Time: 9:20 PM

Well, here's another chappie. Sorry, this chapter is basically a bunch on nonsense. I needed filler. And well... filler I wrote. I hope you guys don't mind. I have an ending that I want... but I'm trying to figure out how to get to that point in the first place. heh heh. oops. Anyways, thank you to the people who reviewed thus far! Thank you for sticking with me. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron, although I wish I did.


The metallic hallways rose around me as he walked at a steady pace. The lulling sound of his breathing and intense smell of wonderful-ness that radiated off him was enough to make me want to go to sleep. Asleep right here in his arms. For some reason, it felt incredibly natural and longing. Blinking my eyes open, I tried to figure out why I was feeling this way. I had only known the guy for such a short period of time, and now…now I felt like I have known him my entire life.

"I think I'm tripping," I mumbled to myself, my lips close to his sweet smelling shoulder. I'm sure he was wearing some sort of entrancing cologne that could make people fall for him.

That broke him out of his silence. "Did you say something?"

Catching me off guard, I fumbled for a response. "N-No. Nothing. Forget it."

He went back to being silent, and I searched around in my brain for something to say. "Where are you taking me?" I asked cautiously. Then squirming around in his arms, I tried to get down, "You don't need to carry me. I'm sure I can walk by myself now."

His grip tightened. His voice came out gruff and frustrated, "Vortex would you shut up? You didn't use your legs for the longest time. I highly doubt your legs have built enough strength back up just yet."

I took offense to that. "Excuse me," I scoffed, "I was just trying to help out."

His jaw set sternly. "What would help us is if you would heal and regain all your memories."

I twisted my head and looked at the ground bitterly. I was tired of fighting over the same thing he kept telling me. Okay, it seems as if I have lost some memories of mine, but the way I looked at it was… if they were so important…. Why did I forget them? Usually people forget things that don't mean much to them.

But still, there was that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that kept saying that what I lost wasn't just important; it was essential for living my life.

I was about to say something to Jimmy when he turned a sharp corner and stepped into an open elevator. Looking around, I shifted my head, my hair falling over my shoulder.

Having it catch my eye, I picked up a long piece and ran my fingers over it. I had forgotten all about my hair. It had been…what? Almost two weeks? And I forgot to have someone trim it up and try to make it all one length. But once again, I had forgotten. It seemed to be a reoccurring thing with me.

As the elevator took us down, I felt his eyes on me. I silently let go of my hair and decided to stare at the floor.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," he whispered quietly.

"Huh? Oh my hair? Oh well, it isn't that bad. They thought I would spill my secrets if they tortured me a little bit. Thank goodness it was my hair and not a limb that they cut." I felt my heart sink as I remembered my time there. Although that was just the beginning. They went to more extremes.

His frown deepened. "But your hair means a lot to you. You always used to go to great lengths to make sure it was perfectly in place and always trimmed nicely."

I turned to give him a confused look but he shook his head and sighed, "Okay, I'm not going to lie anymore. I have known you a long time Vortex; we used to be pretty good teammates." He smirked, as if remembering something. My heart beat faster. What is he telling me? Is he being serious?

Then, the smile fading, he took in a deep breath as the elevator stopped and walked out. "But your memory of me has seemed to fade along with a few others so far. I am not sure of how much damage there is to your brain yet, but…" he looked down at my wide eyes, "I'm going to find out."

I felt scared words tingling on my lips. "I-I used to know you?" I whispered hoarsely.

His face was tight with hurt and didn't continue our conversation any longer. Coming up to a metallic doorway, the sensors caught his movement and opened the sliding doors for him. Feeling a small breeze blow my hair, I closed my eyes and reopened them to find something I never thought I would see again.

Walking over to a cushioned chair, Jimmy set me down. Breathing lightly, I looked around me in awe. It was kind of dark in here, and cluttered, as if the person who worked here was preoccupied and coming to a dead end on an experiment. Situating myself in the chair, I looked upon the lab table in front of me. There, Jimmy shuffled papers around and walked over to a machine, pushing the button on it. Instantly, brown steaming liquid poured from it and emptied into a cup, telling me it was coffee, which he elegantly brought back to the lab table. "I haven't been in one of these in….well over a year or so," I whispered to him, "A lab that is."

