Trifecta

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 13 (A Decision to be Made)

Sam stepped out of the bathroom with her red bathrobe. After putting her hair up in a ponytail, she took a seat on the hotel bed and pulled her laptop onto her lap. When she opened it, the computer turned on from sleep mode. Skype was open and flashing yellow, so she checked to see who sent her a message.

"Missed call from Cat...ten minutes ago." She hit he call button and closed her robe further once the camera light turned on. Cat answered after three buzzes. "Hey Cat, what's up? I was taking a bath…"

"Just wanted to know if you got to Seattle safely. Sounds like you did." Cat leaned forward and scrunched her nose. "Looks like a nice bed you've got there. Must be a great hotel."

"Would you believe only half of the budget is paying for this? Freddie took care of the rest." She didn't exactly want him to do so, but he insisted. Cat rolled her head to the right, then let her head fall onto the bed. "What?"

"Sam, do you remember when we fought?" She was trying to forget about the fight over Freddie, and Robbie. Cat lifted her head and looked to Sam with great disapproval. "I lied to him and told him you'd been hurt, and yes he came in calling for you. All it took was for me to say he was cute…"

She moved her hand to her chest, rubbing it as her heart's pounding began to ache. "Yeah, but maybe by that time he figured I wasn't in any danger. I mean, if I were seriously hurt, even he knows how upset you would be." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Regardless, I want to give him a chance. He says he's changed, and I still have feelings for him…"

"I don't want to see you hurt, pretty sure Carly doesn't want to see you hurt. No one wants to see the next person you run into after being hurt." The right side of her bottom lip tucked beneath her teeth and she shrugged her shoulders. "If this is what you want, okay, but I'd be careful. If you put your heart on the line for someone like that."

"The thing is I still-" She took a deep breath and turned her eyes to the door. "I still care about him. I'm scared out of my mind, but I have to give him a chance. If he-" She looked up to the ceiling and held her breath. "No, I don't even want to think about that possibility."

"Is Carly online? Put her on, I want to know what she'd say about this."

"Come on-"

"Well you go on about how dense and clueless I am sometimes, so I imagine she's smarter. Maybe I'm missing something that she doesn't. Not to mention, she's known both of you a lot longer than I have. She's a better judge." Sam added Carly to the conversation with brief hesitancy.

Carly's face popped up in a dark room lit only by the amber light of a lamp. She had her hair wrapped under a towel and was wearing a light blue robe. "It is ten-thirty at night, and you're adding me into a group conversation?"

"Sorry, Cat made me."

Carly's lip was positioned in a straight line and her eyebrows were arched in small humps. She lifted her hand and waved her fingers at the camera. "Hi Cat."

"Sam and I are discussing Freddie's issue of fidelity and her willingness to give him a chance." Cat's left eyebrow fell and her right seemed to arch higher. "I just want to hear your opinion."

"Nobody else has a right to judge," Sam defended. "Show concern, yes, but it's my decision to make. I still l-care about him and I want to give him another chance. It scares me, but I feel like I need to do this."

"Okay." Carly had been holding a book. She set it to the side and removed her towel, letting her hair fall around her neck and shoulders. "So what's the problem?" Cat rolled her eyes and threw her hand up in the air.

"Freddie's a gigolo! He's only going to hurt her, Fabio would be less of a womanizer!"

Carly rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, sighing heavily. "I hear you, Cat. You have a point, but Sam's right too. This isn't your place or mine to judge. As friends we can only be there at the end, no matter how it turns out."

"Thank you." Sam shifted towards the right and looked towards Carly's camera screen. "So what do you think, Carly?"

"It doesn't matter what I think."

"I just want your opinion." Carly narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly, putting strong emphasis on each word.

"The last thing I want is to influence you."

"You won't." She would consider and value Carly's opinion, but her decision would be her own. It was exhausting to think about, and the whole thing felt like a battle that she just wanted to be over.

"Then let me ask you this, Sam." She held her breath as Carly smacked her lips. Cat remained quiet and held a manner of respect in her eyes. "No more dancing around the subject. How do you feel about him? You say you want to give him another chance, so do you want to be with him? Do you love him?"

"I don't know about love, but if there's a chance for love to foster and grow…I do want to be with him, I still care very deeply for him."

"Can you look past the baggage?" Sam lowered her hands to the comforter on the bed and grasped it firmly. "I know it's something you need to think about, but if you're going to start a relationship with him again, you need to be able to look past his mistakes."

"Old mistakes yes, but we'll need to work through things."

