A/N: I'm really really really really sorry. One sorry for every star in the universe and truth is…

I've had this chapter sitting in my notes since December. And…I never bothered to update. Well, I would've but I've had so much going on in my life I never got around to it. But I'm going to try to make updating on fanfiction was up there on my To-Do list! Believe it!

Here's the latest chapter for you to enjoy! :D (and honestly you can thank autumnsky for this one. If she hadn't reviewed the Naruto story I just put up I'd've completely forgotten about updating this one.)

Chapter Four

Isabella knew something was up the moment she walked on the bus.

In the first place, it wasn't her mom driving. And everyone knew that Vivian Garcia-Shapiro never missed a day of work.

Second of all, the door was locked when she got home. They never left their door locked. And Vivian hadn't even told Isabella to take the house key with her! She had had to fish out a bobby pin and pick the lock-something she was actually pretty good at, but it seemed such a criminal talent that she didn't practice it unless in a dire situation.

This totally counted as a dire situation.

She was standing in the middle of the darkened hallway now. They always kept the lights on-or at least some candles to save energy until one of them came home.

But today...there was nothing.

Isabella felt around for the metal baseball bat she kept hidden behind the coatrack, unbeknownst to her mother. She gripped it tightly with both hands and swung it over her shoulder, proceeding carefully down the hall into the kitchen.

She hadn't known what she was expecting-a burglar, maybe-but this wasn't it.

The kitchen was fully illuminated, left exactly how it had been that morning. A yellow post-it note was stuck on the fridge. She raced over, never once losing her grip on the bat, and read:

Isa-

We ran out of candles; sorry for probably scaring you, chica. I'll make sure to buy some more. Went to the airport. Be back soon as possible. There's rice and chicken in the fridge.

-Mama

Isabella sighed with relief, dropping the bat. By the looks of the ink, which was completely dry with a few smears, Vivian had left about an hour ago, and in a great hurry. The Danville airport wasn't too far from their house. But her pretty features crinkled into a frown as she reread the note.

Why was Mama going to the airport in the first place?

Her grandparents had died long ago, and they had no other relatives to speak of. Unless-?

Isabella's frown deepened as she crumpled the note and tossed it into the trashcan. No. There was no way Mama and Miguel were getting remarried. She'd die before she let that happen.

She yanked open the fridge, infuriated just by the thought of him, and pulled out the plate covered with rice and chicken. She popped it in the microwave and set it for two minutes before grabbing her bookbag and climbing up the stairs into her room.

She dumped the bag on her bed and noticed her computer was blinking. She pressed the ON button and watched the monitor come to life. A message window had popped up-

FS_SWEETWATER_101 has invited you to chat. Other members of this chat currently include:

FS_HOLLI_BERRI_753

FS_MILK'N'COOKIES

FS_GINGAHSNAP439

FS_ARTISTE_336

FS_ATHENA_7735

Do you accept this request?

Isabella smiled and hit "ACCEPT".

A new window popped up as the message window disappeared. The new window showed a line of messages sent from between the six other former Fireside Girl members. They were too old to be in the organization now, unfortunately, but they had formed other small groups to help out their town and they were all part of the cheerleading squad.

Isabella scrolled up lazily to get a feel for what the other girls were talking about. One post from FS_HOLLI_BERRI_753 caught her eye.

FS_HOLLI_BERRI_753: OMG did u see what P was wearin 2day? He was soooo hot! OMG those eyes…3 3 3 I melt every time he looks at me!

Isabella's jaw dropped.

She was good at keeping names. She never had any problems attaching names to faces, unlike her friends.

That was why she knew there was only one guy in school whose name started with a 'P'.

Phineas Flynn.

The Latino girl was ready to sprout fangs and type an angry rant at the girl whom she considered one of her closest friends (how dare she? How DARE she?) but then stopped as her fingers hovered over the keyboard.

Holly didn't have control over who she liked. If she liked Phineas too, then as a good friend, Isabella would support her and try to help her with her advances on the red-haired boy.

Besides, there were several boys in school whose last names started with P. Holly could be referring to any of them. There was no point in getting all worked up, right?

…right?

She paused for a moment, bit her lip, then hesitantly typed:

FS_LEADER-SAMA_284: Thnx 4 inviting me, Addison, but I rly can't talk now...

