Installing

"Ugh, this is the second week in a row we're not gonna be able to do iCarly because of that dumb virus some moron sent us!" Carly moaned as her, Sam and Freddie sat up in the iCarly studio.

"Yeah, haven't you figured out the problem yet, Fredbag?" Sam snapped. "What kind of computer nerd are you?"

"I'm working on it," Freddie said, typing away furiously at his laptop. "This virus is really complex…I've never seen anything like it."
"Well stop ogling over it and get rid of it!" Sam hissed.

"I just said I'm working on it!" Freddie snapped. "I'd like to see you try and fix this."

"Guys, don't fight," Carly sighed. "Sam, Freddie's working as fast as he can. Freddie…work faster."

"I'm gonna try installing some new software I got from the AV club and see if that will do anything," Freddie said.

"Well when will that be done?" Sam asked.

"Probably four to six hours," Freddie answered.

"Unbelievable," Sam said, shaking her head. "The one thing you're supposed to be good at…"

"Freddie will get this solved," Carly said to Sam.

"Thank you, Carly," Freddie said, glaring at Sam.

"In the meantime, let's get out of his hair and go to the mall," Carly said to her best friend.

"I don't want to go to the mall," Sam said.

"Well then you can stay here and watch Freddie install his stuff," Carly shrugged.

"Fine, fine, I'll go," Sam conceded. She turned back to Freddie. "See what you've done, nub. Now I'm gonna have to spend five hours looking at shoes!"

"Have fun," Freddie smirked.

….

"We're back!" Carly announced later that afternoon as her and Sam returned to the Shay's apartment.

Freddie was sitting at the counter, still working on his laptop.

"Did you figure the virus out yet?" Sam asked impatiently, heading into the kitchen.

"No," Freddie sighed. "The software I installed was blocked by it. But I do have a bit of good news."

"What?" Carly asked.

"Well, I've been chatting with the guy who sent the virus," Freddie said. "And-"

"Wait, what?" Sam frowned. "You're talking to this guy?"

"After the software failed, I got a chat request from someone," Freddie explained. "And I opened it up and it turned out to be the virus's creator."

"Well what does he want?" Carly demanded. "Did you tell him to give us our web show back?"

"Yeah, but he's playing hardball here," Freddie said. "I'm trying to work something out with him right now."

"Tell him he better fix our website or I'll come find him and rearrange his face!" Sam yelled.

"That's just gonna make him stop talking to me," Freddie said. "I think I can get through to this guy…Us computer fanatics-"

"Nerds," Sam corrected.

"Us computer fanatics," Freddie said firmly, giving her a look. "Have a professional soft spot for each other. I'm sure if I just keep talking with him, he'll fix the website in no time."

"Just be careful," Carly told him. "Some of those Internet guys are pretty weird."

"Yeah, here's a prime example," Sam said, nodding over at Freddie.

….

As the day went on, Freddie continued to talk to the virus creator online.

"You still haven't made any progress convincing this guy to give us our website back?" Carly yawned, turning off the movie her and Sam had been watching.

"No," Freddie said. "But tomorrow everything should be fixed. Turns out this guy is from Seattle too. He wants to meet with me to have this conversation face-to-face."

"What?" Sam and Carly both exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna meet him tomorrow at that diner near the movie theatre," Freddie nodded.

"Freddie, you can't just meet some strange Internet dude!" Carly said. "Are you insane?"

"Well do you want our webpage back or not?" Freddie pointed out. "Look, this guy seems reasonable-"

"What reasonable guy sends a computer virus to a teen webpage in the first place?" Sam said.

"Yeah Freddie, I don't like the sound of this," Carly frowned.

"Come on, Carls, don't worry about this," Freddie said. "Look, we're meeting at a public place. Besides, I'll be the first to admit that that guys who can craft viruses this strong aren't exactly the most intimidating or threatening. I'll meet with him, maybe share an onion ring basket, and then get him to give us our webpage back."

"At least have me and Sam come with you," Carly said.

"No, I told you, I'll be fine," Freddie assured her. "And by this time tomorrow I'll have our webpage back up and running smooth as a-"

"You can't just meet some freak from the Internet all by yourself!" Sam spoke up loudly. "Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna get killed. This guy is a harmless virus creator. He probably lives at home with his mom and has a part-time job as a muffler salesman or something."

"How can you possibly know that?" Sam snapped. "For all you know he's five-hundred pounds and can squeeze you so hard your eyes pop out!"

"Well I have to fix this webpage, Sam!" Freddie said.

"So you're gonna risk getting beat up or worse by some Internet guy just so iCarly will get back up?" Sam said, crossing her arms.

