Author's Note: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I appreciate that very much and hope you've enjoyed the story so far and this upcoming chapter. Now let me respond to your reviews before we get started:
PD31: I'll let the story explain why Carly made-out with Freddie, but I wouldn't disagree with that interpretation. :P
Daytrigg: I'm glad you like the twists. I'm trying to balance my time so I can get back to iWould Have Pounded Him Silly. I'm going over my notes for the story and past chapters to remind me where I'm going with it.
Boris Yeltsin: Everyone has the opportunity to learn.
CCougar427098: I haven't been too happy with Dan prioritizing plot at the sacrifice of character. There's a quote about that I have on my profile page.
Guest: Carly had Freddie just forgive Sam on the spot in the show because the plot demanded that he do it regardless of how badly it made ALL the characters look so Dan could complete the Seddie Arc in iLove You. The only other in-universe explanation you can give is that Carly simply loves Sam far more than she cares about Freddie and it has become a major weakness in the show.
I'mWritingBecauseOfCarlyShay: I wouldn't say they have hostility issues just that they are outraged that things had deteriorated so badly in the other's world. Unfortunately in life, sometimes the only way to deal with violence is to respond in kind.
Skittymon: Of course it was cold on AU Carly's part to be so casual about talking about her mother that was her point. She's emotionally lashing out and trying to hurt the people she sees as hurting Freddie even if he's not 'her' Freddie. If she could meet Canon Carly, she'd emotionally go for her throat too. She's thinking with her heart, not her head.
Subject87: It would be nice to see the real Carly and Sam have it out on the show instead of the cop-out iQuit iCarly turned out with Carly just brushing her problems with Sam under the rug just because they had a near death experience together.
DCUO Statellizer: Alternative Universes can be fun and pay off emotionally as one can explore the ever enduring 'What if?' and actually give you better insight on the characters in the canon world.
Special Guest Appearance by Tina Fey as Taylor Shay
Special Guest Voice Appearance by Joe Flanigan as Colonel Steven Shay
Chapter 9
Shay Apartment
Seattle, WA
Carly trotted down the stairs and reached the bottom floor just in time to see Sam reach the refrigerator. The dirty blonde reached for the freezer door handle to pull it open and reached in with her other hand in a swift motion to pull something out. She brought a bag of frozen peas to left eye socket and turned wearing a frown to look at the irate brunette while closing the door behind her.
The brunette stopped just at the threshold between the living room and the kitchen. "We're not done yet."
The shorter web-hostess growled out, "You want to hit me again?"
Carly crossed her arms and huffed out, "Only if I have to, but I'd rather talk some sense into you if it's possible."
Sam dropped her hand from the side of her face while still gripping the bag of peas then asked indignantly, "Is this some elaborate new form of intervention? You've tried this before and it didn't work."
She blinked being caught off guard with that little bit of information. In an instant, her mind shifted from indignation at the blonde to utter confusion. Had the Carly of this world actually attempted to do something to stop Sam? She didn't get time to dwell on the question as the stare coming from Sam told her that she was waiting for an answer. She rallied her indignation as to not show her any weakness and snorted out, "Call it whatever you want, but I'm not joking with you and what you do to Freddie isn't a joke."
Sam frowned as she thought over Carly's words and tried to assess the girl in front of her. She nodded her head from side to side while she studied the identical looking girl to Carly as a predator studied its prey before pouncing.
Carly heard the caution in the slightly shorter girl's voice as she asked, "So you're telling me you're really not our Carly?"
A stern expression formed on her pale face as she answered unequivocally, "No I'm not."
Sam smirked and Carly saw a glint in the other girl's eyes that she couldn't identify. She whispered out with a false sense of innocence, "Okay, if that nutty idea is true then I need to make me a butter sock."
Her brow furled at trying to understand what she meant by a 'butter sock'. "What's a butter sock?"
Sam grinned as she narrowed her gaze on the brunette.
Carly frowned in return realizing that from the look Sam was directing at her, she was about to get into a fight. Unlike others however, she wasn't afraid.
"No!"
The pair turned to see Freddie at the foot of the stairs with a determined expression on his face. He quickly walked up to stand beside the alternate Carly and looked Sam straight in the eyes and pointed at her with his right pointer finger. "You're not hitting her with a butter sock."
