Disclaimer: Don't own any of the series, in this story nor any mentioned.
Author's note: Hello to all my readers and followers of the series. I'd like to welcome you all to this side story that will accompany a future sequel to the series. Also, I'd like to add that Hand of Fate II will be coming to a close in only a few chapters. At this point, I've changed so much about the canon from the show, and much of the episodes, while entertaining and have reason for the tv show, are somewhat pointless for me to use as they aren't pertinent to the overall plot. Also, I mentioned in an earlier chapter of story II, that the final sequel would have a big if not slightly odd crossover. SO I've decided to give you guys a taste of the future crossover with a parallel story to accompany it. This will follow canon all the way to both shows finales, but will have follow-ups that will change everything once you start reading. So sit back, relax, and review when you're done with this chapter.
Late July, 2012
UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, California
A young man with short and slightly spiky brunette hair, wearing a plaid blue shirt, black jeans, and black shoes, approached the campus for the tour for prospective freshmen. In the weeks before his arrival, he wouldn't have felt as relieved as he had now. He had trouble deciding what school he would attend to further his education before he finally settled on this school in particular. As he approached the doors leading to the inside of the building, he noticed a pretty brunette standing outside. The look on her face was one of recognition and delight. He had seen that look many times before from the girls in his hometown.
"Oh my gosh! Y-you're-" she didn't finish as the young man wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible.
"Freddie Benson. Yeah," he said, smiling bashfully.
"It is so great to meet you! I've watched every episode of iCarly! Where are Sam and Carly?" the young attendant asked him. Freddie immediately frowned at the thought of the two co-hosts of the web-show that would never air another episode. The attendant took note of Freddie's expression and figured she must've said something wrong.
"They aren't here. It's just me," Freddie answered in a melancholy tone.
"Hey. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...this would be a good time to put my foot in my mouth," the girl said trying to laugh off the awkward situation. While Freddie still didn't feel too happy, her attempt at least worked. He was glad that someone seemed to have a congenial manner towards him, as opposed to what he had dealt with back home.
"It's alright. It's a natural curiosity. Anyway, Carly is over in Italy. As for Sam, I don't know where she is. At the moment, it doesn't really matter," Freddie said, the last part more to himself. The attendant caught the change in his voice. Before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by a loud voice.
"Yo Fredweird!" shouted a voice that both Freddie and the attendant knew too well.
"God dammit," Freddie said to himself. The young lady speaking with him looked surprised at his expression. She had noted his eyes were scrunched in what could be described as anger, and likely disgust.
"Dude. What are you doing in LA? Lemme guess, Carly rejected you and you ran like a little bitch?" Sam sneered with a smirk on her face. The attendant couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had always believed that the iCarly trio were a close-knit group of friends. But from the way the former co-host was behaving, she seemed like anything but his friend.
"Sam. I really don't to talk about that. What the hell are you even doing here anyway?" the former tech producer asked his frenemy.
"Remember that redhead, Cat? From Kenan's party?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, so?" Freddie responded.
"Well, after Carly left for Italy, I took off on the bike Spencer let me have, and made my way here. Cat had moved in with her grandmother after her parents left her here because her brother kept getting nuttier. We've been roommates for almost two months. Real sweet girl. A little off. But sweet. What are you doing here? Don't see a nerd convention anywhere," Sam said nonchalantly. Freddie had stiffened at her words. He had been free of her for weeks only to run into her here of all places.
"I'm checking out the school," Freddie said, almost grinding his teeth.
"Man you have got to be the geekiest boy I've ever met. Only you would leave one school and go to another," Sam said mocking him. Freddie's fists clenched and unclenched as he had to reign in his anger before it got the better of him.
"Eh, whatever. Have fun, dorkwad," Sam said, walking away. Freddie finally relaxed as the blonde left him to his own devices. He felt a hand on his left shoulder and turned to see the attendant looking to him with sympathy.
"Are you alright?" she asked looking into his eyes.
"I am now. Thanks," Freddie said as he smiled his thanks as well.
"You're welcome. My name is Lynn by the way. Lynn Credence," the young woman said.
"It's nice to meet you," Freddie replied.
"So...was she always like that? I mean on the show she seemed...I don't know, eccentric? But that? That was just..." Lynn trailed off as she couldn't come up with an appropriate response.
"She's a real bitch," Freddie said. He hated having to using such a word to describe her. But with everything that had happened to him over the years, including their relationship, thanks to her, it was hard not to say it and not mean it. Lynn only looked at him with slightly widened eyes at his statement, unsure what to make of this revelation. Freddie decided to tell Lynn about his dealings with the two web-hostesses as he had never had anyone he could talk to who would understand his side, despite his mother's dislike towards Sam and Carly, and Spencer having witnessed most of it himself. Lynn for her part was shocked at the stories and wondered how he could've even lasted just dealing with the two when the thought struck her.
"You're still in love with Carly," Lynn said, looking at Freddie. The brunette young man looked at his company and frowned further.
