i See the Future
Chapter 3: Freddie's Second Arrival
A/N: I don't own ICarly, but I wish I did…and the "second arrival" part will be explained later. :)
Freddie had his hands pressed against the glass with is face in between with a genuinely scared expression on his face, like a trapped animal. Smoke billowed out and blocked everyone's view. Sam felt the booth shake. Spencer, Carly and Sam stood there, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it had fully cleared, they could see that Freddie was gone.
All Spencer could say, in his attempt to make the girls feel a bit better, was "Well, um, I guess it's better that he's fully gone than to have a half a Freddie…"
All Carly could say, in her shock, was "He's gone…I can't believe it. The time machine works…but where is he?"
And Sam, Sam couldn't find it in herself to say anything at all.
Spencer told the girls not to worry; Freddie would eventually come back. Five hours in the future was the standard time, but Spencer didn't know how much faster time traveling was than real time. (A/N: Meaning he could be gone for five seconds or five weeks in real time.)
Spencer wasn't as worried as Carly and Sam were, so he went downstairs to watch TV and take his mind off the whole situation. Carly and Sam, however, sat on the floor in a silent fear…
"Why'd you do it, Sam?"
"I don't know…I'm so confused. Can…I…Can…Can…I…tell you a secret?"
Sensing it was important to understanding her friend's recent actions, Carly promised she wouldn't ever tell Sam's secret.
Sam, not looking directly at Carly, stuttered, "Well, okay, you might think I'm crazy but…I…I'm…I…luh…(anxious pause for dramatic affect, almost as if she was going to say a certain four letter word beginning with l and ending with e with a ov in the middle, but that's almost what it sounds like, almost)…luh-k!"
"What?"
"Sorry, I was nervous, but luh-k! Look! The time machine- smoke!" Carly looked over at the time machine to make sure her friend wasn't having a mental breakdown. Carly saw the smoke spewing out from the booth. Carly was more anxious to find out Sam's secret than finding out if Freddie was back, but Sam had her eyes glued to the booth.
A tense moment passed while the smoke cleared. The girls heard a faint cough. A dazed, but whole, Freddie walked out of the booth and asked how long he had been gone in a soft voice.
Sam couldn't find the words to answer, she was glad he hadn't disappeared off the face of the Earth. (What an interesting legal situation that would have put her in…) She was actually concerned for Freddie.
"You've been gone for barely five minutes. But, are you alright, Freddie?" Carly asked.
Freddie nodded. He seemed spaced out. He sort of ignored Carly and focused on Sam… It was awkward for Carly; if Freddie wasn't fighting with Sam, his attention was usually on her. She liked being the center of attention, even if it was the center of attention of a geek. He looked at Sam with eyes of…affection was it? Perhaps pity? Freddie then turned around and looked at Carly with a hurt expression- an expression of hurt and anger. Unsure what to make of all this, Carly asked, "What did you see?"
"Painful memories I can remember, even though they haven't happened yet…"
"The future sounds horrible! Am I okay!?" Carly asked, concerned about her future well-being.
With spite, Freddie told Carly, "Yes, you are fine." Freddie looked down at the floor as his eyes puffed up, he was holding back tears. Then Carly saw something she considered a miracle; Sam, who had been silent all this time, stood up and gave Freddie a hug.
It wasn't a romantic hug, but a friendly hug, a caring hug, one that a mother would give to a hurt child. Freddie stood still with his arms at his sides during the whole hug. When Sam was done she wasn't embarrassed; she knew this was an urgent situation: something was wrong with Freddie, and it had to do with whatever he saw in the future.
"Thanks, Sam…but I…I can't tell you what I saw." Sam and Carly watched as his expression turned from sadness to anger. Then a flash of understanding came into his eyes. He found a hammer lying on a bookshelf. Freddie took the hammer and, before Carly and Sam could stop him, completely smashed the time machine to bits. He must have been angered a whole lot because he showed a lot more strength than while he was trapped in the booth.
"Freddie! You ruined Spencer's time machine! Now we can't see what you saw!" Carly yelped (as if it was really unfair).
"Exactly. I will change the future alone. If it can ever be changed…if I can change it. There might be no hope…for me, for Sam or for you.
Carly was puzzled that he said her name with spite once more. She wanted to lighten up the situation. "Um, smoothies? My treat! Whatever flavor you guys want!"
"Okay, I'll go but only if Freddie comes, and he has to talk to us." Sam implied that she was as curious as Carly to know what had happened to all of them in the future, but she showed more mature-ness, as she was able to not let it control her.
Freddie seemed very hesitant, as though deciding whether or not he wanted a smoothie would decide his very fate.
"I'll go, I'll…(sigh)…follow the plan."
"What plan?" Asked Carly. But Freddie didn't reply. He stepped over a wire from the demolished time machine that was in his path, picked up his jacket that was draped over a chair and pushed the down button on the elevator.
Spencer, after being all happy that Freddie was back and the time machine worked, (he didn't know it was destroyed) drove them to the smoothie place.
The whole way there Spencer sang along to the radio…the whole way there Carly listened to Spencer, pondering Freddie's actions…the whole way there Freddie trembled with dread…and the whole way there Sam trembled as well. Partially because she was right next to Freddie and was slightly vibrating from his trembles, but mostly because she understood, that whatever happened that made Freddie so upset, was about to happen…and that their future (everyone's) could always be changed in an instant.
A/N: I love it! Thanks for the comments, but continue to R&R. The next chapter is completely Freddie's point of view and what he saw in the future. That was going to be in this chapter, but it got too long and I thought it was better this way. After about 2 more chapters, I'll have written out all my plans, so any helpful advice for coming up chapters would be very much appreciated. Oh, and if anyone can guess what Freddie sees in the future that makes him so upset, then they get to pick the name of a character (I haven't decided yet) in the future! Contest! Yay!
