Author's Note: I did not intend on posting this tonight. Actually, I didn't plan on posting this anytime soon. I had every intention on waiting until I had some of my other projects finished, but the thing is, this is all I can think of. I have been desperate to write and every time I try to, I come back to this. I promise I will finish my other works. Eventually. I just really want to write and hear feedback from you lovely readers, so to do so, I need to start something new. Maybe it will give me motivation to work on my others. Please be patient with me. Someday I will finish everything I started, probably with some rewrites. I feel like since I started writing Hey Arnold fan fiction three years ago my writing has improved. I want older unfished stories to reflect that.

Also a big thank you to ForeverA90'sKid and Sandra Strickland for listening to me ramble on about this story and giving their thoughts and inputs. I really appreciate it!

Summary: Helga and Arnold just started dating when the murders started. Now a year and half later there is a serial killer who has dubbed himself as The Watcher that homicide detective Arnold is desperate to catch. Reporter Helga is on the case too when she suddenly becomes The Watcher's next target. The stakes of making an arrest have never been higher. Hopefully Arnold isn't too late. Warnings inside.

Warnings: This is about a serial killer. There's murder, violence, rape, stalking, and bad language. There is also sex. If any of these things make you uncomfortable or offends you, do not read.

The Watcher

Helga Pataki drummed her fingers on her desk, willing the time to tick on faster. It was one of the (sometimes many) downfalls of being a reporter; slow news days were boring. There were some days, in some sick twisted way, Helga wished something would happen just so she had something to do other than research. It was especially twisted since she didn't cover those fluff pieces that everyone seemed to love. She did not cover the news story about Tootles, the little Yorkie that would 'visit' the elderly in the nursing home or when a local eatery that made the world's largest chocolate chip pancake.

No...She covered crime. Murders, abductions, break-ins, arson, and rapes. It could be an ugly job, but Helga loved what she did nonetheless. At only twenty five years old she had already made quite the name for herself in the world of journalism. She had been rewarded multiple local media awards and was even a little bit of a local celebrity. Helga doubted she'd ever get used to being recognized. She had been approached more than a few times while she and Arnold were out for dinner or just out and about at the local farmer's market.

She had been extremely lucky, right after graduating college she had scored a job out in Chicago, but relocated after...

Helga shook her head, pushing all thoughts of Chicago out of mind before she had an anxiety attack. She was at work and she didn't need to think about Chicago while she was there, not that she ever wanted to think about what happened in Chicago. She shook her head. Chicago didn't matter anymore anyway. It had been over two years since she left Chicago and its memories behind when she relocated to Spring Grove, a city in Northern California that was just miles from the California/Oregon border. She liked it there, it wasn't too big, and it wasn't too small, it was just right, with a population with less than 100,000.

Within just a few months after she relocated to Spring Grove she ran into her childhood crush, Arnold Shortman. It was surreal when she first saw him, his unruly blonde hair from their childhood slicked back neatly. She was sure that Arnold was a mirage when she saw him standing there at the scene of a kidnapping of a young girl. She was covering the story for Channel Six and he was investigating. When Arnold saw her, his green eyes were wide with surprise, Helga knew she was not hallucinating. Luckily the case had ended well. The girl, who was kidnapped by her biological mother who had recently lost custody, was recovered safely and completely unharmed two days later.

Apparently Arnold became a cop after graduating high school and damn, did he look good in his old uniform. He had made homicide detective just six months after reuniting with Helga, so gone were his blues, he wore suits instead. He pulled off the suit well, really, he looked amazing in them, but Helga missed his old uniform.

The two blondes started dating within a month after seeing each other again. Both Helga and Arnold grew up a lot since their days in Hillwood. Helga mellowed out quite a bit and Arnold lost some of his naiveté. She was damn good reporter and he was damn good detective. They made a great team. Six months earlier they had decided to take the next step in their relationship and moved in together. Tired of renting and apartment living they settled on buying a three bedroom house in the suburbs. Helga had fallen in love with the house the moment she laid eyes on it. She mentally decorated every room in the house as she and Arnold had their first initial walk through. She had squeezed Arnold's hand and winked at him when they saw the large soaker tub in the master bathroom, "Can you imagine the baths we can take together in that thing?" He squeezed her hand back, grinning obviously picturing her wet and naked, "Well, I can now." It was the first thing they did their first official night there.

