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 26 (A Star's Advice)

"How was thanksgiving with your friend?" Carly asked as Freddie walked into the apartment. She and Sam were on the couch. Sam appeared somber while Carly seemed chipper. Gibby was behind the couch, leaning his hip against it. "You have fun over there? Melanie was asking about you." He raised an eyebrow, remembering the twin that he thought had been Sam. Eventually he figured it out, but the whole memory was still a bit awkward.

"We had a good time. It was fun catching up." He actually wanted to share his day with them, but opted out of it as he wanted to keep true to Valerie's wish for them not to know he was hanging with her. "She's got a great family. You guys would probably enjoy them, maybe…" No way could he say that with confidence. Sam lifted her shoulders and bowed her head, a concerning sight for him.

"Is your friend one of the ones that hates us?" She muttered. Freddie raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. Sam had been acting increasingly suspicious since they took Victoria over to Olivia's. She raised her head up and lifted her eyebrows. "I know your friend won't tear us apart. At least, I think so…just…I hope she's okay and not one of the ones that hate us…"

"She doesn't watch iCarly, but she doesn't hate you guys." He could see the question in the girls' eyes. They looked at each other, then back to him. "She never gained an interest in the show." They may catch on to the lie and he didn't feel good about it, but what other option did he have? "Anyway, Gibby, you're recording the webcast Saturday, right?" Gibby nodded gruffly and glanced towards the window, a silent observer as he'd been lately. "Good. I'm sorry I have to miss out, I just-"

"It's fine," Carly stood up and put her hands to his shoulder, smiling sadly. "We understand. This whole thing with our fans has us all messed up, you lost your head with Nora, you're fine to take a break. Besides, we understand if you have other commitments, you can't be expected to do it every week, right?" She lowered her hands and bit her lip, glancing towards the right. "Not that it would surprise me if you wanted nothing to do with iCarly either…"

"Something else up?"

"Well, Sam…has this odd idea for Saturday…" He gave Sam an inquisitive look and watched her pat her knees and stand up. "Gibby seems to think it's fair, so I don't know."

Sam put her elbow on Carly's shoulder and smirked at her friend, "You don't have to do anything Carly. I want to do this…for me…" Tiny beads of sweat formed on his brow as he studied Sam with curiosity. "Open season for iCarly…everyone we ever hurt, everyone we ever insulted…I'm letting them attack me." His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Had Sam gone insane? She bowed her head and narrowed her eyes, slowly closing her head. "I know what you may be thinking, and I'm aware that it could cause a lot of grief on both sides, but…I think it needs to be done."

"I don't know Sam, if it's what you want to do…" He moved past them towards the refrigerator. The girls followed him and stopped at the island counter, leaning over it. He grabbed a water from the fridge and turned around, closing the door with his foot. "Isn't it enough just to acknowledge that we screwed up? Opening up something like that…" He wasn't certain if it would even stir a good reaction among their regular viewers. The crazy ones may lash out and the good ones, not that there seemed to be any left, might be alienated. "Aren't you worried that it might cause a storm?"

"No." She frowned and moved her hand up to her head, rubbing gently. "I mean I'm sure some people might not be thrilled, but Freddie, this is something I personally feel I need to do. I don't know how else to make things right. I caused a lot of people a lot of pain by running my mouth. This is the one opportunity I'm giving them to actually lash back out at me. I expect a lot of cursing and a lot of hate. It's not going to hurt." She grabbed a fruit from the basket in the center and took a bite. After chewing for a second, she closed her eyes and swallowed. "I think it's important. Simple as that. People out there…they probably all have many things they want to say to me. I know how sensitive I am, but I know how tough I am. I'm used to people yelling at me, hating me…I'm not going to break, that's why I'm taking the brunt of it and not Carly."

"I see." He wasn't comforted any, there was a genuine concern he had for his friends. He didn't want to see them hurt, no matter how much they may deserve what they'd get from those hurt by Sam's scathing remarks over the years. "You won't get upset and retaliate? You get defensive whenever someone hurts you, so…how do you think you'll react?"

"As calmly as I can. I'll listen to their complaints and take them all in stride. Face it Benson, I've had it coming for a long time." He could picture the many people iCarly offended calling them up and cursing out Sam and Carly, and then, he was certain neither could be able to take it. Sam could dish out a lot of punishment, true, but what were the true chances of her taking it? Olivia was a bit different, she still was able to take the girl cursing her out, but that behavior was hard for anyone to take. "I won't react negatively. I spent a lot of time this week just studying our old videos, and well…I know how badly I've insulted people. Then I look at the comments below and-"

"The fans treat you like some kind of god," Gibby scolded. Freddie's eyes flicked over towards him, he waited anxiously as the man started walking towards them. Sam and Carly looked over with slight pained faces. "It's really not your fault. You remember when you two asked for money and all your fans wound up sending it? That's what I mean, people like you two so much they'll do anything you ask, no matter if it's good or bad."

