Chapter 25: Man Down

The air was moist and frigid, almost as if death was already in the air. The two men hesitated, opening the door, slightly ajar to gaze inside. Sid's heart beated fast. He hated situations where he had no control and frankly, he had always been that way. How he came to entering a career in one of the most dangerous, random, and uncontrollable professions was just him trying prove he could do something in a world full of chaos.

His gun was close and his partner, who was having more or less of a mental break down ever since his ex-lover was killed, was right behind him. As unstable as Harold was, Sid couldn't deny his partner was a sharp shooter. He was even more proficient than said himself, who passed all of the gunman tests in the academy in the median level.

If shit hit the fan, Sid thought, at least Harold could shoot the son's of bitches no problem. And shit was definitely going to hit the fan. He had a knot in his stomach and a feeling that someone on this night wasn't going to make it home tonight. Whether it was him or some unsuspecting man or woman at the wrong place, at the wrong time someone's life was going to change forever.

Sid took a deep breath and yelled out, "Hillside Police Department! Hands up!"

To the two officers were surprised to see that the warehouse was completely empty, aside from the six men who stood in the middle of the grey floor.

"Welcome Gentleman. I see you caught us investing in a new property." The man that spoke was tall, 6"2' with brown hair cut in a clean Caesar or buzz cut. His brown eyes were full and lifeless. He had the demeanor of an Al Capone or a modern day god-father. He was calm, almost too calm and he had a soft smirk on his face.

Sid gritted his teeth. This man and his associates were absolute bullshitters and crooks. He and his crew were definitely responsible for majority of the underground deals in the city. He was so good and so clean with his dealings no one could ever catch him. It burned Sid up that he got acquitted and walked away from his alleged crimes due to a lack of evidence or evidence being circumstantial.

"Big Gino." Sid smiled but he knew in his gut this man was bad to the core and he needed to save the city from his plague. Sid didn't put down his gun for a second and neither did Harold. Everything was too quiet. Too convenient. Too easy.

"Sidney. Ha nice to see you. I don't go by Big Gino anymore, just Gino is fine. Boys, this is the boy I used to beat up in middle school for owing me money." Gino extended his hand towards Sid while the other men in the other men in the room laughed, even Harold chortled a bit. "See you made an honest living for yourself. Who would've thought the kid that owed me debt and came to my office shaking would be a cop."

Sid wanted to spit in the man's hand, pull the trigger on his gun, and cuff him right then and there. Being around him made Sid sick and made him want to release all of his rage tenfold just to make sure ass holes like Gino didn't exist in the world.

"It's Sid," Sid scoffed and didn't shake the man's hand. "I see you're just as shady as before. You and your thugs sure don't look anything like you're making an 'honest living' in an abandoned warehouse at 2 in the morning."

"Now, now Sid. Let's not throw insults. After all you and your partner here came into my warehouse unannounced. I know the legal system and you don't have probable cause. Unless you want to link me to a vague and speculative story again."

He knew the legal system for sure, which is why he evaded it so well. Assuming the warehouse was abandoned and no one's public property no search warrant was obtained so anything they could've collected on Gino wouldn't fly in court. Sid was fuming. Today wouldn't be the day he'd bring in a man who's antagonized him since he was 11 years old. He was bully back then but now Gino was probably bullying the whole city.

"Harold, let's go." Sid said between gritted teeth. The two men turned slightly to leave. Harold had around holstered his gun. Sid did the same but kept his hand on it. He didn't have a good feeling about this.

His voice was more menacing than his once stoic demeanor. Gino had won and he knew it but the game wasn't about winning to him. It was about you owing him debt. He got highs from having people grovel at his feet.

Sid wasn't that same little boy, not anymore but he had to let it go and do his job.

Gino spoke just softly enough for only Sid to hear him, "Oh and by the way, tell your friends I'll being seeing them soon."

Shots fired.

