A/N: Sorry for the long wait everybody (I have no good excuse, so I won't give one). Here's the end, and just to warn you, there is violence in this…

The rain was still pretty heavy as Helga walked along the sidewalk with her hands shoved in her pockets, still somewhat oblivious to the cold. She looked around, the street seemed to be deserted save for the one lone car that was slowly passing her and moving on. The street lamps caste an eerie glow, its orange light reflecting on each raindrop that sailed through its boundaries.

It was very peaceful the way the rain drowned out the sounds of sirens and such that could usually be heard in the distance on a quiet night. But all she could hear was the rain and the soft padding of her own footsteps.

So she never heard them coming.

Before she could react to the figure that had suddenly appeared next to her, Helga was knocked into a dark alleyway that she had conveniently been passing right at that moment. Convenient for them, anyway.

She didn't lose her footing until someone ran into her again, knocking her down onto the wet cement that was lightly covered with mud and garbage. Before she could let out any manner of sound, she was grabbed from behind and felt a strong, calloused hand cover her mouth tightly. His other arm had wrapped around her waist, forcing her arms to her sides.

She struggled with all her might, but it wasn't enough considering how exhausted she'd already been from being out in the rain for so many hours. She tried to wriggle free just enough to bite the hand that covered her mouth, but with no success.

The other man who'd knocked her into the alley first was suddenly there next to her, she could see his dark shadow just inches away from her before she felt a cold hand snake under her t-shirt.

With a sudden rage at being even that violated, Helga felt a surge of energy and jerked her head back, which released her mouth just enough that she was able to dig her teeth into that nasty hand viciously, despite the disgusting, unrecognizable taste. She heard him scream in pain, temporarily releasing his grip on her, and she bolted, trying to spit out the taste of blood in her mouth.

But not too seconds after that, she tripped over something and fell once again to the concrete ground. This time she didn't even have time to react before she felt a sharp, pointed blow to the side of her stomach, and she flew back, flipping completely over onto her back.

Before she could recoil from the blow, she felt another hard impact to her stomach. Only this time, it stayed there, and she realized she'd been pinned down by one of them. She let Old Betsy fly and felt a solid impact, but it wasn't enough because he immediately grabbed her hand, along with the other one, and held her arms by the wrist above her head against the cement, using only one of his hands.

With complete horror in realizing her defeat, Helga also realized that this man had his other hand free to do whatever he pleased with.

She heard the other man a couple feet away curse about her having bit his hand, but couldn't pay much attention to him, not that she wanted to anyway.

The one on top of her smelled raunchy and she knew any minute she'd puke. She felt his cold hand once again fishing its way up her shirt, and she screamed, more out of wanting to be heard than out of fear, which earned her a backhanded smack across her face.

She saw out of the corner of her eye that the other man had produced a knife, and muttered something like "Just try that again you..."

Helga's full terror settled in and she froze. She couldn't escape from this...

Suddenly she heard a loud, sharp thump, and the man on top of her flew backwards off of her and onto the ground. The stranger that had kicked him lunged foreword, not finished with him yet as he proceeded into a skilled fight, and, from what Helga could see, was beating the snot out of the man.

Before she could react, however, the one man that had remained in the shadows grabbed her, and she felt the cold steal of the knife against her throat.

The stranger turned from the other man, who had just slumped to the ground in unconsciousness. When he saw that the man had Helga in that dangerous position, he froze. His mind raced for a plan, any plan, as the man told him not to move.

But that wasn't likely.

In a flash of circular metal, a trashcan lid was sailing through the air like a Frisbee and struck the brick wall behind the man, bouncing off at just the right angle and knocking the man in the back of the head.

Helga was able to slip to the ground out of his grasp before the knife could be used on her, and she recoiled against the brick wall as the man stumbled for a moment, then took off running. The stranger followed him out and down the street for a short ways until he slowed near a street lamp, knowing he wouldn't be able to catch the man on foot.

Coming to a complete stop under the yellowing light of the street lamp, he removed the baseball cap from his football shaped head and wiped the rain and sweat from his forehead and eyes, panting heavily. After a few seconds of watching the other man disappear, he turned and headed back the way he came.

When he returned to the ally where the fight had taken place, he searched the darkness for the girl he'd seen exiting the park with those strangers trailing behind her. When he found her, she was curled into a ball against the cold brick wall, her eyes closed tightly.

"Helga?" He spoke quietly and with question, kneeling beside her and taking her shoulders in his hands to turn her toward him. He saw the bruise on her cheek, the light traces of blood on her mouth that had been washed away by the rain. Her hair clung to the sides of her face, and she had bruises on her arms.

"Arnold..." It was a small whisper, like a surprised gasp for breath, and in the same instant that she fell against him, he pulled her foreword into his arms with a light sigh, thanking God that she was alright.

Helga buried her face into his shoulder as her body shuddered, releasing the tension that had been tightly held within, and her strength seemed to drain completely from her. Arnold rubbed one hand up and down her arm to try to calm her, but to no avail. She could not find it in herself to relax even in his arms.

He figured maybe she was ashamed that her bully persona had been shattered, revealing her weak side and that, despite her strong capabilities, she could not have fought her way out of this. He heard her breath catching in her throat, as if she was about to cry, but he could tell she wasn't.

"It's ok to cry, Helga". He said softly, stroking her hair lightly. "No one's watching".

Helga felt her heart wrench.

Arnold remembered that day too.

She released an almost choked sob now, and he felt her relax in his arms, crying. He smiled faintly, pulling her closer into the safety of his embrace and cradling her lightly, trying to transfer some of his own warmth to her very cold body.

"Sshhh...it's ok. You're ok now".

Arnold couldn't bear to think of what might have happened to her had he not been getting off the bus at that moment and seen those guys follow her down the street. He hadn't even known it was her for sure until he heard her scream.

Arnold closed his eyes and held her a little tighter. He never would have forgiven himself if he had simply walked away from the bus stop and gone home without giving it another thought. It had just been a sixth sense, he supposed.

"I'm sorry, Arnold..." He heard Helga say in a wavering voice.

"I know, Helga, I know. It's alright". He said, stroking her hair again. He knew what she meant, and not another word was spoken about it. She was totally forgiven.

Carefully, Arnold released his hold on her, but not completely as he stood, bringing her to stand with him. She felt as though she could collapse at any moment if Arnold were to release her. In a swift motion, Arnold scooped her up in both arms and held her close against him as he carried her out of the alleyway and back into the rain, disappearing around the corner.

And the sound of the rain's constant pattering was all that could be heard.

The End.