"I'm dealing. And trying to move on. My head tells me to let it go. But my heart is having a hard time keeping up. But I figure maybe being here can help me along," Freddie replied, with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Lynn didn't say anything else on the matter and led him inside the building to the group he would be with.
"Hey. Keep in touch," Lynn said, handing him a piece of paper with her number on it. Freddie looked back to see her walking away but turning back to smile back at him. He turned back smiling to himself and focused on waiting for the tour to start.
Elsewhere...
A pale, dark brunette girl had just made her way onto the UCLA campus. She contemplated everything that had led her to this point and whether or not things could've been different. Her immediate answer was a solid maybe as she realized that with everything she knew, she wasn't entirely sure whether or not she would be better off with different choices then. As she approached the building where the tour groups were meeting, she was pulled out of her train of thought by the sound of the voice of one of the people she sought to be away from.
"Jade?" the voice said. The owner of the voice approached. She was a slim, tan young woman, around the same age as the pale brunette, with a lighter shade of brunette hair. Jade couldn't help the frown on her face as the other girl approached.
"Ve-...Tori," Jade replied, with her voice calm and trying to indicate that she didn't want to talk to her former rival.
"Hey. This is a surprise, huh? UCLA," Tori said, trying to lighten the situation.
"Hey. Big surprise," Jade said walking towards the main building.
"Jade, I already said I don't have a thing for Beck. Why can't you let it go?" Tori asked. Jade hesitated for a second as she thought back on events that led up to where she was now.
"It was just about you and him initially. I couldn't have cared less if you did get with him after we graduated. It wouldn't have matter anyway. I didn't matter," Jade answered with a melancholic voice.
"Of course you mattered Jade. He was scared to even ask out another girl before you guys got back together. What I can't understand is why you dumped him again," Tori said almost exasperated. In the few years that she had known the West girl, Tori Vega still couldn't quite figure out who she was and it made it all the more difficult really understand her. She often wondered how someone who was so tough could be as defensive as she was.
"You really want to know? Guess I might as well tell you. The guy who you consider one of your best friends isn't everything he's cracked up to be," Jade replied almost seething as the memories came to her.
"What are you talking about?! Beck was a great guy!" Tori yelled back.
"Yeah. So great that he let other girls flirt with him and never once said anything to make them stop. He was so great, that he never listened to me whenever I told him I had a problem with it because all of those girls did it knowing full well we were dating! He's so freakin' great that he told an entire audience that he didn't like our relationship before our second breakup and then declared in front of everyone one of you that he didn't want to be with me because of us fighting! He's been acting like the goddamn victim this whole time, making me the bad guy when he's just as much to blame for everything that went wrong! Not to mention the fact that when you rejected him, and you told him you didn't want to hurt me, what's the first thing he does? He mentions our breakup so he has reason to not kiss you, then he talks about me when so you could kiss him anyway! And then the real kicker was him knowing full well the problem I had with Meredith just as I did with Alyssa Vaughn when it was obvious they were flirting and he had to have known! And you know what's worse? When he couldn't have you, and Meredith turned out to be some ditz, he came to me, and I came crawling right back just like the first time. So if you and everyone else thinks he's so fucking great, I can only imagine what you all think of me," Jade explained, as tears poured from her eyes. Tori stood for a second and watched as her former rival walked away.
She thought over what Jade had told her, and put her hand over her mouth as the pale brunette was right. She remembered the times where Jade had allowed herself to be vulnerable to the one person she had reason to dislike. The singer connected the dots about Jade's father and her relationship with Beck and knew for sure the two weren't unrelated. All Jade wanted for to be loved by her father and by the man that she could be with. In the end both had let her down. And when push came to shove, Jade had to leave Beck for the sake of breaking the cycle of a doomed relationship, where she would likely blame herself and seek relationships that would implode. Tori jogged after Jade in hopes to mend this, as she did not in the past. As she approached, she grabbed the aspiring actress by the elbow.
"Jade stop. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't really give too much thought about your side of things. I called you my friend but I did fail in that. You're right that I didn't see things more clearly. But I have to ask...why did you break up with him this time?" Tori asked as she never quite understood and only received the ex-boyfriend's side of the story.
"It's a long story for me to tell. But the short version: I had a chance to think about everything before graduation. I realized that when it came to our former relationship, nothing changed at all. The first time we broke up, I tried doing something nice. He may have appreciated it then, but I thought it odd that he would complain about that when he wasn't exactly mister giver himself. And then after that, there the way he treated when it came to the two of us. What kind of boyfriend puts his girlfriend in timeout like he's her dad? Then again what kind of girlfriend lets herself be demeaned like that? Finally, there was him guilt-tripping me and then putting the blame solely on me whenever he had problems the second time we broke up. But with this breakup, it felt right because I didn't feel like myself. Hell, I was a walking shell trying to keep everything okay so that we didn't have problems. But still, it was no good. I tried to change. But he didn't. A relationship takes two to work, but instead, I was the one who had to fix everything. What kind of loving relationship is that?" Jade asked Tori.