Sam snorted out, "Oh I'm not?"
Freddie dropped his hand and answered sternly, "No you are not."
She sarcastically asked, "Why not?"
The brown eyed teenager sidestepped to place between the girls and looked Sam straight in the eyes.
Carly spared a glance towards to see the look in Freddie's eyes and saw something that she had seen for a long time in her Freddie's eyes.
Freddie finally answered with a cold tone, "Because I'm telling you no."
Sam turned her head slightly to angrily eye the taller teenager.
Spencer exited his bedroom as he heard the commotion of them coming down the stares and some of their conversation from the living room and kitchen. His mouth dropped open as he looked between the teenagers looking like they were about to square off then saw the bruise starting to form on the side of Sam's face, "What happened?"
Carly turned and slightly frowned as she sarcastically answered, "I hit her."
He blinked as he asked with a disbelieving tone, "Why?"
She snapped back, "Because she put her hands on me to try to drag me to see a doctor and… she deserved it."
Spencer rolled his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling. He looked down at the brunette and retorted with a tired voice, "You just can't hit her."
Carly's mouth dropped open while looking at the lanky artist. She quickly shut her mouth and took a deep breath through her nose then snapped back, "But she can hit Freddie?"
The young artist shut his mouth and pulled his head back and slightly leaned away.
The look in her brother's eyes told her in an instant that he knew about Sam's behavior. He was just as lousy at lying and deceiving as their mother. She turned and walked over to her older sibling. "Yeah, I found out about that. I found out that she did it while they were dating."
She looked over her shoulder and asked with an accusatorily tone to the dirty blonde, "Why on Earth would you do that?"
She shouted back, "He annoys me—"
"You're supposed to love him! Being annoyed with one another comes with the territory. I fake being interested in half the cukey stuff he does that actually drives me nuts and he deals with it when I go all crazy about a boy band or wanting to spend the day shopping and going to Build-A-Bra, but we put up with it because we love each other. You don't hit them for it. You are actually friends, not…" She motioned a hand between the pair and finished with a mixture of disbelief and disdain at the whole situation, "…whatever you two are."
Freddie curiously asked, "How did that happen?"
"Mom put her foot down to save her before she could turn into—" She stopped to motion a hand at Sam then finished, "This."
Shay Apartment
Seattle, WA
Early October 2007
Carly had her arms crossed nervously over her chest as she stood off to the side in the kitchen while Sam sat in the kitchen chair wearing a deep frown with dried, caked blood around her nostrils and her upper lip. Taylor sat across from her with a damped washcloth in one hand and gently holding Sam by her chin. The older artist whispered, "It's not as much fun when someone fights back is it?"
The tween rolled her eyes as Taylor wiped some blood off the top of Sam's lip. She snorted out softy (and brought a hint of pain through her nose), "Who would have thought the little deweb would hit me?"
The older brunette dipped the end of the washcloth in the bowl of water as she casually answered, "I told him to hit you."
The curly haired blonde blinked as she looked at the older artist. "What?"
Taylor held her chin and finished wiping the dry blood from the tween's nose. She laid the moist rag on the table then took Sam's hands into her own. She looked to the girl barely into her teens with a sad and regretful expression. She whispered softly in a slow and deliberate tone as if speaking the words physically hurt, "Sweetheart, I've asked and told you to stop, repeatedly from harassing and bullying Freddie and other children at school. You've already broken Gibby's thumbs once. I've grounded you. I have taken Fatcakes and desserts away from you. I've lost count how many times I have given you detention with Briggs and that's on top of whatever Ted gives you. I've done everything short of not allowing you into the apartment and being Carly's friend and nothing works…" She sniffled at she looked like she was about to cry, "So the only thing left is to tell one of your victims to stand up to the bully and give you a bloody nose to get you to stop."
She looked down and shook her head. "Samantha, I don't want anything to happen to you, but something is going to happen if you keep this up. You can only do so much wrong before it catches up with you… and it always catches up with you."
Sam kept her mouth shut for a few seconds as she put up an impassive expression with her eyes. She finally whispered out, "You're not my mother."
Taylor could hear Spencer behind her on the other side of the kitchen counter take in a sharp breath, but she ignored it as she looked the blonde straight into the eyes. She whispered softly and kindly as Sam was use to hearing her voice, but this time she heard a firm, inarguable quality, "You've know better than that since you were eight years old."
