The Coin's Other Side

Disclaimer: Do I own iCarly? No, no I do not. Will I attempt to own it? No, no I will not. Will I write a fan-fiction on it? Yes, yes I will.

A/N:

Chapter 20 (The Parole Hearing)

Freddie hurried out into the parking lot on Tuesday morning, he was running very late. The problem was simple, he stayed up too late trying to check the iCarly website, and wound up sleeping through his alarm. For some reason, his mom forgot to wake him. He completely skipped his daily medicine, which wasn't a good idea, but he just didn't find that he had the time.

Carly and Sam had gone on without him, since no one answered the door, they must have figured he already left. He didn't exactly want to go to the hearing, especially considering this was just another attempt to release Nora, despite keeping her parents in prison. The problem was, the courts and lawyers managed to make it appear that everything was the parent's doing and not Nora's, which was entirely backwards. If they released her into society yet again, Carly had better not be as gullible as she was last time.

He jumped into his car and rushed from the parking lot, still battling the feelings inside telling him to just stay home. He was needed there, he couldn't blow it off, unfortunately. There was still the off chance if he blew it off, Nora would get released due to his not attending. "Much more important things I'd like to do than attend this," he growled, turning onto a freeway on ramp. He could hardly remember the number he was supposed to go to. Each floor had a letter before the number, with the court rooms ranging from 100 to 500 on each floor. Floor one was A, two was B, and so forth. He had no clue what floor he was supposed to be on, as each floor was designated for a particular type of crime from kidnapping, DUIs, assault, all the way up to murder. According to the person telling them where to go, there were thirty or so floors, going into double letters before the numbers. It was far too confusing for him. "G-432, I think…" It was either B or G, maybe D, but he was going to have to guess G. Carly and Sam had their phones off when he tried to call earlier, so likely they were already within the building.

When he made it to the giant building downtown, he rushed from the parking garage and into the building. Hastily he tossed his phone, keys, and shoes into the security bin before going through the metal detector. He thought about asking for confirmation regarding the correct floor, but he was certain he had the floor right. He kept replaying the letter and number in his head so he wouldn't forget.

He dusted off his thin sport coat and retrieved his phone, shoes and keys, throwing the loose objects back into the pockets of his slacks. He always liked looking nice, and this was one of those opportunities where he needed to wear a suit. As he made his way to the elevator, he heard the bell ring and called out, reaching forward. "Hold the door!"

The middle elevator was open, and an elderly man with a kind smile held the doors for him. He thanked him and quickly moved to the back of the elevator, sighing heavily. "Which floor are you going to?" Freddie moved his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Floor G, I think that's 7, right?"

"Got it."

"Thanks." He smoothed his hair back and felt a shiver running down his spine, causing his entire upper body to twitch. He rolled his eyes and tensed his face, slowly moving his hand to his face. "Damn it calm down." He could feel the man's eyes on him, possibly wondering if he was okay. "Just a little stressed out is all. I have to attend this parole hearing…" What? The guy didn't need to know that. It wasn't his business. "Think before you speak for god sake."

"Ah yes, parole hearings can be very stressful, traumatizing even." No shit. Freddie smiled awkwardly and moved his eyes towards the lit elevator buttons. A lump formed in his throat as he slowly slid to the left. He moved his hands behind his back and started tapping his foot anxiously, a nervous habit just as annoying as the damn jaw-popping thing he did. That caused his entire face an extreme amount of pain, typically. "I hope your hearing goes well." He raised an eyebrow as the elevator stopped on the man's floor. "You have a nice day son."

"Thanks sir, I'll try, and it's not my parole hearing…" Not unless the man was referring to his probationary status with Valerie's family, in which case, he was sure he had that parole hearing already. "Not a bad analogy, actually." They'd granted him parole, put him on probation, and if he screwed up again, he was done. Thank god the Williams clan believed in second chances.

Freddie's eyes flicked to the number above the elevator and his lips curled into a smile when his floor came into view. "Finally, I was getting impatient…"

He wasted no time getting off the elevator when the doors opened up. There were two signs on the wall in front of him, both with arrows pointing in one direction, the numbers above dictated which way to go. He turned right and charged down the hallway. His face tightened, forcing a growl from his throat. Of all times for his tourettes to be acting up, it had to be now? "Jesus, calm the hell down." He breathed in slowly and started focusing on the task at hand, usually focus was what helped him control the tics. He couldn't be twitching around Sam and Carly, they hardly ever noticed the tics before and would think there was something fundamentally wrong with him.

How was it he'd been controlling these twitches all his life, but now all of a sudden they were skyrocketing like crazy? He could just hear Sam crowing on and on about him having a cussing problem, which obviously he did not. If he ever met the man behind the 'Tourettes Guy', he was seriously going to punch the man. He could use a social group or something, but everything he found online was about children with Tourettes. He was not a 'children'!

