Paternal Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. I keep it simple.

A/N: Thoughts in "Italics" and regular speech in "Regular font." Only applied if in quotes.

A/N: By the way, everybody is 26 in this story, except Spencer who would be older. I doubt he'll be mentioned much. Please read this regardless of their age. It will all make sense, I promise. They have to be this old in the story.

Chapter 17 (Safe In His Arms)

Sam's eyes were wide with near disbelief as she looked at Freddie, she couldn't believe he had finally found her. She looked around to see Carly, Spencer, Mrs. Briggs and Amy. She saw Jonah, Valerie, Henry, Della and Jake walk up behind that group and her lip trembled. She took a slow step forward, thankful to Valerie for the food earlier, it gave her the strength to actually get up and move around. She took another step and then broke into a rushed pace, she ran into Freddie's arms, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug and she buried her face into his chest. Now the tears came to her eyes, but they were not the same tears that she cried once before when she first left, they were tears of joy and happiness. Those tears were still bittersweet though, she was sad over what her father had done to her. She ignored the smell of smoke in Freddie's clothing, she didn't even care that when Carly blew the door in, it came within one foot of her head.

"It's okay, you're safe now," Freddie said in a calm and soothing voice. "I have you, you're protected, I won't let anything more happen to you." Sam continued to cry and Freddie ran his hand through her hair. "Nothing will ever come close to you again." Sam sniffed and looked up into Freddie's eyes.

"I thought you'd hate me after I left like that."

"I could never and have never hated you, not once did I hate you." Sam wrapped her arms around Freddie's neck and he wiped her tears away. She looked at everyone who was there, Carly was wounded as well as Freddie. Spencer seemed to be greatly wounded but still strong enough to stand, Mrs. Briggs was even wounded, Amy had been shot too but it was nothing serious. Henry, Della and Jake managed to make it without any wounds. Valerie's clothing was torn slightly and Jonah was dirty.

"Everyone here…"

"Everyone here came to save you. There would have been a lot more people but not everyone was needed. I have two people taking care of Angie right now, which is your daughter."

"She's alive, thank god…But, what's with all the weapons?"

"This is how determined we were to get you out of here alive, it's a good thing too, Nevel and Gibby seemed to have weapons."

"Jeremy had a bazooka," Jonah said with a sigh. "But no worries there, we got out of that perfectly unscathed."

"Thank you so much for everything," Sam said quietly. "You've been through so much…for me."

"We love you, that's why we went through it all," Freddie said as he placed his finger under Sam's chin and tilted it up. "Even Mrs. Briggs came to get you, just goes to show just how important you were to her." Sam looked over at Mrs. Briggs and saw her nod and smile. "I still have a few promises to fulfill as well, if you'll let me."

"What promises are those, Freddie?" Freddie smiled and held Sam closely.

"Do you trust me to take care of you and never let another soul hurt you again?" Sam nodded slowly, there was no question of that, even at this moment she felt safe in his strong arms. This was the first in ten years that she felt safe and protected in another man's arms and it was the very man she longed for. "Then if you remember my promise from ten years ago, that when you turned eighteen, I was going to take you as my wife. Well, we're twenty six now and there's a beautiful girl that I promised to bring her mother back. There's also a friend who I promised that I would start a family with someone that I loved. Well, Sam…I still love you more than life itself and I also love Angie as though she were my own child. I would love nothing more than to have you as my wife and be a dad to Angie."

"I love the name you chose for her," Sam said quietly. "She should have that name…I've waited so long to be with you, now that I am with you, I never want to leave your arms. I want nothing more than to be with you for the rest of my life, I love you Freddie."

"So I'll take that as a yes then." Freddie smirked and he brought his lips to Sam's. Sam's eyes were wide at first and she slowly closed them and let the warmth and electricity of the kiss flow through her body. It sparked sensations that she hadn't felt in so long. If she could describe Freddie's kiss, she may have described the feeling as warm, soft, protective and strong. It was gentle and something that she didn't want to ever end. For the first time in ten years she felt light and she didn't mind Freddie's embrace. She trusted him completely and knew that he would never do anything to her, it was other men that she was uncomfortable around and fearful of. Freddie started to lift his head up but Sam held his head down so she could take the kiss in fully and enjoy it.

