," Sam says with a kind smile. He walks up to her and shakes her hand. "I'm Sam, and that's my brother, Dean. We're new to the area and we just happened to run into your sons, and our son was just here playing baseball with them not too long ago, so we just wanted to meet his new friends."

"I didn't realize we had new neighbors," she says, but she doesn't seem to find that suspicious at all. "What's your son's name?"

"Jack," Sam and Dean say in unison.

"Well, I can't wait to meet him," she says. "Do you want to come inside?"

"Oh, no, I think we're going to get going on a minute," Sam lies.

"It was nice to meet you," she says. "I'm Linda. Feel free to stop by any time."

And then she's back in the house, like nothing even happened.

Candace groans, exasperated, then looks at her two brothers to say a firm, "I will be back," before storming into the house.

"I don't get it," Phineas says to the Winchesters. "Why would you lie?"

"Because I don't think your mom is going to let you build an interdimensional portal in the backyard," Dean says.

"And she's definitely not going to believe that we're from another dimension," Sam adds.

"I don't think she'd care," Phineas says.

Sam and Dean look at his friends, not quite sure what to make of this reaction in light of what they said, and the kids just shake their heads, so the two men drop the subject.

"Do you really have a son?" Baljeet asks.

Dean says, "No," at the same time that Sam says, "Yes," so the younger Winchester elaborates, "There's this kid we're supposed to be looking after, but he's not technically our son."

"He doesn't have to share your DNA to be your son," Phineas says. "Ferb and I don't share any DNA, and we're still brothers."

"Wow." Dean chuckles. "It's the 'family don't end in blood' squad."

"I like that," Phineas says.

Someone honks their horn from out front.

"Oh, those are the parts!" Phineas says, running out of the yard. Ferb follows him out.

"So, how long do you think this is going to take?" Dean asks.

"Only about the length of a montage," Isabella says.

Sam and Dean share a look, but there's not much you can say to that. This is a weird universe.