The lighter brunette was at a loss for words. She remembered that the only time Jade ever was herself was when something odd happened to herself that made Jade smile. It wasn't one of malice or derision. Oddly enough, it seemed as if Jade was content. Tori thought that maybe Jade felt that Karma had been in her favor with all the times that Jade was passed over, as she was every bit as talented. An interesting thought suddenly occurred to Tori as they continued to the main building of the campus.
"You know, we are starting college in about two months. It's a chance for a new start and everyone deserves a new chance. And maybe this time, we can start on better terms. Whaddya say?" Tori offered Jade. The pale young adult looked to the half-latina girl before she smiled. Jade put her hand out in a gesture of greeting.
"Hi. I'm Jade West," she said still smiling at Tori.
"Tori Vega," she replied smiling back, as the olive branch had been received. The girls shook hands and proceeded onward.
As the girls continued walking, they spotting an older couple, dressed in black coming their way. They didn't pay them much attention until the man and woman came closer, their appearances startling the girls. The woman was pale, with long brunette hair down to her shoulders. She radiated strength and protection but had a look that said they she was primed for action at any moment. The man however had a much more frightening effect on both girls. For his part, the man had short hair, that came down to just above his neck, and he appeared to be like another regular guy. However, the girls saw that his left eye had a horrible scar, despite his eye being healed of whatever accident, if there was one, had occurred. Along with that was the feeling of dread as well as power that seemed to be pouring out of him. Neither Jade nor Tori knew what to make of it and kept walking. Unknown to them, the couple had turned back to look at the young girls as they passed.
"What do you say, babe? Think these are the girls Red had picked up on?" the pale woman asked the man, who seemed to be her mate.
"No doubt about it, Faith. Except there are two more in the city we need to keep and eye on; one boy and one girl," the man replied.
"What's up with them?" Faith asked.
"According to Willow, there were two psions, a possible witch, as well as a slayer here in the city. One of the psions had come to the city recently. I can sense them not too far from here," the man said.
"Kinda sucks my new senses are as good as yours, Xand," Faith said.
"Well, the new senses are made specifically for picking out any sort of demonic influence. Psionic abilities allow someone like me to be able to sense anything, especially now ever since the last battle that made us leave. In truth, we're more or less doing the same thing but with different specifics," Xander answered.
"Guess that's a good point. So what do we do about the three here?"Faith asked.
"We'll keep an eye on them for now. They'll have to draw out whatever they can do on their own. Hard to believe these kids are actually famous," Xander surmised.
"No doubt. But what about the blonde that was harassing that kid earlier?" Faith asked. She had sensed something odd about Sam Puckett but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had only felt this once before but felt that the blonde's presence was not quite the same.
"Nothing. Unless she becomes a problem," Xander answered.
"Guess we'll go back to the room and report to the others," Faith said. She and Xander headed out of sight, and leaped high onto the roof of a nearby building.
UCLA Main Building
Auditorium
Tori and Jade entered and felt a little intimidated as they saw all of the enrolled students walking around, as well as the prospective students waiting for the tour. Both girls walked further, when Jade spotted a familiar young man that she had not seen in over a year. He turned in her direction, not recognizing her initially, until their eyes locked onto each other. Neither was sure who moved first, but they both met each other halfway and smiled.
"Freddie," Jade said, almost shyly, which she couldn't understand.
"Hey Jade. Long time no see," Freddie said jovially.
"Yeah. It's good to see you in person again," Jade said to the young man. She and the others had kept in touch with him and the former web-hostesses since the party at Kenan Thompson's house. However, seeing him now, Jade was almost at a loss. He seemed more muscular than the last time they had met. Before either could say anything, Tori came up to them.
"Freddie! Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" Tori said, leaping into his arms for a hug. Jade had a slight scowl on his face, which she thought Freddie didn't see, but quickly put a guarded expression on her face.
"It's good to see you too Tori. I'm actually thinking of going to school here," Freddie answered.
"What about Carly and Sam?" Tori asked wondering about the other girls.
"Carly won't be back state-side for weeks. Sam is actually here in LA. I ran into about fifteen minutes ago. Chock up another unpleasant experience thanks to Sam Puckett," Freddie said frowning. Tori frowned as well as the former tech producer had relayed simple details about his exploits with the girls, but didn't give too much. Tori relayed some of the information to the others and Jade herself found it rather odd that the one man who was the driving force behind the show's existence was basically crapped on, on a regular basis. She thought about why she had gotten off light, given her past behavior. However, she realized that she never attacked anyone without provocation, even then, she didn't inflict bodily harm. Still, she felt she deserved some more than what she got. Jade suddenly got an idea and smiled at the tech producer.
"Hey, are you staying anywhere nearby?" Jade asked him.
"Yeah. There's a hotel about five miles away from here. Why?" Freddie asked curious about the goth girl's thoughts.
"While we're here, we can celebrate us being future classmates. Whaddya say? Nozu at seven? I'll pick you up?" Jade offered. Freddie smiled at the two girls and gave Jade the hotel he was staying and the room number. None of them knew what exactly would be in store for them.