~/~

Helga was more than confused. Little Miss Prissy just barged in and ruined her perfect moment to be with Arnold and to make matters worse. She still her hold on him. She was still humiliating her after all these years. Pathetic, Helga G. Pataki was pathetic. She couldn't take it anymore. She was fed up with everything being out of her control. It felt like she was a kid again when her dad ignored her existence and her mom was too drunk to notice her. Her saving grace was Arnold, who was constantly drooling over Ruth or Lila or anyone but her. It was all the same.

"Do you think Lila will be okay?" Arnold asked softly.

God, even now after releasing years of tension from one kiss he was still stuck up her perfect ass.

"I don't care Arnold. I just want to be done with everything."

"Everything like what?"

"Her and you living in fucking la-la land. She could be Rhonda's killer and you are still want to bang her after you just kissed me. I'm an idiot for thinking you ever had feelings for me when she still has your brain wrapped in her manicured fingers."

"Why would you ever assume I don't have feelings for you? I kissed you for Pete's sake. You were running around doing God knows what with Sid, so I didn't say anything. Don't be ridiculous."

"Criminey, I saw the way you fell right back into her trap as soon as she batted her eyelashes and cried a bit. She's playing you. If you think she isn't involved with Rhonda's death your denser than I thought." Helga continued, "Sid has nothing to do with anything. We were NEVER together. For your information I was tired of waiting around for you."

"WAITING AROUND FOR ME! I have been pining over you jealous for MONTHS Helga. I have been watching you parade Sid around in my face. Of course, I went to Lila. I wanted to feel wanted and appreciated but that doesn't matter.

"I have been watching you not realize how beautiful you are everyday. Do you know that the dimple on your right cheek makes my day? Do you know that all those poems you wrote I still have and read? Do you know I've never met anyone with as much passion and conviction as you looking for Rhonda's killer? I also love your spaghetti and I love how your hair falls when you tie in a loose bun. Do you know how fucking amazing you are? You are perfect and infuriating all at the same time. All I know now is I don't care about Sid or Lila right now. All that matters to me is you Helga. What do you want?"

"What are you asking me?"

"I'm asking if you want to be with me like I've been wanting to be with you all this time. There's feelings here and I want to explore them. I have been mad at Sid for awhile now and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized, he was closer at having something I thought I never could have: You. That kiss was special and I know it was risky but I'm tired of running from my feelings. Tell me what you want and I'll respect whatever decision you make."

Helga's heart was beating out of chest. Arnold Shortman actually wanted to be with her, like date her, like do actual couple things. She was excited and frustrated at the same time. People were dropping like flies in the city and now was the time Arnold decided to make his declaration. She couldn't think straight. She forgot how to breath or where she was. Arnold Shortman, the man she has loved since the 4th grade just said he was interested in her and she wasn't daydreaming in the middle of her love manifestos .

Arnold could sense her general not-there-ness and asked," Helga, if you need time to-"

Before he could finish the annoying ringtone of her phone went off. The annoying three toned beep followed by:

Call me beep me if you wanna reach me

Doesn't matter when, doesn't matter where

Surprisingly Helga was a girl who liked Kim Possible but she definitely needed to change that ringtone. She looked at the ID it was Sid. What could he possibly want? He was riding her about staying off the case so what could it be?

"Hello?" she answered quietly. To her shock it wasn't the deep voice she was used to hearing. Instead she had a slightly nasally, alto voice.

Helga protested, "Harold? Why are using Sid's phone? For the last time I will not bring you any Mr. Fudgey Bars."

"It's Sid Helga. We got into a fire fight tonight and he got hit. He wants to see you though."

"Oh my god! Is he okay?"

"What? Yea. The vest caught most of them but a couple strays got under his vest. Trust me, he's too stubborn to die right now."

"What hospital?"

"Hillside General. See you there Blondie."

She scoffed at her old nickname and hung up quickly. She felt like she had just gotten hit by a truck. What could possibly shock her next?

"Sid's in the hospital. He wants to see me. I got to go Football Head." Helga rushed out and headed to the hospital.