She hit SEND and waited. The reply was almost instantaneous.

FS_MILK'N'COOKIES: Awww :( thts 2 bad!

FS_HOLLI_BERRI_753: yeah, we'll miss u. Have fun doin whatever ur doin bye!

Isabella frowned. Holly wasn't usually like this. She was usually push and insistent, not letting the other girl leave until she had gotten an answer to why she couldn't talk. Although lately…Isabella huffed and logged out, preparing to shut down her computer.

And then the phone rang.

Isabella jumped and almost screamed at their ringtone splitting the silent air. Trying to calm herself, she reached for the phone and cradled it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Isa?"

Isabella sighed with relief. "Oh, it's just you, Mama."

"Well, not just me, Isa."

"Wha-?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we're going to be coming home soon, okay? It'll be fifteen minutes. Fifteen, okay? You hear me?"

The teenager suppressed a sigh. Her mother was the sweetest and most lovable lady on their street, but she still had her moments. "Yeah, Mom, I'll be fine. See you soon. Bye!" she hung up as Vivian kept prattling on and on.

She had barely placed the phone back in its cradle before it started ringing again.

"Oh for the love of-" she growled, snatching the phone back up to her ear. "Mama, I understood the first time! You don't need to call repeatedly!"

"You know, there's a wonderful new function called 'caller ID'. Heard of it?"

Isabella frowned even deeper. "Ferb?" she asked uncertainly. "What's up?"

The Brit sighed. "It's Phineas."

Isabella's heart jumped to her throat.

Across the street, the green-haired youth was pacing back and forth in the room he shared with his stepbrother, talking to his best friend on speaker-phone. Unbeknownst to him, Phineas himself was right outside in the hall, evesdropping.

"He's been acting weird lately." Ferb continued. "And he won't talk to me about it."

Isabella sighed. "Ferb, if he won't talk to you about it, what makes you so sure he'll talk to me?"

"You're his best friend!" Ferb argued, flopping onto his bed.

"You're his brother!" Isabella's voice had a bit of an edge to it. "If he's not going to talk to you, I don't think he's going to talk to anyone!"

"...I think it has something to do with his dad. He always gets a little weird during this time of year."

"And how do you expect me to help?" Isabella's voice has a definite snap to it now.

"Well, you don't have a dad either-" Ferb tried. It proved to be his undoing.

"EXCUSE ME?" Isabella shrieked. Phineas had never heard his best friend blow up like that. She was the calm, level-headed peacemaker of the group. Through a window in the hall, he could see her dark form, across the street in her own bedroom, stopped short in the center. "What do you know about my family life! You know nothing and therefore have no right to judge what goes on in my house! We promised each other we'd leave the subject of the missing parents alone, Ferb!" there was a crack in her voice now. Oh, gods, please don't let her be crying...Phineas watched Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro's SUV pull up in the driveway.

"Izzy-"

"I've got to go, my mama's home." Isabella's voice was dull and lifeless. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ferb. I'll talk to Phineas for you."

"You sure?" Ferb ran a hand through his messy bangs.

"Yeah. See you."

"Bye, Izzy."

Phineas heard Ferb click the phone off, then sigh deeply before shifting around on his bed, making the sheets rustle. Phineas leaned against the wall, sliding down until his butt hit the floor. Perry ambled over to him and he picked up the platypus and buried his large nose into the mammal's blue-ish fur.

He knew exactly why he acted like this. But he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell everyone yet. He half-closed his eyes, pondering how little the three of them really knew each other. Sure, they knew the pet peeves, the little habits and stuff, but when it came down to family-zip. Nada. Zilch. That was the one subject they hadn't dared to breach upon.

Now…now he was wondering if that had been a mistake.

Perry chattered softly, causing Phineas to push his nose deeper into the platypus' fur.

Tomorrow…he decided. Tomorrow, he would try to tell them. He could take it, whatever came afterwards.

It was so unfortunate that tomorrow never came for him.

A/N: Ehehehehehe cliffhanger! What's going to happen next? Stay tuned for the next installment of Team Improbable on Thin Ice!

Seriously. Creative juices flowing. MUST. WRITE.

And for the record, while I love love LOVE the ending, the middle pretty much sucks. Don't like it, but meh. It's important for later on.

Review plz? :D