Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: One of the first and possibly only chapters that won't be in either Spencer's, Sasha's, or Carly's focus.

Chapter 21 (Old Friends)

Out of the airport doorways stepped an older man of almost eighty years, but in excellent shape and form. He wore long brown slacks with a corduroy sports jacket and a blue dress shirt. His brown tie was tucked neatly in the folds of his coat and tied in a Windsor knot. A grey beard and moustache framed his thin lips and rose up to his full head of white hair. His blue eyes canvassed the surroundings with grace and confidence and his tall figure commanded attention. He came carrying only a briefcase, nothing more. He was not here for long, but was indeed a man on a mission.

As he spotted the yellow cab with its driver leaning against the side, holding a sign with his name on it, his lips curled into a smile. The driver was a young Indian man with black stubble and a cigar clinging from his fleshy lips. This was not a problem for the man, he was not expecting a flashy driver to greet him as he took his first steps in Seattle. As he walked up to the man, the driver met his eyes with a hasty confusion. "You Travis Carlson?"

"Yes. I'd greatly appreciate it if you took me to the Shoreline Casino." The taxi driver lowered his card and gripped his cigar with his fingers, pulling it from his lips.

"Shoreline Casino is a bit out there, the fare won't be cheap."

"That's fine, I have the money." The driver shrugged and opened the back door for Travis. Travis shifted into the car and waited as the man entered the front and started the drive. He lifted his hands and started brushing his bangs from his face. "I have business there, that's all. Do you have the option of a window between seats? I'd like to make a personal phone call."

"Got it." The driver smacked his lips and pressed a button, causing a glass barrier to rise up from behind the front seats. Travis smiled and pulled out his cell phone, dialing his daughter. Jessica had been very concerned when he told her what he was planning to do, but he reassured her that he was an old, forgotten, retired politician, and he wasn't going to be doing anything wrong.

After a minute, Jessica answered the phone, speaking in a nervous, quickened pace. "You're there? In Seattle?"

"Yes dear, relax. As you know, I found where old Clarence was working, so I just want to talk to him. Surely he remembers me…" He wanted to pay a visit to his grandson, but he was pretty sure Spencer seeing him would be a bad idea for now. Though, he debated whether or not he truly cared. After all, he was old and Ken's son had no children yet, how many more years must he go without seeing his great grandchild before he died? Death was something that, sadly, was always on his mind. "I don't deal with loan sharks, so I'm not paying anything more than a visit."

"I can't believe Spencer would let that poor woman go, look at what trouble it's caused. I'm just glad she and Blake are safe as well, but I still don't feel Spencer and all of them are really safe…I'm worried about them, Dad."

"I know you are, dear. Plus, being so far away and unable to see your grandson can't be a pleasant experience for you." He leaned back and smirked playfully, resting his arm on top of the seats. "I may just pay them a visit myself, steal a peak at my great grandson before you or Ken."

"Not fair! He's my grandson, I should get to see him first…"

"Ah technically you did." If the webcam counted, that was. She didn't get to interact, obviously. They were all shocked when Carly first brought that baby on screen, but it was such a wonderful blessing to know that Spencer had a child. Even if he went about having a kid the wrong way. "I'm impressed, you honestly didn't believe Spencer left Sasha and the baby."

"My son may be a bit irresponsible sometimes, but he's not that daft. I can tell he cares about her, and I believe Spencer would do everything he can to give her, Blake, and Carly a good life. Wish I was around more…damn Robert. I swear, one of these days I'm going to personally chew him out!"

"I think your brother and I would be right behind you there. Your mother too." His wife, Ramone, was still back home taking care of her garden out back. She hadn't been as involved in everything going on as the others had, but she still wanted Spencer to be taken care of. She was grateful that Spencer told Ken about the loan shark, because in this case, Travis was actually the best suited for taking care of the situation. "It's a shame we couldn't find out where Clarence was before yesterday…or get a flight before then."

"Why? What happened yesterday?" Her voice rose with concern and Travis's expression fell flat. Did Ken seriously not tell her yet? Oh wait, he'd forgotten, Carly called him. He smacked his forehead and closed his eyes. "Dad…what happened? Tell me…are my children okay?"

"Yes, they're all fine. Carly called last night in tears, it seems Clarence sent his thugs to her friend's house. They ransacked the place." Jessica gasped. He heard a chair scrape against the floor, indicating her rising quickly from her kitchen chair. "Nothing so bad, except iCarly's become harder for her to do now because Samantha has to move across the city."

"Dad, would you do me a favor and punch that man for me?"

"Now dear, you know that's not how we handle our business."