"I hate to ruin a good moment, but we have to leave," Mrs. Briggs said quickly. "We don't know when Hector will show up and if he does, we don't need to be here. We also should get everyone cleaned up and back home." Freddie lifted his head up and Sam rested her hands on his shoulder.

"She's right, I think there's a hotel the pilot of my plane knows, the manager is friendly and I've met him before. He'll let us borrow a room to get cleaned up, there's also a few nurses there who will help fix and bandage any wounds. Let's go there and we can all get reacquainted."

"Yeah, I'm up for that," Sam said with a smile.

"Why don't we take a hero's leave," Carly said with a grin. Freddie and Sam looked at Carly with raised eyebrows. "What? You know the hero's leave, or I guess Sam can walk on her own." Freddie smirked and placed his other arm under Sam's knees, she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her.

"A hero's exit it is," Freddie stated. "As per request of the actress, you don't mind, do you?"

"I don't mind at all," Sam said quietly. She lifted her head and kissed Freddie's lips. "I will never tire of kissing you."

"Well that's good, I won't ever tire of your kisses either." Freddie and Sam looked over at Mrs. Briggs, she was carrying her briefcase. "I've been wondering, what's the point of that?"

"This?" Mrs. Briggs asked as she lifted the briefcase. She grinned and chuckled. "This is Hector's homecoming present. I'm going to bring the house down, literally. Hector will come home to a pile of rubble and ash."

"Ooh, but he'll be ruined! All his money is in this house, some in the bank and some in the stock market." Freddie smirked and narrowed his eyes. "How deserving for him, it is such a fitting punishment until we see him again. I'll deny him the right of death for now, but the next we meet, if he still desires to create harm, I will make sure his death is fitting and perhaps slow."

"So then you'll allow the destruction of this mansion, boss?"

"Don't call me boss, it makes me sound old, but yeah, I'll allow it." Mrs. Briggs grinned and set the briefcase on the ground. "This is a large bomb, the shakings of that bazooka earlier have weakened the place already, this will destroy everything. I will set it to twenty minutes, which leaves us plenty of time to leave." Mrs. Briggs set the time on the bomb and everybody started to walk away. Sam kept her arms around Freddie's neck and she rested her head on his chest.

"I love you, Freddie," Sam said quietly.

"I love you, Sam." Freddie smiled and softly kissed Sam's forehead. The group exited the mansion and found the pilot of the jet leaning against it with a grin on his face.

"Good to see you out here, Mr. Benson," The pilot. "Is this the beautiful Samantha Puckett?" Though it was very subtle, Sam tightened her grip around Freddie, he recognized this from when Angie did it. Freddie smiled and nodded toward the man.

"Yes, but she's been through a lot of trauma, please don't mind if she does not wish to talk to you, as you understand, she will have a little trouble dealing with most men."

"That's very understandable, I am still glad for the safety of…the future Mrs. Benson?"

"Yes, that's right. Thank you for your sentiments and concerns." The pilot nodded as he entered the plane and walked to the cockpit. The group walked into the plane and sat down in some seats, the pilot knew he'd be flying to his hotel so he immediately got started. Freddie had set Sam in a chair next to the window and sat down next to her. He pointed out the window and grinned. "Sam, watch as your prison is erased from the face of this earth." Sam nodded and looked out the window as the plane lifted off the ground, it started to fly off and everyone watched as flames burst from the mansion's windows. The plane flew from the scene as the large mansion crumbled to the ground and fell to rubble, Sam's prison was no more.

There's the chapter, and they are out of there! Hope you liked it, and the sort of symbolic ending. Sam will have some trust issues, but she will still, if not eventually, be back to her usual Sam-like self!