Freddie took a swig of his water, then gently set the plastic on the counter. "And face it girls, a lot of bad has happened." They turned to him, Carly whined and Sam's lips flattened into a thin line. "I know it's hard to hear, but it's true. We just need to accept that. Wouldn't surprise me if the majority of our fans' 'victims', so to speak, moved on with their lives."

"Jonah's family hadn't," Sam threw her hands in the air and pointed her finger towards him. "And I've had the thought to search out Valerie just in case." His voice hung in the air with hesitation. Would Sam really seek out Valerie? It wouldn't surprise him, but he couldn't let that happen. Of course, he couldn't openly say anything without worrying that they'd figure him out. "I just have a feeling she's like Jonah…she's one of the people who've dated one of us, and you know those are the ones that get hurt the most…"

While this was true, he wasn't sure if every person the group ever dated had been hurt by the fans. He wasn't sure which ones hadn't. Adam still was missing when the fans carried him off years ago, Shane wasn't speaking to any of them and the last he heard, fans were harassing him. Even the girl obsessed with him, Shannon, had transferred schools. Was it due to iCarly's fans?

Gibby cleared his throat and sat on the armrest of the couch, "None of the girls I've dated have been attacked by rabid fans." Freddie raised an eyebrow as the girls turned inward, glancing over to Gibby with mouths agape. "Then again, I've never made it public who I was dating. You three have, in ways…"

"There are some web stars that make it public…"

"Not many, but those that do have very specific ways of doing it." Gibby pushed himself up and began moving towards the computer on the counter. "Even Fred, of all people, is smart enough to reserve his videos for the comedic bit that he does." Gibby brought up Skype and began to login. The trio surrounded him and eyed the contact list. What was he doing? "Now I managed to convince this one guy to, you know, talk to us about it…and it looks like he's online…"

"Who-" His gaze froze on the highlighted name. Ryan Higa? His heart shot up to his throat and his palms began to sweat, he was a major fan of this star's videos. "You actually got in touch with…him?"

"Yes." He requested a video call and soon the man's face popped up. The girls gasped, Freddie did what he could to remain calm as the internet's top sensation studied them. "Hey Ryan, I got the gang for some advice…"

"Okay." The star's response rattled Freddie, stunning him as he realized the man was truly there. It was surprising that he was reacting in such a manner to him, considering all the stars they'd met before, and he'd managed to be relatively calm with them. "What's the question? I know you said you guys were going through a difficult time. I can see that from your last show. I don't normally watch, but I have seen some of your older stuff."

"The thing I was saying to you before on Skype…about the whole getting too personal thing. I mean, you don't reveal that much of your personal life, and I think you let your fans know about one girlfriend."

"Yeah, she was in a couple of my videos. Your group does get a little too personal, it has a tendency to turn some people away. No offense, but I wouldn't watch it." A pit began to form in Freddie's stomach as he looked towards the girls, they were astonished, but didn't appear upset by the words. "With all the talk of your personal lives, you open even yourselves to danger. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, has likely happened?"

"Nora," all four answered simultaneously. Ryan hummed as the group looked amongst each other, Gibby kept his eyes on the screen and continued to talk. "Frankly where we're at right now, with all the fans going after one another and going after the people they've dated-"

"Now you see, that's why you don't tell people stuff like who you're going out with or where you live, etcetera. Because if you do, you're not only putting yourself in danger from the crazy stalker fans, but you're putting those people you care about in danger also. I've had a couple, Ray William Johnson's had a few. Hell even that hack, Fred, has likely had one or two, no star is going to tell you they haven't had some stalker fans. Judging by your latest show…one of those people you've dated already ran into trouble with your fans…"

"Jonah. Sam dated him several years ago and-"

"He tried to cheat on her with Carly, then they put him on that bouncing thing, right?" The group froze, Sam whimpered slightly and Freddie bowed his head. Ryan closed his eyes and exhaled. "See how easy it is to find out what happened with people in your lives? All anyone has to do is fiddle around with iCarly for a few hours, and suddenly they know who you dated, what happened, where you live, who you are, what's going on in your life, and so forth…You're just asking for crazy fans like Nora to pop up wherever! By the way, that machine? It wasn't funny, as it was disgusting and just, I'm amazed you didn't get sued for it. You lucked out."

Sam moaned and put her hands to her head, "I know!"