Sam looked down as she was unable to look her friend's mother in the eyes.
Mrs. Shay wrapped her arms around the sitting teenager and rested her chin on the girl's right shoulder. She whispered something into the tween's ear that Carly couldn't hear from her vantage point, but whatever was said, Sam sucked in a deep breath then bowed her head to cover her eyes with the older artist's shoulder and reached up to hug Taylor back.
The school teacher rocked with the girl for about a minute or so the pulled away to smile and look into her blue eyes. "Everything is going to be okay now. You'll see."
The apartment door flew open and an irate Mrs. Benson came storming inside. "Taylor!"
The older artist closed her eyes and blew out a soft breath out of her nose then stood up from the tween to turn around to walk to the living room to face the upset nurse. The pair stopped about a yard apart from one another in the center of the living room.
Spencer, Carly and Sam quietly stood off to the side near the living room side of the kitchen counter to watch with curiosity about the confrontation they knew was about to happen.
The bandana wearing artist calmly asked, "I thought Steven had the discussion about you just barging into our home whenever you pleased?"
Mrs. Benson ignored her question and shouted, "You told my son to hit Sam!"
Taylor calmly replied, "I taught him to stand up for himself. Obviously something you refused to do."
Marissa raised a hand pointed at Taylor's face as she retorted angrily, "Don't you dare question my parenting skills!"
"Someone has to. All your skills are teaching him is to accept that people will mistreat him and that is what he should expect for the rest of his life. That's exactly what's going to happen to him if he won't stand up for himself and it isn't right. He can't depend on others to do it for him."
"So you told him to hit her? You think him hitting someone will solve his problems?"
She quietly answered, "Only when ever other solution has failed and they are willing to put their hands on him first. There are times where talking simply doesn't work." She absently looked off to the side and reached up and gently rubbed her fingertips up and down her left cheek. She continued a moment later as she dropped her hand away from the side of her face, "And what else could have been done? The only other thing I had left was to spank her, which I won't do. Besides she's too old and not legally my child. I can't spank her."
"You spanked your children?"
Taylor answered with an even tone, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
Spencer laughed out, "Actually she left that to dad… on me at least; I don't think Carly was ever spanked, but mom spanked me at fourteen…" He trailed off when he saw Taylor turned to look at him with a frown.
"You dropped garlic powder in their eyes and they had to go to the emergency room to get their eyes flushed out. You could have damaged their eyesight; I think that called for spanking you."
Spencer bowed his head as to not to argue with the shorter artist.
The nurse frowned at her and responded with a tone that showed she was just brushing off what the artist had to say, "What do you know? You're a child trying to raise children. You can't take care of yourself. Your grown son has to live with you."
Carly glanced up to her older brother as he immediately put on a frown from the insult directed at their mother.
The bandana wearing teacher seemed to brush it off and reply, "Maybe so, but I'm still right."
"Are you? What if I'm raising him a pacifist?"
"That's not pacifism that's just rolling over and dying. Why are you determined to make your son miserable?"
"I'm trying to protect him!"
She softly shook her head and gave her a sympathetic expression. "As much as you'd like to, you can't protect him from life; it happens and you just have to deal with it the best you can."
Mrs. Benson remained silent as Taylor had just told her the way she looked at the world was wrong and struggled to form a response. She finally spoke up with her anger still lacing her voice, "You're not to give my son any more advice. Do you understand?"
"If he needs my help then I will help and you don't frighten me Marissa." Taylor softly shook her head. "Not after what I have been through. I've stared the Angel of Death straight in the eyes and do you know what happened?"
The redheaded brunette anger ebbed away to slight worry. "What?"
"He blinked, so you don't frighten me."
The Shay children looked uncomfortable by their mother's confession about what she had saw during those dark times and glanced to one another for the briefest of seconds.
Marissa took in a sharp breath through her nose then snapped, "Fine, I'll tell Principal Franklin that you told a student to hit another. How long do you think you'll keep your job?"
Carly glanced to Spencer and the younger artist looked outraged from the threat directed at his mother. She briefly wondered if he was about to just throw the overprotective mother out of apartment.
Taylor frowned and took a step forward. "Yes I am a teacher… I'm legally obligated to report any suspected child neglect or abuse that I see and I've seen plenty in regards to Freddie."