"I told you, nothing bad is gonna happen," Freddie said. "Besides…why would you care if it did?"

Sam's face fell for a fraction of a second before she quickly recomposed herself.

"You know what? Since you seem so convinced that I don't care…I just won't! Go meet that Internet freak tomorrow! Do whatever you want!"

"I will," Freddie said firmly. "I will."

…..

Freddie sighed as he sat at the small table in the middle of the diner he was supposed to meet the creator of the virus.

This guy was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, he thought to himself, sipping his soda. Where is he?

"Hey," a voice behind him said just as he was about to give up hope. "You Freddie Benson?"

"Yes," Freddie said, turning around. "I-Oh."
The man standing behind him was not at all like who he was expecting. This man stood at least a foot-and-a-half above him and was easily two hundred pounds heavier.

"Are-Are you DestructO500?" Freddie asked somewhat nervously.

"That's me," the man sneered. "So you want me to fix that webpage of yours?"

"Well, yes, like-like I said, your virus, which is very impressive, by the way, seems to be giving us a bit of trouble," Freddie nodded. "So, um, if you could just tell me how to get rid of it, that would be great."

"Yeah, that would be great," the man nodded, and Freddie didn't like the way he was beginning to crack his knuckles. "Or, what would be even greater would be me teaching you a lesson about trying to mess with my viruses."

"Um…well I think we have very different opinions of what 'great' entails," Freddie chuckled nervously. "So…what do you say? Can you take the virus off of our webpage? We-We'd really appreciate it."

"Hmmm," the man said, appearing to consider this for a moment. "No. I think I'll just do this."

And with that he shoved Freddie hard to the ground.

Aw man, Freddie thought as he winced in pain from the floor. What happened to computer freaks being geeky and scrawny?

…..

Sam shook her head as she stood outside the diner, looking in again and watching Freddie sitting alone at his table.

I can't believe I even came here, Sam thought to herself. Why should've I? That nub thinks I don't care about him…I should've stayed at home and watched reruns all day. That would've showed him how much I cared all right.

But you do care, the other voice in Sam's head reminded her. It was the same voice that had convinced her to come here in the first place. You care a lot…Even if he can't seem to see that.

Just then Sam saw a large man approach Freddie.

Yeah, that's some harmless looking dude, Sam thought, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, Freddie," Sam whispered. "Just get him to fix that virus and get out of there…"

She watched the two talk for a few moments, Freddie appearing to grow more and more nervous as they went on.

And then, Sam's mouth dropped open as the man shoved Freddie to the ground.

Without even wasting a second, Sam raced into the diner. After all, there was only one person allowed to shove Freddie around.

"Hey!" Sam said loudly, causing the man to turn towards him, just as he was about to hit Freddie again. "Get your hands off of him!"

"Sam?" Freddie said in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Ha? You brought this little girl as backup?" the man laughed. "What you think I won't hit you because you're a girl honey? Tough luck. You might be cute, but I hurt everybody equally."

He shoved Sam, causing her to fall to the floor and scrape her arm on the tile.

"Oh, you're really gonna wish you didn't do that," Sam said threateningly as she quickly got to her feet.

"I'm so scared," the man said, rolling his eyes. "What are you gonna do? Bat your eyelashes and-Ah!"

Sam had grabbed his arm and flipped him to the ground with such ease she might as well have been flipping a stuffed animal.

"Ow!" the man said indignantly. "That hurt!"

"Good!" Sam snapped, grabbing the man's collar and glaring at him. "Now you have ten seconds to tell him how to get rid of that virus before I hit you so hard you'll wake up not even knowing what your name is!"

"Okay, okay!" the man said, flinching at the sight of Sam's fist. He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Freddie. "Here, this is the access code you need to get rid of the virus. Just-Just don't hurt me anymore!"

"Now get out of here!" Sam said, releasing the man's shirt. "And if you ever send us another virus again, you'll find out what pain really is!"

"Sam," Freddie said slowly, getting to his feet as the man ran out of the diner. "You-You saved me. That guy was going to destroy me."

"Save it," Sam mumbled. "I did it so we could finally get our webpage back."

She turned and headed toward the door.

"Wait, Sam?" Freddie said, running after her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sam said, avoiding his eyes.

"Your elbow's bleeding," Freddie said softly, pulling a napkin out of his pocket and gently wiping her wound. "Seriously, what's wrong? You just saved the web show? Why aren't you rubbing that in my face?"

Sam rolled her eyes as she jerked her arm away from him. "Just leave it…After all, if I apparently don't care about you, why should you pretend to care about me?"

And with that she stormed off, leaving a very confused Freddie behind her.