Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 22 (The Arrest)

Sasha ran inside the home in a panic, she'd seen Mr. Clayton's men outside the house. Their car, really. She didn't have time to grab James from next door, she had to get Carly and Blake out of the house. She was returning home from her job searching and just placed an application in at Wendy's, McDonalds, and a couple other burger joints. Spencer was out as well, both of them had taken the bus together, then went separate ways to look for jobs. What this meant was, Carly and Blake were by themselves, and it was events like this that she was afraid of.

She heard the men talking and quickly scanned the living room, they hadn't trashed the house yet. The men were coming from Carly's bedroom, from the sound of it. Martin was the one talking, the slightly older man with the chin length hair, Randy was the stubbly, greasy looking man that always wore a cap that was covered in black grime. Carly's voice rang out, pleading with the two men to leave her family alone.

Adrenaline shot through Sasha as she roared through the house, trying her best to protect her young. Once she reached the bedroom, she saw Carly backed up against the far wall, with Blake looking confused and dangling in her arms. Randy was going through Carly's desk drawers as Martin had a pistol pointed directly at her. "No!" Sasha cupped her hands over her mouth and the two men looked back at her with surprised expressions. Carly's eyes widened and Blake reached out, calling for his mom.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Martin remarked with a sly grin. He spun towards her and held his hands up to the sides, chuckling sinisterly. "It's about damned time you show your face. Now, do you have the money?" She clenched her jaw and looked over to Carly, her heart was going a mile a minute, assaulting her ribcage and organs. Sweat was pouring down her body and fear scorched her. "I assume you don't have the money, but maybe we could…cut a deal." A deal? What deal could they make? Could it keep them away from hurting Carly or Blake?

"Just leave them alone, please. I'll do anything…don't hurt my son or Carly."

Randy looked over as Martin slowly licked his lips. "Well, I do appreciate a woman that begs. So, if you'd like to lie down…" A shiver of disgust ran along her spine and she quickly shook her head, she knew what he was implying, and there was no way she was going to do that. She couldn't traumatize anyone like that. Carly's eyes couldn't possibly get any larger, but somehow, they did.

"No, I won't do that." The man rolled his eyes and Randy stared at him skeptically.

"Uh, we really shouldn't do that kind of stuff anyway, Martin…"

"Shut up, Randy." Martin stepped in front of Sasha and slowly cupped his hand around her neck. She gasped and the fear inside started to spike, but she froze. She wanted to run, she wanted to fight, but she just couldn't move! She felt the hot gun press against her stomach and began shaking. "Last chance. Since you don't have the money, we're offering a deal. Take it or leave it, basically. Think about it, what would you do for your son over there?" She whimpered and moved her eyes to Carly and Blake. Carly was terrified, and Blake still looked unsure about what was happening.

"Mommy?" Blake continued reaching out, crying for his mother. "Momma!" His cries struck her heart. She wanted to reach out and hold onto him, but she feared if she moved this man would shoot her. "Momma!" She tried to speak, but fear clouded her voice and choked her. Her eyes brimmed with tears and Randy moved over to put his hand on Martin's shoulder.

"Come on Martin, not in front of the kid. You want to traumatize the baby for life?" Martin rolled his eyes and stared at Sasha. She stared right back, praying that he would hear his coworker and not do anything to her. Suddenly the front door clicked and she quickly looked over, her heart stopped in her chest. Was Spencer home? She wanted to call for him, or at least tell him to run, she didn't want anything happening to him either. Randy and Martin looked to the doorway, then at each other. Martin narrowed his eyes and released Sasha.

"Who's there!" He barked. Taking this moment of freedom, Sasha didn't hesitate to run past the two men. She practically leapt across the room, grabbing Blake in her arms and pulling him close to her chest. She stood beside Carly and looked up as Martin and Randy turned towards them. "And look who decided to get brave." He cocked his gun and aimed it towards the trio. "Big mistake."

"No, the big mistake would be shooting," someone said from behind. Martin and Randy froze and Sasha's heart leapt to her chest. The two men turned to face Clarence and Travis, their boss was the one speaking. "Put the gun down, Martin." Sasha's eyes grew large and Carly brought her hands to her mouth.

"But Mr. Clayton, she's not paying-"

"She doesn't need to pay a dime. She owes me nothing." The two men looked at each other, confused. "She's the granddaughter-in-law of an old friend, so she owes me no debt. My loan went to her as a friend to a friend, so withdraw your gun." Martin frowned and slowly pushed his gun back into his belt. Relief pooled inside Sasha and she quickly snuggled Blake closer, refusing to let him go. "You two really do act more like common street thugs…" He turned to Travis and breathed in. "What would you have me do with them?"

"I believe there's a police officer living next door," Travis replied in a quiet voice. "My family's safe Clarence, you can go, but I want these two in prison for what they've done." Martin's eyes grew large and Randy slowly clenched his fists. They looked at Clarence for help, but he merely turned his backs to them.

"I understand." They heard someone shout from the living room and Sasha quickly lifted her head, it was Spencer. Blake turned his head from his mom's breast and reached out with one arm.

"Dada!"

"They're in Carly's room!" Spencer spoke, but to who? Within seconds, Spencer and James were running into the room. James was in full uniform, which meant only one thing, he was on duty. Sasha smiled when she met Spencer's eyes. "Sasha! Blake! Carly!" Sasha and Carly ran over to him and he hugged them. Blake reached up and moved his arms around Spencer's neck. James looked at the men and raised an eyebrow as he reached for his handcuffs.

"Okay so what's going on?"

"Arrest those two," Clarence said while pointing to Martin and Randy. They bowed their heads as Clarence turned his eyes to the family, finally safe. His eyes grew heavy and sad as he looked to Travis. "I'm sorry old friend…" Travis raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you mean well, but…I'm just as guilty as those two men. I…" Clarence walked over to the two men and Travis lowered his arms carefully. Sasha saw Spencer staring at Travis, studying him. She wasn't too sure who he was, but he looked like someone that she'd seen in one of Spencer's photo albums from when he was a child. "Officer. You'll have to arrest me too, I am their boss, and I will confess to my crimes."

"So easily, Clarence?" Clarence closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head.

"I'm an old man, I don't have many years ahead of me. I've lived a life of comfort off of tearing other families apart, destroying homes, taking lives…I don't deserve to live my final years in that same comfort." He opened his eyes and met Travis's soft gaze with a small smile. "Thank you old friend, for opening my eyes today." He turned around to James and puffed his chest out proudly. "I'm ready to go officer." James slowly nodded and pulled his radio up to his lips.

"Officer James Greene requesting backup. 1512, 17th Avenue. Residential neighborhood, we have a break in and three criminals giving themselves up for arrest." Martin and Randy stared at their boss, but were at a loss for words. Clarence merely kept his head bowed, not speaking a word to anyone and keeping his gaze from Travis. All that was left to do was wait, the police would be there shortly to cart them away. He took a deep breath as James clicked the handcuffs onto Martin, the dangerous one. Thus began their lives in prison.

Well, not much to say to this chapter, but for you, you can let me know what you think