Once he found the court door, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. This would hopefully be the last time he had to deal with Nora ever again. She didn't need to be rereleased on probation, and there was no possible way that her parents 'put her up' to anything. "One last hurrah Nora, then we're done with you. God the iCarly fans piss me off…at least the crazy ones…"

He pushed open the door and the first thing he heard was the judge going over the case. Assault and battery? Attempted rape? He raised an eyebrow, this was the wrong court room wasn't it. Before he could react, everything came to a halt. Several paces ahead, past a low wooden barricade and two desks, was the Judge's chair and the thin, wrinkled face Judge was staring right at him.

This wasn't the worst part, however. His face started tensing up once more and his nerves became frayed. Sitting in the pews to his right were Valerie, Vanessa, Veronica, and Vincent. At one of the two desks were three men with handcuffs on their wrists, the oldest looking man was glaring over at the sisters, then turned a glare onto him. The judge lowered his wire framed glasses, darting his eyes over to the bailiff standing beside him.

Sweat poured down Freddie's neck and forehead. He tried to muster the courage to walk out, to speak, to do anything. He could play this off coolly, but how? His body began heating up as Valerie's gaze fell upon him. Her eyes were full of sorrow and fright. This was what happened to her? The fans went that far off of something Sam said? A desire to kill the men swept over him, but he managed to keep that rage concealed and focused his attention on the judge. "Can I help you, young man?" The judge asked.

"Y-Yes sir, I'm sorry, I think I got the wrong court room." The judge smiled and started tapping his papers on his desk. Freddie felt his face twitching and quickly looked back to the door, trying to hide his twitches as much as he could. "Can you tell me which floor kidnapping is on? I know it's 432, but I thought the person said floor G. Nora Dirshlitt?"

"Ah! Yes, she's on floor B, as in boy. B-432. Don't worry, people get confused often, we're trying to get our secretaries to say the floor number." Freddie's face turned red and he moved his gaze to the three fans at the table. The middle one, eldest, possibly the leader, was gazing at him with a smug grin. The left corner of his lip and left side of his face was raised up, giving off a condescending air.

"Thank you sir." He glanced at Valerie, meeting her eyes for a split second before she turned back. He hurried from the courtroom, then bent over a bench, holding his abdomen as his stomach spun out of control. Freddie withheld a scream and clenched his eyes shut, groaning from the embarrassment and anger welling up inside of him. "Those sick fucks!" If he heard right when he entered, then he heard more than he wanted to hear. Bullying was one thing, name calling, pushing people around, and all around cursing them in the name of their idol. These were childish pranks compared to what these people had done to Valerie and her family!

He breathed out and looked back to the door, panting aggressively and imagining the look on the man's face inside. "Forgiveness? Forgiveness my ass. If those fans can go that far and not change…I'll pull the goddamn plug on iCarly myself!" Now he understood why Valerie was so tense lately. To think, this could have been avoided if he hadn't been such a spineless coward! That was it, he was through, no more being weak. He was no pushover!

It took him nearly ten minutes to calm down enough before he could get to the right room. Fortunately the hearing hadn't begun yet, the girls and Gibby were pleased to see he arrived. He had difficulty being fully there, however. "What happened?" Carly asked. "We thought you'd be here by now."

"I got the wrong floor," he muttered. His eyes fell onto Nora at the defense table. A scowl formed at his lips when the girl waved at him. He muttered and sat beside the girls. "I'm telling you, I'm just about finished with all our fans." The girls studied him for a minute, and Gibby asked what was going on. He didn't think it would be right to tell them, no, it wasn't his place. They didn't need to know.

As the hearing went along, Freddie was losing his focus completely. Memories of his time with Valerie and her family were playing over in his mind, from meeting them all the way to their painful breakup. He winced at the memory of her tears falling down her face, how had he not been affected back then? Those tears tore him apart now that he looked back on them. He never meant to hurt her.

It was his backbone that did this to her, his lack of one that is. He closed his hands and glared down at his feet. It wasn't like he didn't already know it, but this was more than a slap in the face, he'd just been sliced into pieces before he could blink. He wouldn't push what happened to her, and he'd be there for her sure, but damn anyone who tried to tear him away from the Williams family.

So, he needed to work on his spirituality, so he needed to work on forgiveness, but how easy of a task was that really? He couldn't get that man's face out of his mind, and even looking at Nora was enough to instill deep rooted anger inside of him.

He felt someone nudging him in the ribs. Ignoring the jabbing pain, he looked up to Carly, seeing her pointing towards the judge. "It's your turn to speak," Carly said. How long had he been losing his attentiveness? What had he missed? "They're asking if we feel she should be released. She's been begging for our forgiveness and swears she won't do it again, says her parents made her do it." He rolled his eyes and glared over at Nora.

