A/N: This chapter's kinda short, and I had intended to continue it to the next scene, but where I wanted to take it, it would have been way too long. And I felt I've introduced enough in this chapter. And if you can guess what's coming up involving the Yukatan, I'll give you a big hug! :)

(Also, there's a guest reviewer accusing me of something I've never really been accused of before. But if they do read this, I'm here to let you know... you're crazy, baby doll. You know who you are, dame. ;) )

He pulls to a stop outside the brick building. It camouflages easily with the others in the area. The only thing that stands out about it is the lack of graffiti on the walls and the comparatively clean part of the sidewalk in front of the building. He looks through the door, a large steel door with a large pane of safety glass on the top half and sees two shadows moving about before he sees the bounce and dance of her blonde ponytail through the window.

He feels his gut tighten at the sight of her. Part in anxiousness, most in reverence of her beauty. He sees her smile and wave to the other woman in the office, an older lady in her mid to late thirties, and pushes open the door. He quickly steps out of his Land Rover, leaving his surprise dinner he picked up for her on the passenger seat, moves around the front of the SUV, and sends her a smile.

"Hey," She greets, happy and casual to see him again.

He's quick to step up to her and open his arms for her to step into. She doesn't hesitate and puts her arms around his mid-section, weaving her hands together behind his back. But his arms pull her into tighter to him, close and protectively as the streetlight above them flickers and the shadow of a bug flying through the light runs over them. "So, how was it? You have fun?" He asks.

He's pulling her in and holding her, making sure any nearby predators know that there's a very real danger involved with messing with her. Him.

But she seems not to mind and take it as typical boyfriendish affection, pressing her hands into his back and moving the soft cotton of his black t-shirt about. "Yeah. Mostly just answering calls and arranging care packages. Things like that."

He draws in a long breath, sucking in her warmth against the sharp, cold wind that cut through them both. His eyes dart down to her lips that are pulled into a smile. "Sounds boring." He says, letting the breath out.

She scoffs, rolling her eyes as she deflates in his arms. "The corps is important to me, Arnold." She argues, taking his comment insultingly. "It was a huge part of my life. I don't go around saying the park rangers sound like pillow-hugging wimps, do I?"

His brow pinches and his gaze squints and lowers at her. "It's Army Rangers, and Rangers lead the way. Hooah?" He says while stepping back and flexing his arm that shows his Rangers emblem tattoo, pride quickly flaring his nostrils.

There's a sparkle in her mischievous eyes and a gleam in her teeth as she smiles at him. She squeezes his mid-section tightly in a hug. "That was cute."

"Last guy who said that to me was some ate-up jarhead. Tried to tell Eddie that he needed some batteries for their chem-lights." He says.

Her brow knits. "Chem-lights?" She asks, her tone suggesting she knows what he's talking about. "You mean glow sticks? Aren't they-"

"Yep. It almost got physical and me and Eddie spent that afternoon doing push-ups." He says, still holding her close.

Helga chuckles softly, tugging at the fabric that hugs his chest, lowering her gaze. "But you know what I mean, right?" She asks, looking back up with an arched brow, looking gorgeous as she pleads.

He quickly corrects this by sending her a soft, half-lidded smirk and pulls her back in, vicing her in his arms. "Well, to make it up to you, I have a surprise for you."

"You do?" She asks, her voice quickly picking up in both pitch and speed. She practically bounces in his arms in excitement. "What is it?"

"Well, aside from the famous calzone from Nemo's I picked up for you," He says, watching as her eyes dance in the bug's shadow of the streetlight, "there's something in my back pocket if you can reach it." He says with a smile.

Her bottom lip falls in between her teeth. He feels her hands fiddle about blindly against his back until she reaches with both her hands into both his back pockets. He feels her take hold of the piece of paper, then quickly takes it from his pocket and brings it in front of her, showing him a paper folded in four squares. There's a flutter in his heart, knowing what this will mean to her. The Peace Corps obviously brought out her friendly nature, but she still has some of that old schoolyard bully in her when she's aggravated, which is quick to put people off. She could use a good friend.

He explains as she's unfolding the paper. "I saw this on the bulletin board getting out of math class and figured you'd be excited."

She finishes unfolding the paper and begins to read. "Coming this November, a series of guest lectures on advanced mathematical statistics, Professor Phe..." Her voice trails off as she reads the name. It's only a second before her eyes get wide and her expression blanks. Her head whips back up to his soft smirk before her gaze rips back down to the paper, silently rereading the name again. She looks back up again, "She-"

"She's going to be in town for a few months as a guest professor starting next week, and I figured we could pay her a visit." He says, pulling her back in by the waist.

Helga chokes on words for a few long moments as a siren wails in the background of the city noise. There's a tense pause between the two as he can sense the war going on in his girlfriend's head. He pulls it out of her by tugging on one of her belt loops with his thumb. She looks back up at him with a painfully obvious vulnerability in her eyes. "You know I have trouble making friends."

He scoffs under his breath and smiles. "Helga, she'd love to see you." He knows that she misses Helga.

"No, it's not..." She says, shaking her head, making her ponytail fall over her shoulder. "I remember how I treated her is all. I wasn't exactly a good friend."

"Helga," He starts sternly, earning her eyes fully, "Pheobe would love to see you. You were her best friend and that was elementary school."

"But Arnold, I was so bossy to her."

"Helga, Pheobe misses you." He says, hoping he doesn't give up too much. He's already told Helga way too much.

But as he earns her eyes again, she's shooting him with a curious look. "How could you possibly know that?" She accuses.