~/~

Hospitals always freaked Helga out. The lights were blinding and everything was boringly white beside the obnoxious green scrubs that the doctors wore. She remembered being in the hospital a few times for her dad and to visit Sid but she absolutely feared being in the hospital herself. Being completely helpless, in pain, and completely at the mercy of men who taught they were gods and performed miracles daily made her nauseous. Call her cynical, but anyone who had even the slight power of balancing life and death in their hands could always abuse it.

She got to the front desk and stood behind a man who was apparently experiencing gallstones and needed immediate help. The receptionist was obviously tired of having people complain to her about how much pain they were in because really was it going to make their wait any shorter? Chances are a no.

She politely turned the man back to his seat in the waiting room with the fakest smile she had probably forced for the hundredth time that day. Helga stepped up to the desk and gave her Sid's name. Luckily he was only on the 2nd floor. Once off the elevator Helga headed to his room to find Harold at his side.

She was shocked to see him like that. Sid had one bandage on his shoulder and upper arm from what she could tell. He was covered in a thick blanket with an IV connect to one arm and a bandage on the other. He looked uncomfortable. His normal blushed face was slightly pale, his hair was all over the place, and his eyes were slightly enlarged. Harold had underestimated things. He had really been hurt tonight. Luckily he was conscious but laying down with his legs elevated.

She rushed to his side and said,"Sid. Jesus, what the hell happened to you?"

His voice was soft and low,"Casualty that's all. Better question: What happened to you? You look like crap."

Says the boy who had multiple gunshot wounds. She pulled out a small mirror from her bag. God, she did look horrible. Even for it being late. Her hair was messy and her makeup was smeared. Her eyes were red and puffy. She looked like how she felt if she wanted to be honest.

"Criminey, it's after midnight. And you're one to talk. Have you seen yourself?" Helga retorted and attempted to wipe her smeared make up off.

"On the contrary, I know for a fact I would make the hottest corpse known to man. Anyway, I'm fine Helga."

Harold introjected,"You got shot twice, went into shock, had surgery to remove the bullets, and have a fractured rib. You're far from fine Sidney."

Sid rolled his eyes and said,"Whatever Harold. I've been worse."

Harold was visibly upset. His nostrils flared and his ears turned red. Helga could see the vein flaring in his fully muscle neck when he spoke, "You've never almost died. Your heart stopped. You were off your game tonight and those men tried to kill you. Stop being the hero all the time. You could've lost your life tonight."

The sadness flowed through her veins and deadened her mind. It was a poison to her spirit, dulling her killing off her other emotions until it was the only one that remained. It was as if a black mist had settled upon her and refused to shift. She couldn't lose someone else to this Rhonda investigation. She had already lost Rhonda herself and God knows where Phoebe has been during all of this. One more person was too many.

A single tear slid down from her warm, blue eyes, followed by another one, and another one, until soon, a steady stream of salty tears flowed it's way down her pale cheek, releasing the sadness and sorrow that has been held inside of her for all this time but still she did not make a sound. She was never good at crying in style, not like the girls on the movie who would cry and still manage to look beautiful. She was an uglier crier, which was part of the reason why she never did it. Crying made her weak, it made her vulnerable, it made her feel emotions period. She hated it. The thing with pain though is you never know it's coming until it's already knocking at your door. You think you've experienced the worst pain of your life until it comes back rearing its ugly head again.

This was pain. The thought of Sid or Arnold or Harold or Gerald or anyone else dying hurt her to her core.

Her voice was low and shaky as she wiped the wetness from her cheeks,"Sid, you need to stop."

Sid tried to comfort her,"Helga, stop crying please. I am fine."

It was futile. She had made up her mind.

"You need to stop! Do you fucking hear me? Drop the Rhonda case. We all would do a lot better that way. Do what you have to but drop it before someone else dies."

She thought of the mysterious phone call from the shark and then thought of Lila saying a storm was coming. What storm could be worse than this one she was experiencing right now?

"It's my job Helga. I protect and serve. A few bullets won't stop me. I'll be back in a couple weeks. I can't stop. We're so close to catching this son of a bitch."