"Right, basically the same stuff she said before…"

"I don't think she should be out on the streets," Sam began, "Certainly not after messing up before. We've all said our points, so…yeah, it's your turn."

"Gladly." He rose up and walked forward to the oak boarder separating him from the open area. He looked Nora straight in the eyes, tensed his muscles and let out a low growl. "No." Nora's eyebrows rose up and her lips parted. He lifted his index finger and narrowed his glare. "We believed you the last time, and whether or not your parents did anything, which I don't believe, isn't enough to convince me that you should be released. So forget it! You've traumatized us, not once, but twice, and there is not going to be a third! My opinion? You should stay in as long as your sentence was set to, people like you shouldn't even be on the streets." That man's face came back to his mind, and his anger flourished. He kept his voice as calm as possible, trying hard not to let it show just how badly he wanted to snap the man's neck in two. Especially since he was talking to Nora right now. "You can beg, cry, lie all you like, but I'm done being gullible. Done being pushed around, done believing what everyone else says, and done believing you. Rot in prison for all I care."

Nora gasped out as Freddie turned and walked back to his wide-eyed friends. Carly's lips moved without sound, and Sam appeared flushed. Gibby coughed into his hand and slowly shook his head. "A simple 'no' would have been enough," Gibby stated.

"Sorry."

After the court hearing, Freddie waited on the bench outside the courtroom. The others had gone back to their cars, but he wanted to relax before leaving. He couldn't get out of his mind, still, what he'd seen. "Freddie?" His head jerked up and he looked towards his right, seeing Valerie standing before him. She was frowning and had red, puffy cheeks. "I guess you…" She paused and moved her eyes towards the side, closing her left hand and raising her right hand up to her purse strap on her shoulder.

"I won't ask if you're uncomfortable, but…if you ever want someone to talk to about it…I'll be there for you." She smiled slightly and sat down beside him. He felt terrible about running into her courtroom. He chuckled nervously and closed his eyes. "Of all the wrong rooms to walk into."

"It happens, I understand. Thanks for not saying anything…how did the hearing go? Any news?"

"Nora's not been granted parole this time around. She may be eligible after a few years…" He did not want to say he flipped out on Nora. "And how about yours?" Valerie started to tense, relaxing after a few seconds. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything up…"

"It's all right. Chad, the leader has to finish out his sentence. The other two are out, but they have to stay away from me and my family…if they come near us, they'll be in violation, and shipped back to jail." She moved her hand to her arm and peered down. Freddie reached over, resting his hand on her forearm. Her eyes moved to his hand, then up to his eyes.

"I'm sorry Valerie, I really am. I don't know what happened, I just wish…I wish I could take back what happened."

"I know." Her shaky voice quieted and her lips pressed firmly against each other. "You have some pretty crazy fans…anyway, I noticed you were twitching a little back there."

"Yeah…" He bowed his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Tourettes of course…"

"Have you tried looking into the TSA? Tourettes Syndrome Association, they should have some support groups and stuff for people your age and older. One of my uncles is involved in that." Freddie's eyebrows rose up and his lips curved into a tiny smile. "I can get you his number…"

"That'd be great. It's stressful, you know…"

"Yeah, there's a lot of stress to go around." Valerie looked up at the door in front of them and folded her hands over in her lap. "Are you and your mom still coming over for Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah."

"That's great, has she finally decided on what stuffing to make?" Freddie laughed. They talked a bit the other day about how many stuffing recipes his mom had found and been going through, making it so difficult to decide what to make! Valerie smiled at him and breathed out. "Victoria wants you to chaperone her to the Skillet concert. She's going with Olivia." There was a surprise, on both accounts. He appreciated the chance he was being given to chaperone Victoria and bond, though he was stunned to see that a friendship really was developing with Olivia.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind. I'd be happy to. You know, I really do care, I want to show you guys that…"

"I know, otherwise you wouldn't be interested in messing with us. Just the fact alone that you're talking to me right now after walking in on the hearing tells me there's still something left in there…" He furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh.

"That wouldn't influence my opinion on you, Valerie. I'm mad that someone would hurt you like that, but it wasn't your fault…" Valerie smiled at him and reached up, putting her hand to his shoulder. He looked into her soft gaze and smiled back. It felt like he was being given permission, for what he wasn't sure, but he'd guess it had something to do with her family.

"It wasn't your fault either, Freddie. Keep that in mind."

"Yeah…"

"I need to go, dad and my sisters went ahead towards the car to wait for me there." She rose up and looked over her shoulder at him. "Walk with me?"

He smiled back at her and quickly moved to his feet, practically stumbling over himself. "Sure." He smiled nervously, relaxing when she giggled at him.

Well what are your thoughts and observations here?