His throat closes and he nods, brushing her off with a hurt look, casting it down between the space between them. "I know what it's like to lose friends, beautiful." He says, his inner hurt violently coming out of left field. Her gaze softens as her hands land on his chest. "If I had the chance to get any of them back, I'd take it in a heartbeat, so..." He trails off, looking down at the paper still in her hand, "you're getting one."

She's slow to nod and look back down at the paper. "Advanced data analysis and statistical probability?"

"Sounds thrilling, right?"

Her smile erupts her face and she follows as he puts his arm around her and leads her to the door of his car.

But just as she's pulling open the door on her side, Arnold's eye catches movement on down the street. He stops and looks up the sidewalk, seeing the door of a dark-colored sedan fly open. His eyes quickly glance over the sedan and he notices the unmistakable markings of a police car. His hand finds the small of Helga's back and he quickly starts to silently urge her into the passenger seat. But Helga is stopped by the sight of the baige bag sitting on her seat with her surprise dinner.

"Arnold, that smells incredible." She says.

"Yeah, Nemo's is the best." He says, looking back down the street. But when he sees who it is stepping out onto the sidewalk, he feels his heart grow cold and his body drain of blood. His eyes are fixed and he can't stop Helga from noticing. He sees her look over her shoulder to him then follow his eyes down the sidewalk.

His body feels weak, it feels vulnerable. He hasn't felt this way in a long time. Not since that humid night, standing in that shack in the Yukatan. And when he snaps down the lapels of his blue suit jacket and stiffens his neck, Arnold's mind slowly comes back to him. "We should get going, Helga. It's getting cold." He says in a lowered voice.

"Wait, isn't that-" She starts, pointing at the black guy striding down the sidewalk toward them with his shoulders and head both rolled back. In some sick way to portray dominance over him. It's going to be like that, obviously. "Gerald?" She calls.

Arnold's muscles twinge right before they harden. Gerald seems to pay her no mind, only looking over to her with a stern glare and lifting his hand to her. Arnold can clearly make out the faint outline of the holster on his right side, and can clearly make out the hidden lights installed in the grill of his Crown Vic. And his in a blue suit with an off-white shirt, he's looking all too much like a Fed. "

"Arnold." His voice cuts through him, a tone of warning and edging.

Arnold's heart hardens before he can feel himself grow cold. He takes a pause, staring him down before letting his hand fall off the car door. "If you want to talk, talk to my lawyer, officer."

Helga's head whips around to look at Arnold again. "What? Wait, what's going on?"

"Arnold," Gerald starts again, taking a step toward them as Arnold starts around the back of the car, "you're coming with me."

Arnold doesn't bother to look back over his shoulder, "Not without an arrest warrant, officer." He says in a raised voice as he rounds the car.

"What the hell is going on here?" Helga demands.

"Arnold, Roy Connell says you assaulted him outside of his home. Is that true?"

"I'm sorry, officer." Arnold says, stopping just as he's about to step off the sidewalk, turning back to send Gerald a glare. "I can't answer any further questions without a lawyer present."

Arnold steps off the sidewalk, but Gerald stops him, quickly stepping up to him just as Arnold is a step or two off the sidewalk. "Damn it, Arnold! Quit playing around and come with me or it's going to get ugly." Gerald warns.

"No, wait, Gerald-" Helga tries, without result.

"Come back with a warrant, Officer." Arnold says as he turns back around, staring Gerald down from just a pace away. Neither of them flinches or waver as Arnold turns back around to face away from the officer.

"Arnold, stop right there!" Gerald says.

Gerald quickly pulls his jacket away and puts his hand on his Glock, ripping it from the holster and pointing it directly at Arnold. But when Arnold's eyes turn and see down the barrel, his mind goes silent and his body is moving.

Without hesitation and with clear precision, Arnold's hand flies up and snatches at his wrist, wrenching it in a counter-clockwise motion, twisting his hand and causing the gun to fall helplessly to the ground. "AGH!"

His heel then finds the back of the officer's knee, sending him to the ground, leaving the officer completely defenseless. And as the Ranger moves like muscled liquid around him, all the officer can do is freeze and wait for it to be over. The Ranger's ears are ringing, his mind is a dark, silent wind as his body moves behind the officer. His hands move, one grabbing his jaw and the other on the side of his head, ready to end it, mercilessly and without hesitation.

But then her voice comes back, calling out to him, cutting through the buzzing in his ears. "Arnold!"

The darkness falls from his mind and his body feels back under his control again. When he comes back to himself, he shakes his head and looks down, seeing Gerald on his knees in front of him, his hands in the air, with Arnold's hands on his head, ready to end his life with just one more motion.

What the hell is he doing? Who the hell is this? Is he?

His hands let Gerald go, flying off his friend in a flash as Arnold staggers back weakly. Helga is quick to his side, putting her soft, warm hands on his cheeks, petting his hair, knowing the frightened look in his eye, the shaken look. His heart is pounding and his body feels numb, weak. His breath lets out in an intense shake. "What am I doing?" He asks in a voice that's not there.

Gerald falls forward and he quickly staggers to his feet, grabbing his gun off the ground. Gerald turns and looks at the two, far too angry, and gathers his posture again, pointing his Glock back down to the ground. "Helga, step back." He orders, putting his hand on her arm, pulling her back. "I'm taking you in." He says, grabbing onto Arnold's wrists and putting them behind his back, handcuffing him.

"No... Gerald, Arnold! Wait!" Helga pleads.

Arnold looks back up to Helga as Gerald pushes him back down the sidewalk toward his car. "I'll be fine, Helga."

"B-but, Arnold, what-"

Arnold's weak body gets shoved forward as Helga follows with her eyes, helpless. He speaks just before he's shoved out of her view. "I love you, Helga."