His eyes shot up from the table, blue sapphire melting into mine. "You remember?" he asked, his face shining with curiosity.

To make myself look away from his joyous gaze that was making my body feel warm, I made myself look around the room once more, shifting through memories. "Yes," I heard my voice speak softly, "I used to be quite good with chemistry when I was in high school."

I could hear the defeating sound of his voice, "Oh," he mumbled. That obviously wasn't what he wanted to hear. Racking my brain, I searched through stored files. Did I work in a lab any other time?

"And," I said slowly, "I worked for someone, right out of high school as well."

His face turned slowly towards mine, "Do you remember who it was you worked for Cindy?"

I was silent. Shifting my hands to my lap, I felt the pressure of the metal bracelets on my wrists. He knew about my ability to create matter, even when I didn't. He claims to know me, and to have been a friend of mine for a while now. But I don't remember him at all. Rubbing my fingers over the smooth metal, I finally looked back up at his hunched over figure. He was leaning over the table, elbows resting on it, and his head in his hands.

"I was you wasn't it? You were the one I worked for?"

His body went stiff. Then slowly, ever so slowly, he rose from his thoughtful position. His tired, sleep deprived face looked at me, almost childishly. "Yes," he whispered hoarsely. There was a single look of happiness, and then as quickly as it came, it faded back into sadness. "But you don't remember do you? You just made an educated guess right?"

As if being caught doing something wrong, I looked back down at my wrists. "Yeah," I said softly. But I also couldn't believe it. I worked for his man! I knew him! Why couldn't I remember him? Why? Covering my arms over my head, I wanted to curl into a small ball and remember everything. I wanted to remember this person people kept telling me I used to be.

Hearing Jimmy sigh heavily, he walked towards me, placing a gentle hand on my head. Feeling my heartbeat increase, I opened my tired eyes and looked at the floor. His fingers curled slightly, ruffling my hair a little. "It's okay Vortex. We'll figure something out." Moments passed before he removed his warm hand. I felt an emptiness creep into my stomach and suddenly I felt sick.

Putting my hands on my knees, I breathed in quickly. There was a sharp, stabbing pain in my head. Something vaguely entered my mind. A picture. I was lying on the floor, death upon me. The suddenly, he was above me. Jimmy. The feeling of love, happiness and disbelief washed over me. He was shaking me, saying my name. I was having a hard time hearing him.

Clutching my head, I opened my eyes. That was the place I was being held captive! My breathing ragged, I wiped a small line of perspiration from my forehead. That mind splitting scene hurt.

I remembered something.

My eyes swirling over the floor, I felt a few tears well up in my eyes. Wiping them away, I smiled through the pain in my head. Jimmy was the one who saved me from that horrible place. Why was I so happy to see him then? Was everything true in what he had told me moments ago? Did I really know him back then?

My thoughts were shaken as I heard him call my name. I looked up to see him walking my way. "I don't have an actual scanning machine, but I managed to rig one up with some old tools and spare parts." He put his hand on my shoulder, "I need to get some pictures of your brain, and maybe we can see what's making you tick." The warmth from his hand made my body react in ways I wish it wouldn't. I felt a small itch on my hand and ran my hands over my legs. The itching increased.

He came around to look at my face. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, "My blasted palms started itching suddenly, and now won't stop." I grit my teeth and rubbed a bit more.

I heard a half snort come from him. I looked surprised and appalled at the same time. Did he just snort? At me? "What's so funny?" I asked seriously.

He tried to contain a smile. "Oh nothing. Just a hypothesis I made a while ago. Nothing at all." Then, breathing deeply, and composing himself, he spoke again, "Whatever you are thinking about, you should probably switch topics." Then chuckling to himself, he made the movement to walk past me again, when I reached out in sudden anger and grabbed his shirt.