Marissa dropped her mouth open then shouted with outrage, "How dare you accuse me of such a thing? How can you threaten me like that?"
Taylor cracked a soft smile and whispered with a surprisingly lack sense of innocence, "You just threatened my job and as Steven would say 'I'm explaining the situation to you'."
Marissa glanced to Sam then back to Taylor to challenge, "Have you done that with her mother?"
Carly saw from the corner of her eye Sam's uneasiness of talking about her mother in a serious manner instead of the jokes she would make about the Puckett mother.
The Liz Lemon look-alike remained silent for a few moments in apparent contemplation on what she was going to say, but finally responded, "I have reported Pamela, repeatedly. She just…" She glanced to Sam for an instant then back to Marissa to finish, "You know Pamela's affects on males, so… nothing happens. I'd outright adopt Sam if I could, but the situation is what it is and I deal with it the best I can."
Mrs. Benson glanced over to the teenagers and realized why she was speaking in code. She nodded along as it she could agree with the artist that the topic should not be openly discussed in front of Sam. It was one thing for the thirteen year old to suspect her mother's activities with the various men her mother would see (as Taylor was the one that really explained the 'birds and the bees' to Sam), but an entirely different thing to force Sam to face it openly and be on the forefront of her mind.
"Don't escalate with me Marissa. I can let things go and forgive you…" She regretfully shook her head. "…but Steven won't."
Marissa bit her tongue and started down the artist for moments that stretched out into a minute. She finally just turned and exited the apartment as quickly as she had entered it and slammed the door behind her.
Taylor shook her head then turned to look back to Sam. She walked over to young blonde and whispered, "Now where were we? Yes… are you going to stop picking on Freddie? Are you going to stop picking on everyone else?"
She swallowed down her nervousness as she met the soft brown eyes then nodded. "Yes ma'am… it just might be a little hard not to insult him."
The glasses wearing teacher cracked a smile. "Well… Rome wasn't built in a day."
Shay Apartment
Present
Canon World
Sam took several deep breaths as she evidently looked disturbed to hear such a vivid story involving Mrs. Shay coming from the identical looking girl to her Carly. The brunette figured that this Sam might feel a little shocked at knowing how much school teacher cared about her and even so far as wanting to adopt her.
Spencer had taken a seat in one of the red stools in front of the kitchen counter during the course of Carly's story. He appeared just as much a lost of words as the rest. However, before he could figure anything out to say, the phone rang from behind the pillar of that supported the side of the kitchen counter.
Spencer turned in his seat to reach around for the wall phone, but maintained eye contact with Carly as he picked up the receiver. He blinked several times before questioning, "Dad?" He listened for a moment then continued, "No… I'm just surprised to hear from you." He listened for a few more moments then replied, "You are? That's great."
He put his hand over the receiver and revealed, "Dad's coming home for his birthday." Colonel Shay apparently had more to say as Spencer turned his focus on the phone. Spencer glance back at Carly as he continued listening to the Colonel then answered with a strained tone, "Yeah… she's right here, but…" Spencer grinned goofily as he commented through the phone, "Carly's not feeling well this morning, so I… I'll pass along anything you want to tell her this afternoon."
Carly frowned deeply at seeing her brother's counterpart wasn't going to let her speak with this world's version of her father. However, she wasn't going to put up with it.
"Dad!" she shouted in the hopes that he would hear her despite the phone pressed to the side of Spencer's face. She was thinking about rushing him to take the phone back, but he sighed deeply as he listened to his father. He pulled the phone from his ear and covered the receiver. His expression told her that he didn't really want to give her the phone, but she figured that he couldn't successfully argue against his father any better than her own brother. "He wants to speak to you again,"
The irritation Spencer was feeling was quite evident to Carly's eyes, but she didn't hesitate to snatch the phone back. She quickly brought it to her ear and answered, "Hey."
Her father was evidently concerned about her with the tone of voice he was using as he asked, "Is everything okay? Spencer said you're not feeling well?"
"No, everything was fine, I just had a rough morning, but I've bounced back and…"
"What?"
She shrugged as shoulder that he obviously couldn't see and gave him a little white lie, "I just did a lot of thinking while I was away at granddad's."
She heard him softly chuckle on the other end of the line, "A change in scenery can do that to you."
