Safe With You

By Neutron Phantom

Disclaimer: No..own...Jimmy..

"It is too my business, she's my mom and I'm supposed to protect her you dumbass! AND DON'T CALL ME CYNTHIA!"

"You little bitch!" Cindy's stepfather screamed as his large fist landed hard among her shoulder. Cindy passed out on the living room rug, and her mother just cowered in the corner, shaking because of what her new husband had done to herself and Cindy.

OoOoO

The last bell of the day rang, and Cindy turned in her German II homework to Mrs. Smitthausen, her teacher who was born in Hamburg, Germany. She hadn't been very happy that day because of the night before. She made sure no one was looking, and looked at her bruise on her shoulder, which she covered up with a T-shirt, instead of her favorite style of shirt that showed her shoulders. 'That damn Victor!' She touched her bruise gently, and she winced. She realized that she had to get home at 3:20 by Victor's orders, so she picked up her bookbag and raced out the door.

When she got home, Victor was lying on the couch, holding a can of beer while watching "Wheel of Fortune." She could tell by his eyes that he was drunk again, and capable of repeating last night's drama over again when her mother got home.

"What are you doing home so late? I told you to be home by 3:20! You just can't do anything right!" Victor said, mumbling the last sentence to himself.

"Whatever." Cindy said under her breath as she stomped up to her room. She looked into her mirror to get a better look at her bruise. It had turned a bluish-purple color with a yellowish outline. 'It's getting worse. I HATE YOU VICTOR! I HATE YOU! Why did you marry him Mom? WHY? I wish Dad never died!'

Suddenly, her phone rang, interrupting her train of thought. She answered it, and it was Jimmy.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cindy, it's Jimmy. I was wondering when you wanted to start working on our Germany report. It's due Friday."

"Um, how about tomorrow night? I'm kinda busy right now.. Call me back later and talk about it?"

"Sure! I'll let you get back to what you were doing. Ciao!"

"Auf Wiedersehen, Neutron."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Cindy heard a car pull into the driveway, and she looked out the window and saw that her mom was home. She seemed weary to open the door, but she managed to do it. As if on cue, Cindy heard shouts and screams coming from the living room just as her mother came inside. Tears were making their way down her cheeks for what seemed hours. She then drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Cindy woke up at 7:30. 'Stupid alarm clock! It was supposed to go off at 6:30!' She scrambled over to her closet and quickly chose an outfit to wear. As soon as she changed, she raced down the stairs, grabbed her car keys and bookbag, and hurried outside to her car.

As soon as she arrived at school, Libby ran up to her, showing Cindy her new "Graystar" CD, with Sheen and Jimmy following close behind.

"Hey Cindy, I called you back last night but no one answered," Jimmy stated. "Is everything okay at home?"

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine Neutron, and our family just went out to eat. Is that fine with you?" Cindy lied, and stomped off towards her Accelerated English III class.

"Touchy.." Sheen said, emphasizing Cindy's mood. "Come on my Sorcerer of Sass, lets head to P.E."

"Sheen.. no. Enough with the nicknames already!" Libby just shook her head, and took Sheens hand and followed him to gym.

Jimmy just sighed, and headed off to his first period class.

OoOoO

"..and so class, that concludes our lesson on German slang. You may talk quietly amongst yourselves until the bell rings," Mrs. Smitthausen told the class at the end of the period.

"Uhh, my brain hurts.. and I'm getting a D- in this class!" Sheen complained to Jimmy, who was sitting behind him.

"Oh, come on Sheen, it isn't that hard. Just read the lesson on page 81 of the text book, it explains it all very clearly," Jimmy said with pride in himself.

"Easy for you to say, Neutron, you're a genius! Sheen has the mind of a five-year-old! He shouldn't even be taking German. He still needs to learn basic English!" Cindy stated.

"She's right Jimmy... HEY! I do not have the mind of a five– hey look, a spider!" Cindy rolled her eyes at Sheen as the bell rang.