Helga smiled at the memory. It was something they did on a regular basis now. Arnold once commented about how the candles she lit, the bubbles, and the lavender scent she put in the bath was a little bit too girly. Helga had rolled her eyes and told him, "There is a naked girl in there with ya, quit your bitching." He in return smirked at her, seemingly picturing her naked. He held up his hands in defeat, "You make a valid argument. Bitching ends here." He made her squeal when he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into deep kiss.

Helga's fingers went to her lips, if she closed her eyes she was sure she could feel his lips on hers.

Reaching for her phone she quickly wrote out an 'I miss you' text to Arnold. Helga's fingers started to toy with heart shaped locket, much like the one she had as a kid, that Arnold gave her for their one year anniversary. They had been dating over a year and a half and now that they were living together and she couldn't help but think about the next logical step.

As much as she hated to admit it she had been thinking about marriage a lot lately. She spent time day dreaming of how Arnold would propose and she'd be lying if she said she didn't have a secret Pinterest board filled with wedding dresses (mostly timeless lace), flowers, and other wedding related ideas. She never imagined she'd be one of those girls who would plan her entire wedding before she was even engaged, hell she never really thought she'd ever get married, but here she was, pinning all of the pictures she wanted her and Arnold to recreate. She even found several centerpieces that she really loved.

She sighed, resting her chin on her palm. She needed to snap out of this uber girly mindset she was stuck in. Truthfully, she was terrified to bring up the whole marriage subject to Arnold. They were in a really good point in their relationship. They were happy and she didn't want to jeopardize that by pressuring him into proposing. Somehow, in their year and a half relationship marriage and kids never really came up. She wasn't even sure if Arnold ever wanted to get married. She knew there was a point in her life she thought she never wanted to get married. Growing up and witnessing her parents' crappy relationship, she just didn't get the appeal of the whole husband and kids thing. But now, being with Arnold and being so in love with him, she wanted those things with him. Besides, she and Arnold would make some freaking adorable babies.

Sighing, Helga returned to her research. On slow news days Helga would research and later report on unsolved crimes. Currently, she was researching the disappearance of Allison Mayer. She had vanished three earlier, shortly before Helga moved to Spring Grove. Her car was found broken down and abandoned on the side of road. There were no signs of struggle and her cellphone and purse were also missing. Police had speculated that after she experienced some car troubles she got a ride from a passerby and probably killed. Her parents, Todd and Nancy, refused to believe that Allison had gotten into a car with a stranger. She had her cellphone, after all. They were convinced that their daughter knew whoever took her. Helga had contacted Todd and Nancy before she started her research to get their permission to do the story and had several conversations with them since. The couple had admitted they were sure Allison was dead, but they still wanted to know what happened to her, and perhaps more importantly, bring her murderer to justice. It was exactly that reason why Helga reported on unsolved crimes. The victim's families deserved answers. Many of them needed those answers so they'd finally be able to move on with their lives. Though Allison's case was going on three years old it often helped to continue to report on it. There was always a chance that a new witness could come forward. It had happened for many other unsolved cases Helga reported on. In fact, the last time Helga counted, seven of those cases were no longer unsolved after her segment on the cases aired.

Helga's phone vibrating snapped her out of her thoughts. Grabbing her phone, she smiled as she looked at the text Arnold sent her. Miss you too. Love you. Hope you're having a good day.

Still smiling, Helga typed out a response. I am, it's just a slow day. Still researching the Allison Mayer case. How's your day?

Arnold's response came a minute or so later, It's a quiet day, no new murders, so it's all good. A moment later he sent another text, Did you remember to put the beef roast in the crock pot before you left for work?

