Hey, hey fanfictioneers and fanfictionistas, KL21 here, finally, with an update for War Games.

It's been awhile and I know ur itchin to get into it so I won't hold you up.

So, I give you, Chapter Nine of War Games. Please read, enjoy, and review. Thank you.

Intelligence Gathering

Freddie's POV

I've never really been a winner. I've never thought of myself as a loser but I can't really recall any times when I've actually won anything. I thought that my luck was changing when I won that school at sea thing but I ended up having to give it away… for her. It's pretty much been downhill from there.

That became evident at Gibby's party. My camera is pretty much trashed. Shane tried to salvage it but he called me right before I had to do iCarly. My own personal camera is now junk. I am now probably the laughing stock of the entire school. All of the progress that I've made since middle school… since I've started school… gone in one night. I have somehow found myself on the short list of guys that everyone wants to kill. No… not somehow, I know how. Sam, somehow, convinced all of these people that I had somehow done something to them. I'm now, fresh meat on the 'bully market' as Lance so eloquently phrased it. And I certainly didn't help myself by knocking a jock off the stage. I only hope he's not too hurt.

I've got no social life… thanks to Sam, no camera… thanks to Sam… indirectly, and now I have no safety in my own school for the next few months. She has gotten the best of me once again. I don't know how she manages to do it… but she always manages to win, and likewise, I always end up losing.

Until yesterday, that is. Something happened yesterday that I never expected to happen. I saw Sam freeze. She normally always has something to say… to anyone… at anytime. But yesterday when perfectly set up… she froze.

When I showed up to iCarly she seemed upset about something. I'm not sure what. She knew what the deal would be. I acknowledged her but I wasn't gonna treat her like a friend. We were… co-workers. Apparently she still didn't think I was serious. So I did my best to avoid getting wrapped up in her games. I tried to balance out the camera time but when I looked at Sam I couldn't smile, I couldn't laugh, I couldn't do anything. Not only because of the situation but also because I didn't want to instill any kind of hope in her or myself when I wasn't sure of it. The only thing worse that 'no hope' is false hope. So I kept a straight face until the midway point in the show. This was the real challenge.

Usually during this point in the show Sam gets a little… off, I guess you could say. Not that she's bad, but she just seems to lose that energy that she always has. Another thing that happens during this time is that Carly inexplicably sets her up and Sam delivers… every time… every show… like clockwork. And last night it came just as it always has. I didn't know what she was gonna come at me with but I knew that I couldn't falter. So I mentally braced myself and prepared to shrug off whatever comment she would make. So I decided to break one of the rules, I confronted her. I looked her right in the eyes and waited for it.

"Is Freddie gonna put his face…" Our eyes locked. She hesitated, "Is Freddie gonna…" Nothing. She froze. Carly had to end the show early. I called it and just stared at Sam. She looked like she had lost a part of herself. Carly sent me a look and I just nodded and left. I think I just beat Sam.

Now I have to be prepared for Sam's next move. I may have won last night but I didn't beat her. So she'll be over this pretty quickly. So I have to come up with a course of action.

What time is it? 11:02. I need information first… and food. I wonder what's in the kitchen. "Mom!" Hmm, that's strange. There's a note on the fridge.

Dear Freddie Bear,

I was called into work early so
I left some food for you in the
refrigerator. I've noticed that
over the last few days you haven't
been eating regularly.
A growing boy needs to eat, or else
his leg hair won't grow. I also noticed
that you haven't been using the
tick lotion. Is something wrong? Does
mommy need to take off of work and
take care of my little Freddiebear?
I hope so. I miss taking care of my
little boy. I guess that's the price for
growing up. Oh well, remember your
tick lotion. And also remember, ticks
and fleas means mommy's not
pleased, fleas and ticks makes mommy
sick. And check for leg hair.

Love, Mommy

I wonder if there is a registered psychologist in the area. I mean, I don't have ticks, I don't have fleas, I do have leg hair, and I've been eating just fine… except for skipping the occasional dinner… and breakfast this morning. Well I suppose that she is only doing what she thinks is best… and she is the only mother I've got so I should be grateful. Let's see what's in the fridge. Wheat germ toast? Asparagus? What is… Vegemite? Is this even food? Crap, there's nothing else here. I have to go to the store later. But for now I think I'm going to head to the Groovy Smoothie. I need to talk to Wendy and I know she's still there.

Hola

I was hopin we could
talk. U still at the GS?