"Yeah…" she hesitantly responded then continued, "Are you happy dad?"
There was a short pause before the Colonel answered, "Ah… sure snug bug. I'm coming home to see you."
"No I mean…"
Spencer was giving her a confused expression.
Carly licked her lips then just went with her feelings, "Are you seeing anyone?" She waited and thought for the moment that they had lost the connection as she couldn't even hear him breathing on the other end of the line.
"No, of course not," he responded with a strange mixture of offense and worry.
She swallowed nervously then responded, "Maybe you should."
"Pardon?" he asked actually being caught off even further by whom he thought was his daughter's words.
"Mom would want you to be happy. I know she would. She wouldn't want you to be alone."
Spencer blinked along with the other two teenagers as they heard the advice she was giving to her father's counterpart. The lanky artist looked like he was ready to make a move to take the phone from her, but she twisted away to prevent him from snatching the phone in any other way that wouldn't result in a struggle that she knew her father would hear on the other end of the line then walked around the counter to get something between her and Spencer.
"Sweetie… are you really telling me that I should… find someone else? As in romantically?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you. I'm telling you that it's alright to be happy and find someone so you won't be alone. Mom would want you to do that."
"Where is this coming from? Did your granddad bring this up with y—"
She quickly cut him off as her mind instantly worked out where he was coming from with his question, "This has nothing to do with him never approving of you marrying mom. I just want you to be happy and so would she. It is not a betrayal of mom to be with someone else." She wasn't sure if his Carly knew about her granddad not approving dad to marry mom, but it was too late now to worry about such a thing.
She waited patiently as he finally spoke again, "I have to get going sweetie, but I'll see you soon and… I'll think about what you've said."
The brunette whispered softly, "Okay, dad; I love you dad."
"I love you too. Give Spencer my love."
"I will… bye."
"Bye."
She waited to hear the phone disconnect on his end then she turned and handed the phone to Spencer.
He grudgingly took the phone as he clenched his jaw and blew out a breath through his nose. Carly could see that her brother's counterpart was getting angry from the same tell-tale signs. He snapped out, "How could you tell him that?"
The brunette retorted with an equally stern expression, "Someone had to tell him! You think mom would want him to be miserable? What is with your thinking—"
Spencer interrupted with a shout, "My thinking? It's so janking easy to judge us isn't?"
Carly wanted to snap back an answer, any answer but she could see that he wasn't finished.
She was right as he pointed at her and stated, "You didn't have to live the last ten years without mom. You didn't have to watch dad fool the world into thinking that he was handling it while having to fight after nine-eleven, but knowing he was falling apart inside without her and try to hold everything else together." He took a step forward and wore a deep frown. "You didn't have to watch your mother waste away then had to bury her. I did. I had to watch it all and I did my best with my baby sister and I may have not been up to your standards, but I love my sister and I've tried to do best by everyone." He looked down at his feet and shook his head. He mumbled out, "I guess it is easy judging and lecturing us from Heaven if you think this is Hell."
Carly took a deep breath while looking into Spencer's angry, yet sorrow filled eyes. She refrained from commenting on the fact that it looked like he finally accepted the fact that he wasn't his Carly. She let out a slow breath and met her brother's gaze. Her voice was shaky as his words did sting her soul in not really knowing all the things he and the other Carly must have gone through, but she pressed on, "No… I didn't have to live without mom, but you make my case for me. Losing mom would break him, but he shouldn't have to stay broken. Your mom wouldn't want that and don't you dare tell me she would and I don't need to be from Heaven to know that you sitting on your hands while he's used as a punching bag is wrong. You're a grown man for God sakes Spencer. Don't try to justify not doing the right thing to me."
"It wasn't my business… that's Mrs. Benson's job—"
"So you realize what she does to him is wrong?" She looked at him sadly as she asked, "Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night? Is that what Carly tells herself? It's someone else's problem?"
Spencer coldly stared at the teenager.
Carly shook her head and looked down at the floor. She mumbled out, "I can't deal with this anymore. I just got to go." She turned and headed out the door.
Freddie shouted after her as she pulled open the door, "Carly!"
She shouted back as she crossed the threshold into the hallway, "I'll be back!"
Freddie grabbed the door before it finished closing then slipped through to catch up with the retreating brunette.