Helga rolled her eyes before typing out a reply Of course I did. I even remembered to plug the thing in AND turn it on! Helga smirked as she pressed send, knowing he'd read it the exact way she'd say it. The words were dripping with her trademark sarcasm.

His reply came a few seconds later. Smart ass.

She stifled back a laugh before replying. Me being a smart ass is one of the reasons you love me. Don't deny it. I know you love it.

It took Arnold a good few minutes to reply. I do. I gotta get back to work. I'll see you at home in few hours. Love you.

Love you too, Football Head. She set her phone back on her desk and returned to work, happy that texting with Arnold gave her new motivation to get her work done.

Arnold Shortman couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend's last text. She didn't use the old 'Football Head' nickname nearly as much as she did when they were kids, so it was always kind of a treat when she did. It was something he'd probably never admit to her, but there were some days when he really missed the old nickname. He slipped his phone back into his suit's side pocket before gazing at the picture he had of Helga and himself on his desk.

The picture was from their one year anniversary. They had reservations at one the most popular and fanciest restaurants in Spring Grove. He wore a suit and Helga even bought a new cocktail dress. It was pink and lace and she looked absolutely beautiful. Though, she always looked beautiful. She even wore her old pink bow that he had no idea that she still had. When they arrived at the restaurant the hostess informed them that it would be at least a two and half hour wait, despite the fact they had reservations, but they could each have one free glass of their finest wine. They declined. Apparently that night had been an insanely popular night to eat out for dinner because the next three places they attempted to eat at had a minimum of an hour wait. They ended up eating at the Taco Bell just down the street from Helga's apartment. They received more than one odd look from the other patrons, obviously over dressed for the fast food chain, especially when they asked one of the workers to take a picture.

Despite everything, it ended up being a great night. It was the night they decided to move in together. They spent the rest of the evening looking at houses on Helga's laptop. Well, there was that and sex. Lots and lots of sex. It really had been a fantastic night.

When he saw Helga reporting that kidnapping over a year and a half ago Arnold never imagined that he'd be living with her, let alone be so in love with her. When he first saw her he didn't spend much time thinking about how good she looked. (And she did look good.) There were more concerning things on his mind at the moment, but when the little girl was found safe and sound he gave her a call to see if she wanted to meet out for lunch to catch up. Though they were friends in high school, they didn't keep in contact after graduation. He had just moved to Spring Grove and didn't really know anyone yet, so it was really nice to see a familiar face. They ate at a bar that Helga had suggested, telling him they had served some of the most delicious burgers she had ever eaten. He had gotten to the bar first and saw her when she walked in. She looked gorgeous, so flawless, and so effortless. She wore a simple pink button up silky looking short sleeved shirt and dark washed jeans. Her blonde hair flowed freely in soft waves down her back. She wore very little eye makeup that made her sapphire eyes pop even more.

He certainly hadn't expected to take her back to her apartment and sleeping with her that day, but that's what happened and they had been together ever since.

Arnold wasn't sure if there was such a thing of destiny or fate, but ever since he saw her that day he wondered if there had been some kind of divine intervention for the two blondes to reunite. It was one hell of a coincidence that they both ended up in Spring Grove, a city he had never even heard of until someone told him about the job opening. Arnold had stayed in Hillwood for college while Helga went off to one of the top journalism schools in the country, Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He had planned on staying in Hillwood, but when his grandparent's died and his most of his closest friends had moved away he didn't have any more reasons to stay. Looking for a fresh start, a coworker at Hillwood PD cousin's wife or something close to that told him about Spring Grove. He applied and got the job, so he sold the boarding house and moved to Spring Grove, California.

Helga had gotten the job offer at Channel Six after she quit her job in Chicago. From what he heard Channel Six was surprised they had gotten her. They figured she'd want to work somewhere that would bring her bigger and better opportunities. But after what happened in Chicago she needed to be somewhere different. Smaller...Safer.

If only the safer part was still completely true.