TechMasterFreddie

I figure I should still ask. She's become something of a professional informant ever since Carly and Sam convinced her to use her info gathering for good. Word around school is that Sunday is one of her busy days.

Hi

Sure thing. But u may
wanna wait til 11:30 tho.
Sam's here.

GossipGirl

Hmmm… ok so what time is it now. 11:15. Hmm… I'll be a little early but I should be able to avoid Sam for five minutes. So off I go.

Ok… here goes nothin'. C'mon Freddie it's just one tiny little gaze through the window. Good, Her backs to the window. Ok Freddie, gotta be quick and steady. In 5, 4, 3, 2… go.

Ok made it to the counter, now to let her know I'm here.

Hey

Im here.

TechMasterFreddie

Ok, now to get someone to watch and wait. Let's see… T-Bo. Perfect. Can't be too loud though. "Hey, T-Bo." No answer, Maybe a lil louder, "Hey… T-Bo." Still no answer, and I can't afford to get much louder without drawing her attention. Ummm… I know! I'll try knocking on the counter.

Argh… still nothin'. Hmmm… sugar packets. Maybe if I… "Hey! Who threw that?" Now a whistle and… finally. "What do you want?" well, somebody is certainly testy today, aren't they?

"I need you to tell me when Sam leaves."

"Who is Sam?" What?

"The girl that I'm always in here with."

"With the brown hair?"

"No, the other one."

"You mean the one at the table over there?" Dear Lord.

"Yeah."

"Ok I'll call her over and let her know you're here." Oh my God!

"T-Bo! T-Bo! Stop it! I'm tryin to avoid her!"

"You are?"

"Yes." I steal a glance over at her and notice that she's chewing on her hair. She usually only does that when she is hungry. Has she seriously not eaten yet? This whole thing is more serious than I thought. "Hey T-Bo. Could you do me another favor?" I gotta do something and she needs something to eat. "What're you sellin' on your stick today?"

"I got french toast and waffles." Hmm… it's not often that he actually has options.

Well, she does like powdered sugar, "Ok how much is the French toast?"

"7.50." Seven Fifty?

She won't pay that. I've got an idea, "Here's three dollars, take those to Sam and tell her to pay the difference." I'm forgetting something. "OH! Don't tell her that I paid for it." Ok now to wait for her to leave. They say the waiting is the hardest part, at the moment I'd have to agree.

Hi

Ok shes gone.
U can come over.

GossipGirl

Alright, the coast is clear. "Hey, Wendy." She must be upset about something. This is a weird silence. Ow! "What was that for?" She didn't have any apparent reason for hitting me.

"That was for showing up early and almost getting yourself killed." Well I suppose she's right. But regardless of the danger… I kinda liked the thrill. "Ok so what did you wanna talk about?' I guess we're getting right down to business.

"Well I kinda wanted to know what my standing was."

Why does she look so… disappointed? "Sorry, Freddie, but I already told you… I won't go on a date with you."

What? She didn't have a problem with it a couple of days ago. "No Wendy. I meant, my standing socially… at school." I certainly hope this doesn't become a thing. I've got enough to deal with as it is.

"Oh." You don't have to sound so relieved. "Well there's good news… and bad news..." Of course there is, "… and some news that I'm not really sure how you'll feel about." Hmm… well that's not vague at all. "Pick your poison." This type of thing is never really easy.

"Umm…" Well, might as well get it outta the way, "Bad news first."

"You got it." What could the good news even be. Maybe all of the jocks got stranded in downtown Seattle. Maybe, something even bigger happened and everyone has forgotten about me. Yeah, right. Like that could ever happen. No use even gettin' my hopes up.

"I've got news that you, Mr. Benson, have become public enemy number one." What nobody's had that spot since, "Thus, becoming the first to hold that spot since Mike Taylor." He wasn't even a nerd.

There is no distinction between the classes when it comes to being an enemy of a particular group. Mike Taylor was the running back for the football team when I was a freshman and he was a junior. Not sure what they did to him, but he ended up transferring all the way to some school in Yakima. "This came as a result of what's going on between me and Sam!" Sam couldn't be that cold blooded… even if she hates me.

"No, it came as a result of what you did to that jock at Gibby's party." Oh… oh no…

"How bad is the damage?" I don't even know why I asked that question. It was bad enough to earn me a special place amongst the hate of the jocks.

