Helga tried figuring out what the suits were talking about, but apparently they'd never head of details. She'd never heard a more vague conversation in her life. All she'd learned was that Arnold was in possession of some kind of mysterious samples and whatever they were planning would be going down at the end of the month. Helga just hoped that she could figure out their plan and stop it before then. Phoebe's wedding was at the end of the month and she'd hate herself if she missed that.

Finally, she'd given up and decided to see if she could dig for questions elsewhere. As she crawled through the vent, a new and unfamiliar scent reached her nose. It smelt like…flowers. Only it was more of an oil than any actual flowers. She wasn't really sure how she knew this, she just knew. She came to a vent in the air duct and found herself staring at what looked like a biology lab. Far more advanced than any biology she'd ever done, but biology all the same.

After making sure that the lab was empty, Helga pushed open the vent and fell into the room, landing soundlessly upon her feet, despite the fact that she was wearing stilettos.

It there was anything to be learned from the contents of the lab, it was far too complex for Helga to understand. She knew what a few things were by their smell, such as copper and the like, but everything else was plant based. There were a few potted ferns on a the counters, but those were the only actual plants in the room. Still, Helga wouldn't be surprised if she were assailed by less plant odors in a green house. Helga was certain there was some significance somewhere, but she just couldn't find it. Not now at least.

There was a filing cabinet in the corner of the room and she approached it, happy to find it was unlocked. She skimmed the file names, hoping to find anything that might be useful, starting at the beginning of the alphabet. There was Aster, Azalea, Arum. Helga frowned. Clearly whoever had organized the cabinet didn't care much about alphabetizing. Then she saw something interesting. A file with the name Arnold Shortman.

Helga seized the folder and opened it, skimming through the first page. There was a black and white picture of Arnold paper clipped to the pages. There were at least a dozen pages, but she wouldn't have time to look through them just yet. She wasn't that stupid. Helga wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but she shoved the file into her catsuit and continued digging for clues and information.

"What do you think you're doing here?"

The question almost sent Helga flying out of her books. In a flash, Helga had her whip in her hand and was ready for an attack.

The woman who'd asked the question looked perfectly harmless. She was just as tall as Helga, maybe even trumping her in height by an inch or two. Her hair was a dark, yet vibrant red, rolling off her shoulders gracefully. She was dressed simply, in a white lab coat with dark rimmed glasses upon her nose. Her legs were long, her waist tiny, eyes big and mossy green, and her lips plump. Helga couldn't tell much about the woman's skin tone in the dark, but her complexion was fair. Helga had never considered doing…things with a woman before, but if she were to do so, this woman would definitely be at the top of the list.

The woman laughed and shook her head, "Oh you're the pussy cat that everyone's been so annoyed with all day."

Helga raised her chin defiantly. "I guess so."

The woman didn't look at all frightened that Helga was there. In fact, she looked amused. "they're calling you Cat Scratch. You could always introduce yourself so I can correct them."

Helga's eyes narrowed. "Not on your life, ginger. You're on their side."

"I am on nobody's side. Because nobody is on my side." The woman's words managed to confuse Helga into a brief silence. "However, I would like to know what you're doing snooping around in my files."

"There's no use in you knowing. I was just leaving." Helga crouched and made a jump for the air duct, but before she could get far, something coiled around her ankle and she was thrown onto one of the long counters, beakers shattering and liquids spilling under her. Something started burning Helga's leg and with a yelp she was up on her feet, rushing to the sink to rinse off whatever was burning her. Whatever it was, it had already burned through the fabric of her suit.

"Yes, my sweeties, I know. I won't let her hurt you." The woman cooed sweetly.

When Helga looked up, she was shocked to see vast stretches of ivy and vines cowering next to the woman, who had now removed her glasses and lab coat, revealing a green strapless leotard, that looked almost like it was made from glossy green leaves and matching gloves that snaked past her elbows. She was wearing fishnets and black high-heeled boots that snaked past her knees. Just like Helga, she was any nerdy boy's wet dream come true. The light switched on and Helga had to blink a few times to let her eyes adjust. She was surprised at just how muted her night vision made colors seem. The woman's hair was still red, but it was a darker fire hydrant color. What really got Helga going was the fact that her skin was a light shade of green.

She was stroking one of the vines as if it were a pet and a coy smile found her face. "Get her."

In a flash of green, vines and ivy sprung for Helga. Unsure of what was happening, it took a few seconds for Helga to finally react and spring away from the snaring plants. Eventually, she was cornered and vines coiled tightly around her wrists and stretched her arms until the hold was taunt enough to keep her from moving. Still, Helga struggled to get away. The woman walked forward calmly, but with fury in her eyes.

"Good kitty kitty. Now I'll ask you one more time…what were you doing in my files." She crossed her arms over her chest. "And don't try my patience. You wouldn't like it if the gloves come off, trust me."

Helga glared at her captor, "I want to stop whatever your friends are up to." Helga sneered, "Isn't it obvious?"