The Homicide Division in Spring Grove barely existed up until two years ago. That's when the murders started. There had been five that were for sure committed by the same man, a man who dubbed himself The Watcher. Spring Grove had itself a serial killer. He targeted young, attractive women. Claire Collins had been the first victim. The blonde woman had just celebrated her twenty fourth birthday just three days before she disappeared. Three weeks later her body was found. It became a pattern. He'd stalk then abduct his latest victim, leaving only his calling card behind, and then three weeks later he'd dump the body. He shuttered thinking about what those poor women went through the last three weeks of their lives. Raped and tortured, often starved. As of yet there had been no physical evidence on who was committing these atrocities.

The Watcher was one of the reasons why Arnold had been sure to install a security system in the home he shared with Helga. Frankly, it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially when there was serial killer in the mix.

"Earth to Arnold!"

An impatient voice snapped Arnold out of his thoughts. Arnold looked up to see one of his coworkers, Trevor Browne, standing over his desk. Trevor was in his mid-thirties and had been Arnold's mentor of sorts since he joined the Homicide Division. Arnold didn't exactly like the guy when they first became coworkers. It was painfully obvious that when he introduced him to Helga Trevor had a bit of a crush on her. It's something that really bothered Arnold for a while, but he had gotten over it, the crush or whatever it was had dwindled and he now considered Trevor as a friend.

"Sorry Trevor." Arnold smiled sheepishly, "I was kind of lost in my thoughts. What's up?"

"What were you thinking about?" Trevor asked curiously. His dark brown eyes eyeing the contents of Arnold's messy desk. "Or should I ask what case are you thinking about?"

"What case do you think? The Watcher." His smile disappeared from his face, "That sick fuck. I can't wait until we nail that sick bastard."

"Yeah, you and everyone else." Trevor muttered as he ran a hand through his black hair, "I know you're working on The Watcher case, but do you happen to have the Michaels' file?"

"I think so…" Arnold shuffled through the stack of files. "Yes! Here it is." He handed off the file. "You got some new information on it?"

"Yeah, we had an anonymous tip. I'm helping Richards' look into it." Trevor explained, looking paging through the file.

"Do you guys need any help with it?" Arnold mentally kicked himself for asking. Why did he have such a need to ask people if they needed help, even when he really didn't want to help? He was too wrapped up in The Watcher case to stop.

"Nah. We'll be fine." Arnold breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like you have enough on your plate." He said, motioning to the pile of files on Arnold's desk. "I'll talk to you later." Trevor walked off without another word.

Sighing again, Arnold returned to scouring the files in attempt to find any shred of evidence they may have previously missed. He just wanted this sick son of a bitch behind bars before he hurts anyone else

Arnold noticed two things when he walked into his house. One, he could smell dinner and it smelt amazing, and two, the security system was not turned on. He turned it on before entering the kitchen to find Helga standing over the stove, checking on the green beans he had picked from their garden a couple days earlier. She had already changed out of her pencil skirt and blouse she had been wearing that morning before he left and was now wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a light gray cotton t-shirt.

"Hey babe. Dinner should be ready in just a few minutes." She told him without turning her attention away from the stove.

Arnold stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck before his lips inched to her ear, "Did you know security systems work 100% better when they're actually turned on and set instead of turned off?" He saw her cheeks blush into a light pink.

"Actually, I did know that. I believe I reported on how many owners of security systems are still burglarized because they neglect to turn on the system."

He gave her a playful whack on the bum, "Then why didn't you turn on ours?"

She squealed at the contact of his hand on her butt, not expecting the friendly spank. "Sorry." She turned to face him, "When I got home I smelt the beef roast and went to check on it right away. I didn't want my man to come home to a burnt supper." The tone of her voice was playfully dramatic.

"I would rather come home to burnt supper than a dead you." Arnold pointed out bluntly.

"I think you're being a teensy bit dramatic."

"Seriously, Helga…After what happened to you in Chicago I'd think you would take all the safety precautions you could." He spat out in a huff. Seeing her tense up Arnold immediately regretted mentioning Chicago. He knew it was a sore subject for her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." He paused, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "I love you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Just please turn on the damn security system. Okay?"