With my luck I probably… "He has a broken humerus and a dislocated shoulder." Oh no… no, no, no, no, no. "He's not playin sports again til college." Well, I suppose it's time to look into new homes now. Since graduation is only about a month and a half away, they will probably try to make my life as miserable as possible. This is getting pretty heavy. I can't stave off the whole entire school. "According to my information…" I can't take anymore of this.

"Didn't you say that there was good news!" Oh great. Probably the only person who is willing to help me, and I'm yelling at her, "Sorry Wendy, it's just a lot to try to take in at this point." Ok, she's smiling. I hope that means she understands, "So… Let's try this again. Is there any good news?" That worked out a little better.

"As a matter of fact there is." That is a really nice PearPod, "There has an increase in the number of girls who want to know of your availability." An increase?

"How much of an increase?" Why is she smirking at me?

"The actual number has been about 20 percent." Not bad, "However, I figure there are only a few of them that you would be interested in."

"Why is that?"

"Because, most of the people who have shown an interest are juniors." Oh. "Of the seniors who have asked…" There were seniors? "I figure there are only three or four that are worthy of any serious note." Hmm.

"And who, pray tell, would that be?" I am curious. While this doesn't negate my bad news, it is, still, a welcome distraction.

"Well, there was Tanya Samuels." Hmm. Not really my thing. She has a bad reputation, almost as bad as Kayla's, if not worse than Kayla's. This is something like her second or third year as a senior, and while I no longer follow the outline of the 'Freddie Benson Master Plan' as closely as I used to, it was my mom's plan after all, I'm not sure if she would fit into anybody's plan at this point. "There was also Lisa Preston." Lisa Preston?

"Why is she noteworthy?" the name is familiar but I don't know where I've heard it before.

"She talked to you at the party. She came up about fifteen minutes after Tanya finished talking to you." Wait I don't remember any Lisa. Lisa… Lisa… oh.

Back at the party

"Hey Freddie!" Who is this, now? "Hey Freddie!"Never even seen her before.

"Hey! Listen I'm kind of bu…"

"I know, I know, but I just wanted to talk to you." To me? Why?

"O…k…" I suppose if she went to the trouble of getting up here, I suppose that I could spare a minute or two.

"Great, I ummm… heard what happened… with you and Sam." This again?

"Look, I understand that, for whatever reason you may not like me but could you please not bother me at this moment. There will be plenty of time for that…"

"No, no, no, Freddie. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your whole mess you're in. I know how it feels to have everyone turn on you. The same thing happened to me at my old school, SeaPoint High School." Ok. Well maybe she isn't all bad. "So if you ever need anyone to talk to…" What's with her eyes? Wait. Is she flirting with me? Naw it couldn't be. No one who knows my situation could, possibly, want to be associated with me. "Be sure to give me a call, and don't keep me waiting too long."

The Present

"I remember now." Maybe I should give her a call. "Well, thanks Wendy that, actually made things a little better."

"Glad I could help."

"Wait… didn't you say there were three noteworthy people."

She seems kind of nervous. "Well… that goes into the news that I'm not really sure about." She seems really nervous for some reason.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah… I'm just a little worked up about what I'm about to say."

"Well, you don't have to worry about what I think."

"Oh, I'm not… I'm more worried about the person who the information is about." Well, now I'm extra curious about who else asked about me. "Promise me that you won't tell this person that I told you that they asked me about you." What? "Promise me Freddie!"

"Ok, ok, just calm down." There are only a couple of people that could get her this worked up. "Take a few deep breaths." There's Mrs. Briggs. Never understood it, but she's always been kind of irked by Mrs. Briggs, "You feel better?" And then there's…

"It was Sam." Why would Sam ask about me. What is she planning? Is she trying to find a weakness? No, she knows most of those already. Maybe she's just findin out who is interested in me so she can scare them off as well. That sounds more to the point.

"What did she want?"

"I can't get into specifics. Client confidentiality." Perfect, just plain... perfect. "Freddie… maybe… you should talk to Sam."

"What!"

"Well, I think that maybe you should talk to Sam. She's seemed cold and distant. Every time I've seen her, she seemed… I don't know… closed off." Sam… closed off?

"What are you talkin about?"

"Well when I saw her at Gibby's party she seemed to keep to herself a lot. I didn't get a chance to talk to her, but I did get to observe."

"Why were you watching Sam?"

"Because, after that whole lunchtime fiasco, I've been a little… wary of her." That's understandable. "… but I noticed that she really isn't herself. She's not… as… vibrant as she has been."

"I just don't understand it."