Harold chimed in, "She's right Sid. Rhonda's case is bigger than just the two of us need to send it to the big dogs. It's gotten too big and too dangerous. Everyday a new body is found. Someone wants us to stop looking at any cost. I know you don't care about getting hurt but what about Helga or someone close to you like me. When you were lying there bleeding on that ground I thought I had lost a limb. You're my partner. You're my best friend. Think of how it would feel if they came for me next. They obviously are sending a message."

Sid replied, "Damnit. We can't let the stupid mob silence us again. We don't even know who the real killer of Rhonda is but she was our friend as fucked up as a person as she was. Harold you loved her. Don't you want to look the man, that killed the love of your life, in the eye and know he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars. If we catch who's behind Rhonda's murder we can stop all of these deaths."

Helga said, "If you aren't going to give up at least tell me what you wanted."

"Helga, I need you and Arnold to get out of Hillwood. I know for a fact it's not safe for either of you. I have two plane tickets to anywhere in the county and guaranteed protection. Until everything is done with, no one is safe."

Thoughts kept playing back in her head.

"There's a war coming in Hillwood."

"She's dead. She's dead."

"Tell, Arnold the shark is looking for him."

"No one is going to be safe now."

"Stop digging Helga!"

"Helga, what do you want?"

Her brain was hurting. It felt like the room was spinning. She had never been out of Hillwood in her entire life and now she was forced to leave.

Harold broke the silence,"Even in her death Rhonda is turning our lives into hell. What did she do?"

Sid was serious and stern with her once again,"That's what we need to find out Harold. The sooner we do, the safer the people of this city will be. Now Helga, do you understand what I'm telling you?I don't take threats to my friend's lives as a joke. I will have an officer escort you both safely to the airport right now. Please don't be stubborn like usual. I need to know you're safe to do my job properly."

She could tell by the concerned look in his eyes that he was very serious and that the situation was very urgent. She just couldn't think right now. Everything was moving too fast.

Helga responded rushed and nervous, "Yes, yes I, I understand. I just need a minute. I'll be back."

There was a bathroom down the hall. She just need to make sure this was all real and that she wasn't going crazy. She needed time to process.

She went into the bathroom and didn't bother going into any of the five stalls. She walked over to one of the sinks and splashed water on her face, hoping that would wake her up from this nightmare. Unfortunately, the cold water only helped her wash her foundation off. Now she could really she how much Rhonda's death affected her, how everything in the past few months affected her. She looked like she hadn't slept properly in month. Knowing Helga, that was probably true.

She shuffled through her bag for her foundation and powder. Even if her possible death was something pressing right now she didn't want to look like she was already dead. She looked in the mirror and began to apply her primer.

From the corner of eye she saw someone come out of the fourth stall. Of course, people come out of stalls. It was a female public restroom in a hospital, but still her heart was beating fast and she was shaking trying to sweep the brush over her cheeks.

Her fears were concerned when the mysterious figure said, "Hello Helga."

Helga could have literally shit herself. Something about that voice sounded off.

"Whoever you are stop messing with me or you'll be personally meeting Old Bessie here?"

The figure was behind her in a matter of seconds, "I'm sorry Helga but you have to come with me."

Her palate was dropped on the floor and everything went black.

~/~

One hour later….

"Sid, she probably went home to pack or something." Harold attempted to comfort his nervous partner. Despite the pain medication pumping through Sid's veins he had become hypervigilant ever since Helga had left his hospital bed side.

"She said she'd come back. If Helga Pataki says she'll come right back, she's going to come right back. Something's wrong, I feel it." Sid immediately tried to get up out of his bed and rip the IV from his arm.

He was only met with Harold forcing him to lay back down and sharp pain in his side.

Harold scolded his clearly damaged partner,"You're on enough pain medication to sedate a man twice your size and you still wanting to go out and put on your badge right now. How you're even awake and moving right now is beyond me. Besides, even if she was hurt what could you do? You have a fractured rib and gunshot wounds. You're not even in any condition to protect yourself. If you leave this hospital bed you can reopen the wounds and bleed out. I'm not letting that happen. Calm down Sid."