Kissing him on the lips, Helga nodded, "Okay. I will. Why don't you go change? I'll get dinner on the table." Grabbing an oven mitt, she opened the oven door and grabbed the pan of baby red potatoes. Noticing Arnold hadn't moved she sighed, "I'm fine. Go change."

Arnold nodded, "I love you."

"I know and I love you too. I'll make sure I'll set the security system from now on, okay?"

He smiled, "Good."

All of the unspoken tension between the couple melted away by the time they had their first bite of their supper. They chatted candidly as they ate, talking about their work day. Arnold was always thankful when things were uneventful. He liked working on unsolved murders, rather than adding another murder to the list. Helga on the other hand admitted she was bored. Knowing what she reported on, she talked about how demented she had to be to have wanted to have some excitement.

After dinner Arnold washed, wiped, and put away the dishes as Helga sprawled out on the couch to continue her research from earlier that day. After locking everything up and double checked to ensure the security system was turn on he joined her on the couch; he had his own investigating to do.

Just as he began to read over the Claire Collins case file for what felt like the one hundredth time Arnold vaguely heard the sound of Helga setting her laptop on the coffee table. His heart rate quickened just slightly as he felt Helga's slender fingers sneak under the fabric of his cotton t-shirt, grazing the flesh of his abs underneath. Her lips peppered kisses along his jaw line, making their way to his lips.

As much as it pained him he need to stop this. "Helga…" Her name came out in a moan. He cleared his throat, willing his desire for her to subside just a little bit. "You have no idea how much I want to do right now, but…" He gestured to his stack of files on the end table next to the couch.

"Yeah, yeah…work first, play later." Helga whined in a huff. She had a relatively boring day and she wanted some kind excitement to make it better. Stubbornly, she looked away from Arnold and grabbed her laptop and brought the document she had been working on back up.

"Hey." He nudged her shoulder softly, "I swear I'll make it up to you later tonight."

Despite her best efforts not to a smile tugged on the corner of her lips. "You better."

Before returning to his work he watched her out of the corner of his eye as she returned to her own work. A look of a new found concentration etched on her features. He loved how passionate she was about her job.

He loved her.

Growing up with Helga Pataki he never, ever would have imagined he would end up falling in love with her. But he was and he wanted to marry her someday. He had known for a while she was the one, it was less than a year into their relationship he knew she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She certainly wasn't perfect, nor did she try to be, but that in itself was refreshing. All those years he spent chasing after Ruth or Lila, or his college girlfriend Amy, it was a nice change of pace to be with someone who embraced what she saw as flaws and be comfortable in her own skin. If you didn't like something about her, tough. She wasn't going to change herself for anyone.

Arnold had already been ring shopping twice. He didn't find anything that really wowed him. Helga was special and she deserved a special engagement ring. That was one of the reasons why he hadn't taken the plunge. Of course, there had been another reason why and it was a big one.

What if she said no?

They hadn't exactly talked about marriage and kids since they started dating, but he remembered how she felt about those things in high school…She wasn't exactly for it. He knew it was perfectly normal for someone to change their mind about those things, but that didn't mean it made him anymore confident. He also knew sooner or later he'd have to bring it up, but he'd be heartbroken if she never wanted to marry him and have babies with him. He supposed he could live the rest of their lives doing what they were doing. Dating and living together. A piece of paper wouldn't make them anymore in love, but he just wasn't sure if that would be enough in another ten years.

He sighed, he'd have to bring up the conversation sooner or later. Just not tonight.

A couple hours later Helga could hear Arnold shut the file he was looking at. A small smile tugged the corners of her lips. She saved the document she was working on as Arnold flopped all of his files down on to the coffee table. By the time she shutdown her laptop and set it down on the coffee table In an instant Arnold's hands were on her, each hand taking a gentle, yet slightly demanding hold on her breasts. When he groaned she knew that he loved the fact she wasn't wearing a bra right now. With his back against the arm of the couch, he pulled her close, his lips instantly connecting with her neck as one hand left one of her breasts to make its way down her stomach to the hem of her yoga pants. He toyed with it for a moment, waiting for Helga to release that little whine that drove him absolutely crazy.