"Auf Wiedersehen, class!" Mrs. Smitthausen stated as she waved the class goodbye.

"Hey Cindy, are you coming over to my house so we can work on this project?"

"Sure, I guess. Let me get my books and I'll meet you there." She was worried that Victor would wonder where she was, but what did she care? He had already hurt her enough, what was one more bruise to add on to her body? But she had to do something about it. She couldn't tell Libby, she was the kind of person that would worry too much. Jimmy, her mind told her. She could tell Jimmy.

OoOoO

"So have you done any independent work at all on this report?" Jimmy asked while pressing buttons on the computer.

"Yeah, but um, Jimmy, can I tell you something really important? I've been to scared to tell an adult about this, and you're a person I can trust with this situation." Cindy looked down at the ground as she spoke. Tears were starting to burn her eyes. Jimmy jumped out of his chair and lifted Cindy's head up so she wasn't looking at the ground.

"Cindy, what's wrong? Tell me, you usually aren't like this. I've been worried about you lately," he said, his eyes full of concern. Without saying a word, she pushed her sleeve up to reveal her bruise, which was getting worse by the day. Jimmy was in shock.

"Who's done this to you? Cindy, why didn't you tell me before?"

"It's Victor, my mom's new husband. He's an abusive drunk, and I can't stand him! I was too scared too tell someone because I thought he would come after me and maybe kill me next time. Jimmy what should I do?" Cindy broke down crying, and Jimmy embraced her in a warm hug. He rubbed her back to comfort her, then pulled away to get a remedy for her bruise that he invented a few years back.

"Here, I invented this a couple years ago, and it helped me with my broken leg last year, so it should make your bruise go away in about an hour," Jimmy said while squeezing the serum into his hand and rubbed it on her shoulder gently, so not to make Cindy's bruise sore. She winced a little, but then realized his touch was warm.

"Now, we have to do something about Victor. I can't let him hurt you like this anymore. I have an idea, but I need you and your mom's help to make it work. Doesn't Victor wear glasses?"

"Yes, but I don't see where this is going. And, why do you need our help?" Cindy said, giving him a questioning look.

"I can invent a tiny camera to place on his glasses so that it can record everything that happens from Victor's view. If you catch him abusing your mom, the next morning while he's asleep, take off the camera and bring it to me. Then, I'll transfer it to my computer system and send the footage to the police. Then we'll be sure that you or your mom never get hurt again." He showed her on the computer screen the prototype of the camera. While Cindy volunteered to do the Germany research, he worked on the camera and soon, it was finished.

OoOoO

Cindy quietly placed the camera on his glasses while he slept. Shortly after, he woke up, and started drinking. Her mother came home and he started yelling at her. Sure enough, he hit her, and the camera recorded it. Cindy watched the whole thing from the stairs through the railing.

Victor was soon tired from all of the whiskey, so he took off his glasses and went to bed. He passed Cindy on the stairs, and he gave her an evil glare. She ignored it, and went downstairs and grabbed his glasses. She raced out the door to Jimmy's lab and knocked on the door. She fell through the trap door with a "thud".

"Do you have the camera?" he asked hurriedly.

"Right here, now send it to the police, and fast!"

The video feed went through to the police, and they received it the next morning. Sirens were heard throughout their neighborhood as the police made their way to Cindy's house. They took Victor and shoved him into the backseat of the cop car, never to hurt Cindy or her mother again.

Jimmy and Cindy joyfully hugged, then broke into a kiss that seemed to last forever. They finally broke apart.

"Thanks Jimmy, I couldn't have done this without you." Cindy smiled.

"Anytime Cindy," he said giving her a wink. Cindy saw her mom talking to the police, then they walked away. She ran up to her mom and hugged her dearly.

"I'm so glad he's out of our lives now! Mom, we couldn't have done this without Neutr- I mean Jimmy." She motioned for him to come over, and her mother thanked him. They could live in peace without any abuse for the rest of their happy lives.