"No you don't! At least, I don't think you do, otherwise you wouldn't slander the amount of people that you have." Ryan pointed at the screen, narrowing his eyes. Sam lowered her hands and Carly's eyes began to enlarge. "Every time you slander someone, you open yourself up to a libel lawsuit!" They heard Spencer's voice as the man passed by them from the stairs, he was confirming Ryan's statement. It sent chills down Freddie's spine when he thought of all the times they could have been sued by someone. "You have zero responsibility! Once you put something on the internet, it is out there forever! You think deleting videos off your site is going to remove them? No. You can find that Jonah video on youtube, probably. If you type it in Google and click the videos tab, I'm willing to bet it'll find it two or three more times. It's out there, you can't take it back."

Sam cupped her hand over her mouth and took a slight step backwards, bumping into Spencer. Carly ran over to him, hugging his waist and asking if it were really that true, his experience in the criminal justice system was still enough. Of course, he had four years of college with a CJ Major before law school. Spencer's lips pressed into a thin line and he lifted his shoulders. "It's more than true, it's happened." Freddie's jaw dropped and Carly began stammering.

"W-What? Spencer, what do you mean it's happened?"

"Dad and I have sorted out some complaints in the past where we were told to pay for emotional damages, therapy, etcetera, or be sued for slander, defamation of character, assault, you name it…it's so much that I've actually gone back to law school to finish off my degree…"

"Oh god! Why didn't you tell us?"

"We were trying to protect you guys. This whole Nora thing that happened kind of overshadowed everything, but Dad has stated if another threat of lawsuit were to come up, he was going to force iCarly to shutdown." Carly threw her hands over her mouth and shook her head. Spencer crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What amazes me is half the people out there want to sue because you told the fans to do something to them."

"Man that's stupid," Ryan muttered. Everyone turned back to him, he had his hand on his forehead and was shaking his head. "You don't need to attack people or mock people, or even tell your fans to rough someone up, in order to gain respect from viewers." He lowered his hand and pulled his lips back as he studied something on his own computer. "You know Shane Dawson?"

"Yeah…" Sam raised an eyebrow as Ryan's eyebrows lifted up.

"Well he's got a few negative thoughts in regards to the privacy issues you guys have. There's one thing he says, I agree with and say it myself, you need to be careful what you put out there because it's the internet. Everything you say and do has repercussions, and well, people have feelings. You've done a lot of damage, but I don't want you to think you're all bad or anything. Bear in mind that you're always going to have 'haters' out there. There isn't a thing you can do about it, but you can do something about those privacy concerns."

"I guess."

"Either that or shut it down for your own safety, and maybe, the safety of everyone else in your life. You know how many girls I've dated that tell me they don't want me to talk about them online, nor do they want to be online? There is good reason for this. I would never talk down about my teacher or tell my fans even indirectly that they ought to harm somebody, because the crazy people out there will do it."

"He's right," Freddie growled out. The girls held their breath and watched as he moved to the couch.

The conversation carried on for a brief time before they said their farewells. Carly had been rendered speechless and Sam was glaring at the door with a sense of longing in her eyes. If she wanted to leave, she could. Carly wiped her eyes and scoffed, "Spencer…Has there really been anything else happening over the years?" Spencer moved for the kitchen and lifted his shoulders.

"Yeah. Remember Lewbert?" Freddie lifted his head and started wiping his brow. "Before he left his job, he was the guy that kept watch over our apartment." He snapped into attention, listening closely now to what Spencer was saying. Lewbert was protecting them? Carly moved her hands over her mouth and Sam cringed. "Every time you guys insulted him, attacked him, mocked him, he took it in stride…of course it affected him, but we needed him, and he stayed until he couldn't take it any longer. There've been a few obsessed fans over the years that tried to come by the apartment, he chased them off."

"Oh god. Oh please no…"

"He left the job and I've had to occasionally check and make sure nothing was going on. Fortunately he beefed up security on the place before quitting, but…if someone really wanted to, they could get in."

As Spencer walked away, Carly and Sam collapsed on the couch beside Freddie. Gibby spun around on the stool and leaned back against the counter. Silence was thick in the air, but nobody dared to speak. Everything they'd heard, everything they were learning, it was all so overwhelming. They'd taken iCarly too far, crossed too deeply over the privacy boundary. As trodden as that line was, their footsteps smeared it into nonexistence.

Was it even possible to bring that line back? Or would they be forced to shut down the show for good? They had to at least try, but was it worth it anymore? Freddie wanted so badly to trust the fans, but all he felt now towards them was disgust. He wished Sam the best of luck in iCarly's 'open season' segment on Saturday, but at this point, he wasn't even sure if it was worth another episode.

A lot was discovered in this chapter. Tell me what you liked, what observations were made. What do you think of Ryan's advice? Tell me your thoughts, do you see a future in the webshow, or do you see a lack of a future that Freddie (and you'll soon see Sam) sees in it? Do you think iCarly can be saved, or are they really past that point of salvation?