"I don't care! He's scaring my children, my daughter in law, my grandson, and putting them all in danger. I wish it could be me over there right now."

"That would make things worse." The press would follow her, Robert could find out and potentially threaten some kind of harm, and virtually a number of other things could go wrong. "This is the safest way. Clarence will recognize me and hopefully I can reason with him."

"And if not?"

"Then I'm afraid I will just simply have to pay off the debt owed to him. That's a last resort, but if there's nothing else…so be it."

"Just…be careful Dad…" He smiled and ran his finger along the bottom of his chin hairs, they were soft like cloth, not at all like wires. He was often fascinated with his beard, though his wife would rather him shave it off.

"I'll be fine. I'll talk to you when I'm done here." She said her farewell and he hung up the phone. As he leaned back and gazed out the window, he wondered what he'd do for the rest of the day. His plane ride back to Florida wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, so he had a whole day to just kick back and relax.

Once inside the casino, he didn't have much difficulty figuring out where to find Clarence. He spoke with Sasha over the phone on the plane ride over, but didn't let her in on the fact that he was on his way there. Instead, he just asked her about the loan shark and how she found him, then she simply told him where in the casino he was. When she asked him why he was interested, he replied that it was only interest. He didn't want to worry her or cause Spencer any great worry.

He made his way through the halls of the noisy casino until he reached the very back rooms and one long hallway. At the end of a hallway was a red door and a muscular guard standing watch. He smiled calmly and walked up to the guard, who stared at him with a sneer. "What do you want, old man?"

"I'm here about a loan. Mr. Clayton is inside, correct?"

"Yeah. How do you know of him?"

"Old friends." The guard huffed and opened the door, calling into the room for Clarence. As Travis entered, he saw his old friend sitting at a black desk with a marble top. Clarence was bald, had a white goatee and deep brown eyes, which were gazing up at Travis. The guard closed the door behind him. "Clarence, how are you?"

"Do I know you?" Clarence asked with a quiet sneer.

"Well I suppose we haven't talked in fifty years." He stepped before the desk as the old man raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up. "Travis. Travis Carlson." Clarence's eyes lit up with surprise and his lips parted.

"Travis? I thought you dead, I was so sure you'd die first."

"Lovely…" Travis narrowed his eyes as Clarence chuckled nervously.

"So what brings you here? I can't imagine you're here about a loan?"

"Actually, I am. Perhaps, we can chat over a dinner? Old time's sake." He knew Clarence couldn't possibly resist the offer. Hell, the two of them had been so close, how could he resist an offer to chat up an old friend? "Sure nothing can beat Wall Street's finest, but I'm certain Seattle has some good options."

"Indeed it does, I'll show you around!"

"Certainly." It was not long before they were out at one of Seattle's finest restaurants, the II Bistro on Pike St. They were having a rack of lamb.

"So! Tell me how you're holding up, anything for the man that picked me up and dusted me off after college."

"No problem. You just needed a good push in the right direction, although, I am wondering why you're a loan shark. I can't imagine a man like you would be involved in the business."

"Honestly? I should have retired months ago. I just have this one last client that hasn't paid me back." Travis raised an eyebrow as he watched his old friend take a bite of his food. Just one last client? That was it? "She's a single mother with a baby, but recently moved in with some bum off the streets, so I've heard."

"So you've heard."

"A real tool, my employees might be having a little too much fun with this one, but for what it's worth-"

"Is the money really that important to you, Clarence?" He studied his friend while rubbing his beard. The man seemed very well off, he had to have a good chunk of money. "This isn't just one last 'hurrah' before you leave the illegal business, I hope." Clarence looked to Travis with an old respect, the same admiration he'd had so long ago. "Which again, I can't understand why you'd get involved in the business in the first place."

It wasn't hard to understand. When they were younger, Clarence had just been down out of his luck. He and Travis met in a bar, the man was about ready to give up on the world, but when Travis spoke to him, he helped the man realize that it didn't have to be so hard. He convinced his boss to give him a job on Wall Street and taught him everything he knew about the job.

"Mr. Carlson, you taught me everything that I know about money, about the trade, and I'll always be eternally grateful for that. I suppose I don't have to deal with this last client, I have plenty of money, I normally don't like people thinking I let them off easy…"

"Should it matter, if they're your last client? Come to think of it…have you ever just 'let anyone off', as you say?"