He looked down at me, amusement written across his face. "No. You can't just leave it at that," I demanded, "You need to explain to me why my palms are itching like they are on fire."

He tilted his head slightly, looking at me curiously. "When you gain your memories back and become the Cynthia Vortex everyone remembers. Only then will I tell you what my hypothesis was." Then sighing, "But all you need to know about your palms itching randomly is that they are controlled by your emotions. When one becomes heightened, your senses kick in and it taps into your abilities…err…powers." He smiled softly. "Like I said, I will tell you when you remember me correctly."

Completely confused now, thoughts of any kind were halted as he bent down and lifted me up. "Okay," he murmured quietly near my ear, "Let's see what's going on in that brain of yours."


I believe I fell asleep in that comfy chair of his. Because the last thing I remember was getting done with the head scan, feeling sleepy and him carefully moving me to the chair. And that's where I woke up…so yeah. That's basically what happened.

Carefully stretching my limbs, I blinked my eyes. There was a bright, large computer monitor in the corner of the room, with some sort of image on it that reminded me of a wrinkly raisin. There was a beeping sound coming from my right and I shifted my body to try to find the source. When I shifted, I felt warmth fall from my shoulders and to my lap. Looking down, I found myself wrapped in a cocoon of blankets.

Reaching for them, I glanced at my arms, finding them covered in a jacket I swear I wasn't wearing earlier. Feeling the chill in the room, I rubbed my shoulders, and felt the material under my fingertips. The aroma of something familiar wafted up to my nose, filling my lungs. Breathing heavily, I closed my eyes, a smile drifting across my lips. This was Jimmy's jacket. It had the same smell as him. It was so comforting, and so familiar.

Vaguely wondering why it was so familiar, I racked my brain for the answer, but came up with nothing. All my head was filled with was his husky, alluring aroma.

I heard the sound of metal sliding against metal and then glass breaking. My eyes opening, heart beating rising, I whipped my head around to the source of the sound.

I found Jimmy carrying a large box, coming in the doorway. He cursed angrily and made his way to the lab table near me. Setting down the box, he grunted and then leaned against the table. I noticed he had a jacket on as well.

Leaning on his side and smiling at me, I tried to smile back. "I see you've finally woken up," he all but purred at me… maybe it was just my imagination. When I nodded my head, too afraid to speak, his smile grew a little. "Well, we've finally hit the ice crystal storm, and after you drifted off to sleep you started shivering. I went and brought the blankets back from your room."

"Thanks," I mumbled, my head still swimming from his aroma.

His eyes locking with mine for a moment, I felt the back of my neck flare up. He finally looked away and turned his eyes towards the computer screen. "Well, I suppose we should get down to business." My stomach dropped with disappointment. I wasn't looking forward to what he had to say, whether it was good news or bad news.

Picking up a flat, rectangle of glass, he went over to his computer. Pushing a button, a projector shone down on the glass and then flickered out. When he removed the glass from the place, I could see that the picture that had been on the computer was now on the glass. My eyebrows rose in a compliment. When he found my eyes staring at the object in his hands, he held it up for me to see. "Something that was soon invented while you were gone." And as if to answer the question that was brewing in my mind, he added, "And no, it wasn't me. I was busy with….err… other things."

Before I could ask, or even read his facial expression, he had the piece of glass on my lap and was flipping through pictures on the screen. "Okay," he mumbled, his voice deep in thought, "Here."

He pointed to a blotchy object on the screen. Suddenly realizing that this picture was of my brain, I felt my stomach sink. This isn't what a brain was supposed to look like; I remember at least that much.

Since I had no idea what I was looking at, he went right ahead into his speech. "Right here. That's the error point it seems to be. There is an unnatural growth that is still continuing to grow. Its place is right here, on the part of the brain that is specifically known for memory storage." He paused, "It seems that since this growth is growing on that part of the brain, it is blocking out, or actually, sealing your memories away from further use. If my hypotheses are correct, you still have those memories, and if we can remove the growth and stop it fro growing, you might be able to unlock what you have forgotten."

