Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold

Summary: A 26 year old Helga has a near death experience with a drug addiction that sends her into rehab. While there, Gerald begins to dig into the past and brings out a skeleton in her closet that has haunted the both of them. And what exactly does all of this have to do with Arnold anyway?


Need Some Air

"Wrong place, wrong time,

You're falling down,

Wrong place, wrong time,,

I should have known,

You're leaving now,

You're fading out." -Lowline (Disko Killer)


Helga sat rather uncomfortably in the back of the old police squad car that scooted down the moderately busy streets of the city. She stared blankly out the window, squirming against the worn vintage fabric of the back seat, nothing particularly constructive perusing through her mind as she window gazed. Mostly she thought mostly about how she could weasel her way out of this impossible predicament she'd found herself in. That day should have been a wake up call for her. She should have been focusing her mind power on acceptance of her situation and ways to become a better person.

She thought of neither, though, only schemes to talk her way out of this mess. Ha! Wishful thinking. Her anxiety hadn't leveled itself out since her quick exit at the hospital. Not even the cool fresh air had eased the nervous and somewhat paranoid feelings she had. She felt her heart beat beginning to rise, as her brain got carried away with the thought of jail. Her heart's rapid beats caused her breaths to become more shallow and quick.

Helga realized what was happening and she shut her eyes, exhaling slowly. She then slowly inhaled a lung full of air, exhaling it slowly, regulating her heart. It worked on calming her, if only a little. Her eyes slowly trailed up to the rear view mirror of the squad car. Even through the cage bars, she could see Gerald's face, concentrating solely on the road.

It bugged her.

She was profoundly shocked that he hadn't spoken a word to her since the car ride had begun. No questions, no mocks, no jabs, no nothing. It put it mildly, it drove her nuts, that he hadn't made a smart remark that she could counter into an arguing match to pass time.

A smirk spread across her face as she pulled her legs up onto the seat.

"Do you get a kick out of this?" She asked. Gerald's eyes instinctively darted to the rear view, peering at her through the bars.

"Do I get a kick out of what?" His eyes squinted a little, confused by the meaning of her seemingly absurd question.

A tiny chuckle fluttered past her lips as they parted ways for an amused smile. "Oh come on, we've never exactly gotten along now have we?" She chortled again and leaned forward, "Now I'm here and you're there. Karma-tic justice, eh Johanssen?"

Gerald paused for a second, relaying her idea around his head. "I'm not shallow, Helga," He finally replied, his voice echoed a sliver of offense.

Helga rolled her eyes, leaning back against the seat. "Sure," She murmured just barely loud enough to hear, hopefully egging him on a little.

"I'm only doing my job."

She perked an eye brow at his remark, becoming curious enough to temporarily abandon her quest to pick an argument, if only to pry a few other questions out of him. She leaned forward again, a smart-ass smile once again planted on her face. "How did you end up a cop? Last time I saw you, you were an engineering major."

Gerald's eyes shifted towards the rear view again, making contact with hers. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards into weak smile. "Arnold," He said sincerely.

"How noble of you." She suddenly wished that she had never asked.

He shrugged off her comment, "What are you doing these days?" In the back of his mind, he knew she would take it as a low blow, and part of him secretly desired her to do so.

And she did. Bait, hook and sinker.

"...I do fine," She spat back with bitterness, her reflection throwing him a glare.

"Okay," He shrugged, nodding his head.

She huffed and turned, starring out the window again. "So how long will I have to stay in the freakin' clink?"

"Depends I guess, if you make bail then maybe only a day, if not, maybe a week before a trial..."

Helga rolled her eyes, "No really?" She feigned surprise, highlighting the fact that she was the queen of sarcasm, "I mean in jail. As in a conviction. What am I looking at here?"

"Maybe 18 months...maybe 2 years. It just depends...Cocaine possession can be a stiff offense, and we found a decent contained amount in your pocket," He silently fought the battle not to snap back at her for her rudeness and arrogance. It was her nature, he knew, but it still grated his nervous.

She let out a nervous breath, shuffling in her seat for the next comfortable spot. Gerald observed her uneasiness via the rear view mirror, watching her squirm like she could just wiggle out of her skin. He'd seen it many times in his field of work.

"It's the blow, you know, making you feel like that."

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Phil, I put the dots together awhile ago," She said a rudely as possible, running her hands through her hair several times.

"So why do you do it then?"

She never answered him, and even if she wanted to, they had already pulled into his stationed precinct within the city. It seemed like that agonizing ride had lasted for hours, and she was just relieved to be at the end of the ride. She desperately wanted to escape Gerald's company. He made her nervous and uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but she'd take a guess it was probably because they knew each other, and very well at that. She would have much preferred to be under the supervision of a stranger, somebody who couldn't judge her because they didn't know her, somebody who wouldn't carry their chin high around her as if to say 'take that.'

Helga was jolted from her thoughts as the back seat door she was leaning on, gave way as it opened. She caught herself with her hand and glared at Gerald, standing there with his hand gripping the window frame. She tossed her feet out the door and ducked, catching the chilly breeze as she stood up and out of the squad car.