There was a dinging of an intercom and Helga and the green woman both looked in the direction of the speaker. "Venom, my sweet flower." the voice practically sang. Helga recognized it as the voice of the man she'd heard talking about samples earlier. The woman, Venom, Helga guessed, scowled and wrinkled her nose. "I'd like to pay you a visit. Are you too busy?"

Venom looked between the intercom and Helga before smiling wickedly. "Just taking care of my babies. Five minutes?"

"I'll be counting the minutes, my sweet."

One of the vines ensured that the intercom was turned off and the rest of them released Helga. Helga rubbed her wrists and stared awkwardly at the green woman. "You're letting me go? But you're on their side!"

The woman gently kissed one of the vines and watched as it slithered back into its hiding place, "I already told you, Cat Scratch, I'm not on anyone's side because nobody is on my side."

"So…are we…allies then?" Helga still didn't understand and was beginning to doubt that she ever would.

"We're complicated." Venom was beginning to sound annoyed. "I gave you give minutes to scatter and you've done a poor job of it."

Helga nodded and leaped into the vent. Before she proceeded to flee, she stuck her head out and looked down at the woman again, who crossed her arms and glared at her. "Venom, right?"

With a weak smile, the woman nodded, "Cat Scratch. The less you know and the less I know the better…for now."

"Thanks again, sister." Helga saluted at Venom and replaced the vent she'd crawled through before beginning her escape.

Venom glared at the ceiling where Cat Scratch had vanished. "I'm not your sister."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Wake up!" A voice sharply demanded as a cup of cold water was emptied upon Arnold's face.

With a gasp, Arnold shot out of his bed, scrambling onto the floor.

His attacker rolled her eyes and turned her head, "For god's sake, cover up, boy."

Arnold looked down, embarrassed to find that he was still naked after his romp with Helga. Once he thought of it, he realized Helga wasn't there.

Then…who had?

Arnold's mouth fell open. It was the woman in black. The same woman who had saved him earlier that night. She was in his room? How the hell did she even know where he lived? Where had Helga gone?

He scrambled over to his closet to get dressed, choosing to ask questions later. When he returned in a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt he found the woman in black laughing lightly at a piece of paper. "Well it looks like bleeding works better than flowers if she already loves you, stud." she chuckled once she acknowledged him.

Arnold's brows came together in confusion and with a roll of her eyes, she handed him the note Helga had left behind and watched as Arnold frowned at first, but then smiled at the end. She rolled her eyes, "Let's cut to the chase, shall we lover boy?"

"This really couldn't wait until morning?" Arnold asked groggily as he sat on his bed and placed the note aside.

Her eyes narrowed. "No, it can't. Now, what do you know about…" she pulled out a file, he wasn't sure where from, "Eden Greene?"

Arnold looked even more confused than ever, "Eden Greene?" He laughed, "Eden is a scientist. She makes medication, but only from natural sources. She's one of those hippie kind of doctors, you know."

"How do you know her?"

Arnold scratched the back of his neck, "Well aside from a few letters, I really don't. I've been living in San Lorenzo, an area of South America, with my parents for quite a while so I've stumbled across quite a few new plants there. I'd send her samples and seeds of the plants and she'd catalog them and see if they had any medical use."

Helga bit her bottom lip. She was surprised she'd never heard this before. "So there are no romantic ties between you two or anything like that?"

Arnold laughed aloud now, "Are you joking? I've never even met the woman. Besides, she's way out of my galaxy."

"What do you mean by that?" Helga asked.

"I needed a dictionary just to understand one of her letters." Arnold explained, "I probably couldn't even carry on a conversation with her."

She smirked, "Well I can see where a man would be intimidated by a woman who's better at something than he is."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "It's not that. Why does this matter anyway?"

"Whatever these people want from you, it has something to do with your interactions with Eden." she picked up a baseball from one of his shelves. She smirked when she recognized it as the baseball he'd caught at Mickey Kaline's last game. Arnold opened his mouth to protest, but shut it; she smirked and put the ball away. "Any idea as to where I can get in touch with Eden?"

Arnold shook his head, "Last I heard she was in a really terrible accident a few years ago. Her letters just stopped after that."

"And did you stop sending her samples?" she questioned.

"No. I thought she'd be happy to have them once she decided to get back to work."

She chewed on her lip and held her chin between her thumb and index finger, contemplating this new information. Finally, she said, "I'll keep in touch." She soared over Arnold and into the window she'd left open for her escape.

"Hey!" Arnold bellowed, "Wait!"

She returned to the window, "You just don't like seeing me leave, do ya stud?"

Arnold's cheeks turned red. "What's your name?"

A smile found her lips, "You know I can't tell you that."

"Then what do I call you?"

She shrugged and popped her hip out to the side, "Appearently they're calling me Cat Scratch. I guess it works. Catch ya later, kid."

With that, she vanished again. Arnold sighed and settled into his bed again. Things were certainly getting strange.

Ok so everyone needs to know that I love you, but my updating on both this fic and my other one (Helga's Tower) are going to be delayed because I'm on vacation for the holidays. Sorry friends.

P.S. A Catwoman and now a Poison Ivy. What next? A Harley Quinn? Hmmm…a Harley Quinn…I wonder who that could be. Hehehehehehe. Don't forget to review.