"I know a big part of you is afraid of being alone, being like your mother was, and I just want to know that this getting back together with Freddie isn't about that. That if you're wanting it, you're wanting it because it's how you really feel in your heart. I can't tell you what to do, and neither can Cat."

"Yeah that's right," Cat replied. Cat looked away momentarily and shrugged her shoulders. "We'll be here for you no matter what, though." Her heart jumped up as the redhead turned back and gave her a smile. "And maybe Freddie really is different, who knows, maybe he'll be a real man this time around." Carly smirked and nodded once.

"Neither of us know the future, so we don't know how it's going to end up. We don't know how Freddie's going to be, so we can't tell you what to do-we don't even know what's in your heart or his. Only you do."

"Thanks. It's just been stressful lately with everything going on. I know I told you about Ms. Benson…" Carly frowned and Cat nodded, Freddie had of course given her the okay to let them know what was going on with his mom. "Then there's this thing with Nora, she's escaped, and now Freddie thinks Gibby's got some ties with her."

Carly's hand cupped over her mouth and her eyebrows shot up. "Oh my god. Gibby? That can't be!"

"I want to think that too, but when I first got here and ran into him…" She reached up to her neck and curled her fingers around the edge of her robe. "It felt like he was trying to strangle me."

"You want me to fly over? I can catch a flight out tomorrow morning if I have to."

"No don't. If Nora becomes a threat, she'll go after you. Even Freddie says you might be safest on that base." She was tempted to agree that Nora would go after her or Freddie first, and Carly last. "What I want to know, is if Gibby has anything to do with Nora-why and how. I mean he's the one that saved us the first time, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, that's what would throw me off. If Nora truly has allied with him, maybe it's to get close to one of us?"

"Well that wouldn't work with me, because apparently he hates me." It also wouldn't work with Carly, for obvious reasons. As the realization dawned on her, fear shot through her like wildfire. Her hand moved to her chest and her eyes widened. "Oh my god…"

"What?"

"Gibby's closest to Freddie-Nora's going after him first! I have to call him!"

"Sam-" She closed the laptop and raced to her luggage bag. Her heart began to race as she dug through the luggage, tearing out an article of clothing. When she had her clothes, she rushed to her phone.

Once she grabbed it, the phone ripped out its loud ringtone, causing her to jump out of her skin. She answered and was relieved to hear Freddie's voice. The caller ID didn't detect his number though, despite her already having him in her phone's address book. "Freddie, you're alright." She moved her hand to her chest and closed her eyes.

"Sam, I was wondering if you were okay."

"Yes, yes." She listened carefully for background noises, but heard nothing. He was speaking calmly, which relieved her. "I was just getting ready to call you."

"Really? You were? What's going on?"

"I was um…talking to Carly and Cat." Sam tucked her hair behind her ear and walked in front of the window, gazing out at the street below. "About us. I wanted their opinion."

"You've given us some more thought, then?" She turned around and leaned back against the window, closing her eyes.

"Yes. I think-" Her breath stuck in her throat and she closed her eyes, listening to her heart's endless pounding. "We need to put our past behind us. I'm willing to give you that chance."

"I am happy to hear that."

She opened her eyes and held her breath, startled with how easily it came out. Coming from him, she expected more immature cheering. "Freddie, I need to warn you about something. I think Nora may be using Gibby to get to you, Gibby is closest to you…so that means you're likely to trust him."

Freddie let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have even bothered investigating this. It was pointless." Sam stepped forward, concerned by Freddie's sudden, strange behavior. "Here I thought they were planning to go after Carly first. They had this helicopter Nevel hijacked and was working on an invention to keep it undetected."

"Holy shit…"

"Sam. They got me." Her heat stopped and she instantly glanced to the door, ready to run out and find him if she had to. "Nevel and Gibby had been working for Nora since she and her parents kidnapped us the second time."

"That…doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that? Nevel I can understand, but-never mind that right now, where are you? Where are they holding you?"

"Sam. No. It's too dangerous."

"I don't care! I'm going to get you out of there." She rushed for the door, leaving her purse behind. "Where are you?"

"Warehouse on Smith. You can't miss it."

"Okay, hang in there. I'm coming for you." She hung up the phone and ran for the elevator, pushing someone aside so as not to run into them. "I'm sorry! It's an emergency." She couldn't let them get away with this. When she found Nora, it was going to take a lot of willpower not to tear that bitch's head clear off her shoulders.

So...question. Who here honestly thinks Freddie would tell Sam where he was if he was caught? Much less if Nora, Gibby and Nevel would even give him a chance to call anybody. Well, Cat and Carly had some good things to say, that's for sure.