Gerald shut the car door with a simple push of his hand and turned, walking behind Helga into the station. She pulled the glass door open and walked into the much warmer building. Her chaperone instructed her to take a seat in one of the several gold yellow plastic chairs lining the lobby like area. They reminded her of the lunch chairs in high school. He walked to a chubby balding man at a desk stacked with papers and exchanged a brief conversation, occasionally nodding over to Helga's direction. She wondered what they were talking about, but figured she'd probably find out sooner than later.

Gerald looked back at her and motioned her to follow him with a quick twist of his hand. She stood up and trudged behind him further back into the station till they reached a separate part, specifically for mugs and finger printing. He opened the door and showed her into the white room, she'd guess the cleanest part of this place. Inside stood a young blonde haired man, rooting through several files on a fold up table.

"Are you busy?" Gerald asked him.

The lanky man looked up from what he was doing, shrugging as he did, "Umm…what do you need?" He straightened.

"I need this one finger printed and her pictures taken."

The man looked at her, and shrugged again, "Yeah sure, I'll do it, it won't take long."

Gerald smiled, and thanked him before pushing his captive towards him. He stared at her, mostly at her hands noticing her lack of restraints.

"Why doesn't she have handcuffs on?" The man asked concernedly.

Gerald stopped and looked back in, "She's not going anywhere," He assured.

The blonde man raised his eyebrows and sighed motioning her over to the table. "Well, okay I need you to hold out your hands…"


In the mean time Gerald walked back up front to the balding chubby man. The chubby fellow was just returning to his desk with a thick file, right as Gerald approached it.

"Oh great, you found it," He greeted the man, out stretching his hands for the parcel he carried. The heavy set guy parted his lips for a toothy grin as he handed over his item to the awaiting set of hands.

"It's a thick one," He reseated himself.

Gerald walked over by the desk and sat in one of the yellow gold plastic chairs adoring the front of the lobby area. He opened up the manila folder, first seeing the basic information and first mug shot of the individual. She wore a cocky grin and her eyes were as troubled as any hardened felon he'd crossed paths with. She hadn't changed much since. She was 17 when this shot was taken, almost nine years prior to the present.

He thumbed through a few pages of the folder, inspecting the damage she'd bestowed on the world, not to mention herself. She'd manage to rack up the miles of mischief, earning herself the charges of public indecency, two DUI's, a drug bust, fights, and public drunkenness, and that was just the first layer of her file. He found it peculiar that she hadn't served any real significant jail time for her mayhem.

He made a mental note to check into this.

He could have sat there awhile longer and flipped through the folders contents, but chose not to due to time constrictions and snapped it closed. He walked to the back part of the precinct, folder in tow and entered the same white room; right after Helga had finished her last head shot.

"Well…she's all done," The lanky man greeted him, handing him a thin folder of white parchment.

Helga sat in one of the room's chairs, staring at the floor. She twiddled her thumbs like it was a nervous habit in need of attention. Gerald motioned for her to accompany him leaving the room. She cocked an eyebrow at his gesture before standing up.

"Coming Geraldo," She mocked him. The muscles in his jaw tightened when he heard her little quirk. It had definitely been awhile.

Like before, it was taking a lot of will power not snap back at her. He said nothing back as he escorted her down to the holding cells. To her surprise there were no raggedy looking hobos or shady looking individuals she had to share a cell with, she was alone in the holding unit.

She walked into it, feeling like an animal and mildly claustrophobic as she stared around the small square with nothing but a worn bench to sit upon. She had always hated these holding units, and she especially did not like it this time. Not at all. She winced hearing the metal bared door click shut behind her with some applied force. She turned around, once again staring at Gerald through a set of bars, much like the ride there.

He shifted on his feet, staring at her, "I've got to go do some things. I'll be back in about an hour or so. If you need to make a phone call to…whoever you can do it then."

He knew he should have let her do it before he put her in, but he was aggravated with her, and needed to step away for awhile, he needed a breather.

She snorted at his remark, "No need, I've already done my calling." She walked over and flopped down on the dirty bench. "Don't worry Bruce Wayne, I won't be 'terrorizing' the streets tonight," She curled her fingers into a quotation motion, grinning sarcastically.

Gerald rolled his eyes and sighed as he turned to walk away.

"Can I have a cigarette!?" Helga called after him quickly, seeing he was leaving.

"No!" He shouted back, never turning around as he made his angry exit.

She sighed in disgust, resenting his response. She was nic-fitting like nothing she'd ever felt before. Not to mention all the other things she craved for at the moment. If she didn't get something soon she felt her head just might just explode. Or worse, she might just lose her mind.

Her mind was busy processing heaps of thoughts, ideas, and wants, everything that crossed her mind. She couldn't stop what she was thinking, what her body was forcing her mind to focus on. The most pathetic thing about it was the one thing she should have been focusing on, the one thing that should have been top priority in her thoughts, was the last thing on her mind. It was Sender.

She never saw it though.


A/N: Chapter 3 down. I wasn't particularly pleased with this chapter, that's why my updating was a little slow. I dreaded writing this thing, and I just couldn't get it to turn out like I wanted it to. It was just one of those sluggish chapters that HAS to be in there to get to more important interesting chapters. Anyway, there you have it, Helga acting like Helga being an insult throwing jerk and Gerald taking it, being the bigger person. She's still not acting like anything she's doing is wrong and her priorities are majorly wrong. Well please Read and Review, it's the key to motivation. Lol. Thank you to all my reviewers so far! And please don't let this chapter discourage you!