Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

After they saw Mrs. Vortex's car drive away, Cindy pulled Jimmy up into the tree with her. Jimmy wiped the dirt off of his face and stared at her. She was frowning over the tears in her shirt.

Cindy finally looked up and noticed her staring at him. "What?" she asked, but not coldly.

Jimmy seemed angry. "Mind telling me what was so important that you stopped during a car chase to pick up?"

Cindy shook her head. She turned around to look at the stars, but Jimmy grabbed her arm and spun her back around. "My dog, my best friend, got killed back there. You gave me two seconds to grieve. You drop something on the ground, and you spend half a minute trying to get it. What was so damn important that it nearly got us killed?"

Cindy met his glare. "None of your business." Jimmy eventually broke the eye contact and let go of her arm.

They turned around and stared in opposite directions, leaning against each other's backs. "So," Jimmy began, "you seem to be so eager to be the leader in this little adventure. So what's next in your plan?"

Without shifting her gaze, Cindy answered, "Don't know." Jimmy laughed. Cindy squinted her eyes in anger. "Why, you got any ideas?" Jimmy stopped laughing.

Several hours went by, both thinking about what they had gotten themselves into. Finally, Jimmy spoke as the sun began to rise. "Why did you say the cops can't help you?"

Cindy shook her head, still not looking at him. "It's complicated. Not enough time to explain now." She turned around and faced Jimmy. "It's getting light out. We can't stay in this tree forever."

Jimmy nodded. "Although I don't think it's much safer down there."

Cindy smiled a little. "Agreed. We've got to get away from Retroville, at least into the next town."

Jimmy sighed. "How are we going to do that? We have no transportation, and it's not like we can go back home to grab my hover car."

Cindy climbed a few branches down and hopped off of the tree. Jimmy carefully tried to imitate her, but ended up falling onto the grass. He ignored Cindy's suppressed laughter and pulled himself up.

Cindy took a quick look around before running across the street and heading down the sidewalk. Once again, Jimmy followed her.

"We take the bus," she told him. They sat down on a bench near the bus stop.

A moment or two later a gentleman in his early sixties smiled at them and took a seat on the bench. He took out a small radio and looked at the kids. "Do you mind?" he asked. Cindy and Jimmy shook their heads. The man flipped it on and set it down on his lap.

Jimmy nudged Cindy and nodded towards the radio. They both listened.

"Mr. Nicholas Vortex is believed to have kidnapped his daughter Cynthia Vortex early this morning. A neighbor, James Neutron, is believed to have tried to stop the kidnapping. Unfortunately, it appears that he has been abducted as well. More on this story after these commercials."

Jimmy and Cindy glanced nervously at each other as the bus pulled up. They threw some change into the container as they stepped onboard and took a seat.