Once that little whine escaped Helga's lips his hand disappeared from view under the fabric of her yoga pants. He wasted no time getting passed the fabric of her panties. Helga half gasped half moaned when his fingers made contact with her womanhood. "Arnold…." His name left her lips in a breathy moan. She closed her eyes as his hand on her breast massaged it lightly as his hand down her pants teased her opening. "Please…" She whined and she could feel his smirk against her neck as his lips switched sides.

Finally, he slipped a finger inside her hot wetness, a second finger quickly joined the party and Helga's head rolled back, resting it on Arnold's shoulder. She turned her head towards his and he took the opportunity to capture her lips with his as his fingers continued to work their magic between Helga's legs.

As more and more of her moans were muffled by his mouth and her breathing became for and more erratic he stopped everything. He tore his lips from her. His right hand left her breast as he removed his left hand it more than welcome spot between her legs.

"Arnold! What the fuck?!" Helga whined loudly, "I was close!" She glared at him as she watched him pop the two fingers that had just been inside her into his mouth, sucking the off the moistness that she left behind.

He grinned teasingly, "Relax. I will finish you off." He kissed lips. "I promise. I just want to move this onto our bed." He stood up, lifting her up off the couch and caused her to cry out in surprise when he threw her over his shoulder and began carrying her towards their bedroom fireman's style. He stopped by the light switch, "Can you switch off the lights?" Helga giggled because as soon as she did Arnold made long quick strides to their bedroom.

He tossed her down onto the bed, his hands instantly went to the hem of her shirt and wasted no time to pull it over her head and throwing it over his shoulder and onto the floor. Arnold took a moment to admire her topless form. She had the most perfect breasts, at least he thought she did. They had just the right of bounce and perkiness and just fit so snugly in his hands. He cupped them into his hands just for a moment as Helga pulled his shirt over his head. Arnold's hands left her breasts to throw his shirt somewhere near hers. "Now…Where was I?" He kissed her neck, lowering his hand. "Oh yes…I remember now."

Helga shivered under his touch as he moved his hands down her sides to the hem of her yoga pants. She lifted her lower half off the mattress so Arnold could pull them, along with her panties, off her body. As he went in for another kiss Helga yanked Arnold's sweat pants and boxer briefs down several inches. Her hand went to his hard dick, but he pulled away. "No, baby, I told you I'd make it up to you." He kissed her lips deeply before his lips went to her ear. "Let me make it up to you." Arnold whispered huskily as he kicked off the remainder of his clothes.

Now that they were both naked Arnold laid down next to her, placing a kiss on her collar bone before venturing further down. He took his time, giving each breast special attention before placing a kiss on her stomach. Knowing Helga was starting to get impatient his head dipped between her legs, spreading them by her knees gently. He placed a kiss on each inner thigh before taking a long purposeful lick on her lower lips. He didn't waste any more time after that and dipped his tongue into her hot, tight wetness between her legs. Her hips bucked beyond her control as his thumb found her clit and his tongue continued its work. It didn't take much longer after that. A few more swirls of his tongue and another thumb stroke on her clit Helga finished with a scream, her thighs clenching almost painfully around his head.

As Helga came down from the high of her orgasm Arnold his way back up, placing random kisses on her stomach, ribcage, and breasts. He tunneled his fingers through her hair as Helga caught her breath. "Was it worth the wait?"

Helga nodded mutely before pulling him into an open mouth kiss, groaning loudly into his mouth as she tasted herself in the kiss. "More than worth it." Looking up at him she grinned, a familiar gleam of seduction in her eyes. "Now, what are we going to do for you?"

"Mmm…" He kissed her again, his erect cock teasing the entrance of her womanhood. "I think I can think of at least one thing…"

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