Not being able to breathe, I looked up at him with wide eyes. I couldn't speak, although my mind was running a million miles an hour. A growth? On my brain? Will I forget everything? Or worse, will it kill me?

Finally finding my voice, I bit my lower lip. "W-Will you remove it?" I asked cautiously.

He opened his mouth silently, and then closed it, wrinkling his brow. Oh, how tired he looked. I hoped that he would get enough sleep tonight to wipe away the tired bags under his eyes.

Breathing in deeply, he finally spoke. "I would, but there is no way I could possibly do it on this ship. I would need to have the equipment in my lab back home." His sad eyes locked on mine, "So until we get home and I feel I can do it safely, we will have to wait and try everything we can to prevent you from losing anymore memories."

I nodded sadly. I would have to keep to myself and continue to worry. Who or what would I forget the tomorrow?

Feeling my depression sink in, he cleared his throat and put the computer down. Rummaging through the box on the table, he pulled a folder out. "In the meantime, you can look through this box. I tried to round up a few things that might spark your memory."

I lifted myself from my chair, feeling my muscles ache and my bones groan. His eyes widened and came to put his arm up for help, but I waved him off. "I need to learn how to walk again," I said through gritted teeth. True, the pain was hurting me, and my muscles felt as weak as a newborn calf, but I would rise again and support myself.

Leaning on my hands on the table, I drew in a sharp breath and then slumped against the table. In an instant, I felt his body near mine, his arm under my shoulders, keeping me upright. I murmured a thanks and went to sifting through the box of things. There were mainly random notebooks of experiments and odd writing on it. Then, at the bottom, I found a stack of pictures. Staring at the blonde haired woman in the different pictures, I felt my breathing increase, my blood pounding in my ears.

Is this me? There were an awful lot of pictures of me with a mega frown on my face, glaring at the camera. I fingered the picture, running my fingertip down along the long blonde hair. Jimmy was right. I used to take good care of my hair.

Then I stumbled upon a few at the bottom that made my heart stop. There we were, both leaning over a lab table, looking at a piece of paper. My face looked flushed and angry as I pointed out something on the paper. Jimmy's harsh blue eyes were glaring at me. I put that picture aside and went to the next one. Another one of him and I, only this time I was rolling my eyes and smiling sarcastically at something. He was looking at me once again, only not glaring this time. His eyes were soft and watching, a smile playing on his lips. I felt my face heat up looking at this.

Oh how I always wished he would look at me that way.

Almost dropping the pictures, I took in a sharp breath. Where did that thought come from?

Bringing a hand to my head, I steadied myself.

"Are you okay?" Jimmy asked from beside me, his voice filled with concern.

I tried giving him a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then, trying to switch the subject so he wouldn't get suspicious, "But I'm wondering where you got all these. Do you keep everything you ever own on this ship."

He was silent for a while, and then spoke, his voice full of nervousness. "That's….err…"

I laughed lightly, "Never mind, I'm just being mean."

But in reality, I really did want to know. But before I could think about it even more, I flipped through the pictures and found one that made me stumble. Jimmy's arm tightening, he breathed a gasp of surprise and held me up. I breathed heavily, staring at the picture. It was so familiar. So, so very familiar.

All at once, my head split once again, and I dropped the picture, bringing my hands to my head. Pain tore at my temple and I heard a small whimper escape my mouth, and I quickly shut it before I made an even larger fool out of myself.

Vaguely feeling him gently place me back in my chair, I kept my eyes shut while something formed behind my eyes, staining my vision. I felt his hand smooth back my hair from my forehead, and he said something I couldn't quite comprehend. But I wasn't listening all too well either. All I could focus on was the image flashing behind my eyelids.

I remembered where that picture was from.

It was the same one I had in my cell. And I remember feeling a great love and depression at the same time when I saw it. And….and he had grabbed it on his way out…when he rescued me.

I opened my eyes, but didn't speak. Locking eyes with him, and feeding off the concern that shone, I breathed quickly. I remembered something else!