"I know something's up Harold. I need to know if she's okay. At least let me call and check on her then I promise I'll rest."

Harold handed Sid his phone. Within two minutes Sid had already dialed Helga's number and got no answer. Sid called three times and the same result happened. No answer. No Helga.

Sid dialed Arnold's number. He hoped she was with him or he had at least seen her in the past hour.

"Arnold, hey man. Have you seen Helga?"

"No, she left to go see you. Are you okay?"

"Yea, sure, I'm great. You definitely haven't seen her? She didn't call you in the past or mention going somewhere after coming to see me?"

"Um, considering it's almost midnight and most things are closed, no. I haven't seen or heard from her Sid. Is everything okay? Is Helga hurt?"

"That's why I was calling to see if she was with you. I'll call you back in a second." Sid hung up and his phone and throw his head in his head. "Shit! I should've protected her."

"She could be in the food court or something Sid. Stop worrying.:

"How can I not be worrying? Big Gino basically confirmed there was a hit out on everyone I love and I'm stuck in the hospital!"

"Listen, you need to calm down or you'll make yourself have a heart attack. I'll go check and see if her car is still here and look around for her. She's probably fine." Harold spoke as he got up and left the room.

She's probably fine, Sid repeated to himself for every moment his partner was gone. It had been 45 minutes and Harold wasn't back yet. He couldn't sit there being useless. He willed himself out of bed, despite the pain, and dragged his IV with him to hallway.

He remembered she said needed a minute so she couldn't have gone far if she was planning on coming right back. There was a women's bathroom to the left of him. Sid tried to slip inside without anyone noticing. Sid could admit this wasn't his first time being in a female restroom. He used to be quite the pervert in high school. Boy, was he glad he grew out of that.

The women at the sinks gasped as he struggle to drag himself into the bathroom. His rib and everything else was killing him. When he got back to his room he had to tell the nurse to up his pain med dosage.

He said in a strained voice, "Hillside PD."

The bathroom cleared immediately, which gave him full range to see the entire bathroom. Then he saw it, there was a brown powder on the floor. From the looks of it it was most likely make up. If he knew women, he knew that women never dropped their make up even in a car going 95 mph. Something out of the order must have happened.

There was no clue that the powder was Helga's make up. It could have been anyone. Still in his gut he knew something happened.

"Reminiscing on your creep days Sid? Come on man. Some ladies complained about a shady looking man in their bathroom. They wanted security but I explained I was a cop. I assumed it was a patient who wandered in but I'm surprised to see it was you." A familiar voice echoed through the walls of the bathroom.

"Harold, she was here. I know it. There's make up on the floor that's been obviously left there. It's her make up. I know it."

Harold coaxed Sid, "It's the pain medicine kicking in. You're starting to be out of it. You had a long day and need rest."

At this point Sid was grabbing onto the bathroom sink to even stand. His pain was getting to him but he needed to know if she was okay.

"No, she was here. I feel it in my gut Harold. That's her make up. I just have a feeling."

"It's a public bathroom. That could be anyone's make up Sid. She's not anywhere in this hospital but I'm sure she'll turn up since her car is still here. She probably went to take a walk." Harold dragged his partner back to his room and put him in his bed.

Sid demanded, "Give me my phone."

"You need-"

"GIVE ME MY PHONE HAROLD!"

Harold did as he instructed and put the phone in his hand. This was the last time he was going to call her. Sid winced in pain as the third dial tone rang. A stain of red was forming on his hospital gown. He was bleeding through the bandages.

"Shit, Sid you're bleeding. You reopened the wound. I'll get the nurse." Harold hit the page button on the bed and headed out to find an available nurse.

Sid knew he was bleeding and frankly didn't care. He'd bleed out before anyone ever hurt another person he cared about.

Once again he got no answer. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

Author's Note: What do you all think? Who do you think took Helga? This story is coming to a close soon so we'll soon find out who the killer is. Anyone have any theories? I'd love to hear them!

Until next time,

Brie