"What's there to understand? She's normally the life of the party. Remember Randy Fisher's party, it was pretty lame until you guys showed up and Sam decided that it would be fun to move the party to the giant hill in the park and have shopping cart races down the hill."

"Yeah, she made me and Gibby steal the cart from 'Hey Food,'… and made me go first."

"Yeah, and at the end of the day, Bobby Johnson had a broken arm, but it was the best time any of had ever had." It really was. I even beat Shane in a cart race.

I almost beat Sam, but she hit me with a stick. "Well this weekend she didn't do anything. She hung around the snack table. She didn't eatl that much… or at all, really. She didn't talk to very many people. Talked to Carly once or twice, but that's it."

I didn't even see her, and I filmed the party. Wait… why are we talking about this? "Actually, what I meant was that I don't understand how I became her favorite target."

"Well, I'm not sure but there be a couple of things that go into that." Her thinking face is weird. Why is she poking her lip out like that, "First, maybe, she can't really get close to anyone. Maybe, everyone who she's ever gotten close to has managed to turn on her without any clear reason. So in order to combat that, everybody else, who gets close to her, has to go through this gauntlet or torture. That way, when they leave she can justify it by saying 'Well I treated them awful… that's why they left'." Is that why she's treated me like crap for the better part of my lifetime? Did she want to get rid of me? "It's better to be abandoned for a reason than to just be abandoned."

She was protecting herself… from me? "The second reason: maybe it's something like a test." A test for what? To see how long before the subject cracks?

"A test for what?"

"Sam knows that she is a tough girl. So anyone that she associates with has to be tough. You know the story of how her and Carly met. Carly fought back and proved that she could be just as tough when she had to be." That actually makes sense. But there is one thing missing.

"I generally haven't ever fought back. Why is she still messing with me? I would've thought that she would just give up on me and leave me alone." Well, more like hoped, but let's not murk this up with details.

There's that weird face again. "I think…" yeah, we can all tell that you're thinkin, "That may be due to the fact that you kept goin' back." That Whole Carly situation has hurt me in more ways than one, "You still haven't proven yourself, but, by returning, you may have given her the impression that you still want to." Prove myself?

I thought that cuffing her to Gibby would've shown her that I was willing to fight back. Why isn't that enough? What more can I do?

I think I'm doing it. This has to be it, because, this is my last ditch effort. "So lemme get this straight. I've chosen to distance myself from her. Now, while it can't be known whether or not she cares, she seems affected by something that's going on. Now, assuming that it is what I'm doing that is affecting her, she could see it one of two ways. One, she could think I'm doing it to get away from her, or, two, she could think that fighting back to earn her approval."

"Yep. Seems that way."

"But there is another problem. Both of those actions have very different consequences. One way, I'm with Sam. Well not with Sam, but, you know, friends again." I would like to be with Sam, but again, probably best not to muddy this up with details. "But the other way…"

"Freddie, it doesn't have to happen that way. Just talk to her." She's makin that face again. I wonder if it varies with the degree of whatever she's thinkin about. "I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that… she still considers you a friend."

That's very different from what she told me. "She cares about you more than she lets on… so maybe you should try to smooth this over… not give in, but reach an agreement… be friends again."

I would like that… I would love that, but at this point, I don't know how any type of negotiations would go. She's volatile and I'm on edge. That type of thing would surely end in an explosion of violence and rage.

But… I think… "Freddie, can I ask you something?" At the end of the day… "Do you feel the same way?"

It would all be worth it. "Yeah… I do"

If we could, all, be: Carly, Sam, and Freddie, again, "I really do." It would be totally worth it.

Now the question is… how can I get there?

Well there you have it.

Not quite sure how I feel about it. It was really long. It feels a lil rough. But my thoughts mean absolutely nothing. Yours, however, mean the world to me. Tell me what you think, even if you hated it… expecially if u hated it. Then I would be able to make it better just for you guys.

Ok, now time for some promotions. First I would like to recommend that you all read Back in Seattle by Pigwiz… It's sure to have you on the edge of your seats… or wherever you're reading from. I would also like to thank Tech-man, Pigwiz, and Axel100. They give me a lot of help and catch a lot of my mistakes. I would also like to put you guys on notice for a new fic about Sam and Freddie having to go six months without arguing… no title yet but you'll know it when you see. So I think that ends my brief stint of promotions.

Thanks for reading my fic. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Review if you'd like. I hope you do. If not thank you for reading anyway.
Until next post or update,
Deuces
KL21