"No. Not even once. I know you're disappointed to hear I'm in the business, a respectable man probably shouldn't be, but I valued myself as a businessman." Clarence rubbed his chin and traced his goatee with his fingers. Travis felt his heart sink as he shook his head with pity and sorrow. "I started out wanting to teach people how to handle money. I was old, I am old now, there aren't any places I can work anymore…but I still wanted to work with money. I couldn't work with the banks, not with them assuming that I'd die off in a few years." Travis meshed his brow and put a steady hand on the table, locking his eyes with his old friend.

"Don't you want to relax in your old age? It's not as bad as it sounds, the golden years, and it's not risky. What if one day you're caught before you can retire, someone goes to the police, you'll spend your remaining years in jail, Clarence. Now is that any way to live your life?" Clarence bowed his head and lifted his shoulders.

"It would be all over if this last client would pay things off."

"What if they can't, is it really worth destroying a family, Clarence?" Clarence lifted his eyes and stared at Travis for several minutes. His eyes softened and his chest expanded with a deep breath of air. Travis smiled slightly and folded his arms over, repeating a line he hadn't said to the man in years. "You know I'm right. You know better."

"Yeah. I hate when you're right, but it's a pride thing. I don't need the client's money, nor do I care if she pays it off. I do just want to retire and live out my final years in luxury…I just…don't see a reason to let my pride down for this one last person."

"Well if it's not doing the right thing, then…" Travis closed his eyes and reached into his sports coat. Clarence watched as he slowly pulled a photo from the coat and set it down on the table. It was a picture that Carly's friend Sam had taken with a digital camera. Carly emailed it to him and he printed the photo out. Clarence's eyes fell onto the photo and his lips fell as he recognized the faces. It was Sasha, sitting on the couch with Blake nestled in her arms, drool on her shoulder. Carly was standing behind the two sleepers and waving at the camera. "This…this is my pride and joy, Clarence. My granddaughter, my granddaughter-in-law, and my great grandchild. I've not seen Blake yet, the baby in that young woman's arms. I hope one day I'll get that opportunity, but who knows if I ever will. I've not seen my grandson, his father, in such a long time. You see, my son-in-law is a bit of a cruel man, but that's not my point…my point is…they deserve to be happy, to be safe. They are poor right now because we're not able, or allowed, to help them. They're living on the streets, they can barely pay their own way, and we're all suffering because they're suffering, Clarence." His heart clenched and his eyes started to glaze over as his old friend continued to stare at the photo, speechless, but teary-eyed. "That baby boy deserves to grow up knowing a happy family. Do you recognize anyone in that photo? Do you…"

"I…Yes…" Clarence slowly looked up and set his silverware down on the plate in front of him. "My client, that woman…she's…your granddaughter?"

"In-law. That child is my great grandson. The girl in that photo is my granddaughter. Her brother, my grandson, is doing everything in his power to take care of them. Recently, my granddaughter's best friend had to move because your 'employees' attacked them in order to find my grandson's family." Clarence moved his hand to his mouth, trembling. "So because your pride is keeping you from retiring early and just…letting this one go…my grandson is forced to suffer from fear, and so much more. If your hired men were to kill them because they can't make payments…to kill that sweet child in that picture…I can't bear to think of what my daughter would do."

"I-I understand, I'll call my men off. I never knew." Travis slowly smiled as Clarence pulled out his phone, he knew the man would see things his way. His cell phone buzzed from a text message and he pulled it from his pocket. It was from Carly. He looked up and saw Clarence frown, no one was picking up. "They're not answering."

"Strange." He clicked the text message and lifted his eyebrows in shock, Carly was saying that the men were sitting outside the house, scoping them out. Sasha wasn't home, they were likely waiting on her. "Clarence. They found my grandson's home…"

"Uh oh."

"Get up." He rose and pulled his wallet from his coat pocket. Clarence winced and rose from his seat as the waiter walked to them. Travis tore the money from his wallet and handed it to the waiter. "That should be sufficient, we're done here. Clarence, keep calling them…we're going to make a special visit and you're calling your men off in person. If anything happens to my family…I don't think I could forgive you for that." Clarence froze and the color quickly fled from his body. He snapped into attention and quickly nodded his head, understanding the gravity of losing his old mentor's respect.

"I understand, I'll talk to them. They texted me the address this morning, they found out where they were of course…not far, so nothing should happen…"

"I should hope so. For your sake." Clarence would be losing a lot more than just respect if something, anything went wrong. He'd be losing his freedom as well, since Travis would personally deliver him to the police. It was now or never, this ended here.

You know, that last line gives me a bit of chills. I can just imagine Travis giving him that serious look as he says "For your sake". Something tells me you don't want to mess with this guy's family. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, looks like Spencer's got a grandpa that isn't afraid to take matters into his own hands.