Paternal Bonds Shattered

Disclaimer: Do I need to say it? I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 32 (It is Time)

Jonah drove to pick his daughter up from school, she was attending Index Elementary and was now in fifth grade. Her teacher was actually Vanessa, who'd gotten her teaching degree in elementary education. She sometimes got teased for having an aunt who taught her, but most of the kids didn't really care. Her aunt Veronica had become a model for some perfume company while Victoria was starting to finish up her college year. She was aiming to be an art teacher at high school level.

At school, Rachel called Vanessa by Miss Williams, as proper. Vanessa hadn't been married yet, but was engaged to a man who treated her as the world. She didn't really want to get married without Valerie there, but like the rest of the family, she was starting to see how there might not be any way to avoid it. Valerie was missing so much, it was depressing for everyone. Only one of Valerie's grandparents was still alive, the others having passed during her captivity. Her favorite grandfather passed away and Valerie never got the chance to be with him.

Rachel looked up as Vanessa dismissed her class. She sat there until everyone left, just watching Vanessa stare sadly out the window. Rachel walked over to Vanessa and took her hand, causing the woman to smile. "It's okay. Daddy says he's going to bring mommy back one day." Rachel still had nightmares sometimes, dreaming that her mom was being attacked by the bad man. Jonah always wished desperately that he could tell her they were just dreams. While they were, Valerie was most likely being attacked by Jeremy. He hated it, he hated him, he wanted to take Jeremy and tear him limb from limb.

"It's been so long. How much of your mother do you remember that we haven't told you about?" She remembered a lot, she thought. She remembered her mother being kind, loving, and seemingly carefree. She wanted to remember her mother forever, but was scared of losing her memory. She knew that when people got older, it was harder to recall certain memories, and that was true. There were some parts of her time with her mom that she couldn't remember. She didn't want to forget her mom. The thought of forgetting her terrified her on a daily basis, but she had to continue to have the faith she'd see her mother again one day.

Jonah walked into the classroom and smiled at his daughter, he was always happy to see her so close to her aunts. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "Rachel sweetheart, it's time to go home. I hate to tear you from your favorite aunt, but we have to get you back." Rachel and Vanessa turned to Jonah and smiled. Rachel quickly ran to him and threw her arms around his legs.

"Daddy!" Rachel looked over as two of her fellow classmates entered the room, they were her friends Hank and Lilly. "Hank! Lilly!"

"We were looking for you Rachel," Lilly said as she hurried over to her best friend. Jonah laughed as he looked over to Vanessa. He had something he needed to talk to her about, but didn't want Rachel to hear it.

"Rachel, you can go play with your friends for a little while."

"I can?" Rachel asked with a wide grin. Jonah nodded and she cheered as she ran out of the classroom with her two friends. Jonah sighed and walked up to the desk, leaning against it.

"What's going on?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"It seems the Seattle Police have made an arrest yesterday. A man who worked at a local ice cream shop…he confessed to having 'shot' Ms. Puckett and being involved in Sam's kidnapping." Vanessa smiled sadly and nodded, any news towards solving Sam's kidnapping was great, because it was another step closer to seeing Valerie. "They also…found a body…"

"What?" This was the part he didn't want Rachel to know, because chances were likely she knew who this person was. Derek had been devastated when his grandmother told him. Jonah breathed in as Vanessa started to become fearful. She, like the rest of the family, was always prepared for the worst.

"They found the skeletal remains of a five year old male. It was proven that he was Sam's firstborn son, his DNA matched up with both his brother and his grandmother."

"Oh my god, no…" Vanessa cupped her mouth and closed her eyes. How could anyone be so cruel? They all thought it was Hector, nobody even remotely suspected it to be Jeremy. However, Valerie's family and Jonah easily suspected him, since they had experience in dealing with just how wrathful he could really be.

"It seems also that Sam has another child, a little girl, which Freddie's named Angie. She was dumped in the same location as this boy…his maid found her."

"Oh god." She sighed with relief and closed her eyes, thank god Angie would be safe. Derek was actually not in school today, as Amy had to take care of him when she told him about Adam. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't, yet he was too distraught to go to school. Vanessa had wondered why he hadn't been in class. "So, what happens now?"

"I don't know. Freddie's been in touch with his father, surprisingly enough. I'm wondering if Freddie's going to try and find Sam. If so, I want in." Vanessa was sure Jonah would be helpful to Freddie. After all, Jonah was pretty good at protecting people. Plus, he was one of the best weapons specialists in Seattle. If he couldn't be of benefit, then who could? Suddenly, Jonah's phone started ringing, it was Carly's ringtone. He raised his eyebrows and sighed, he had to take the call, considering she often had important news for him. "Hello Carly…"

"Jonah, you need to come to California immediately!" Carly shouted aggravatingly. Jonah raised his eyebrow, wondering why Carly was so panicked. "We need to prepare."

"What are you talking about?"

"Freddie's pissed, he's gone off with Jake and Henry. We need to be ready in case something goes wrong." Jonah frowned and narrowed his eyes, he saw where this was going. What had happened to anger Freddie, though? Wasn't he usually calm and mild-mannered? "Someone put up a video of Sam, and now he's after Hector."

"So you guys believe me now?"

"We always believed you, but Freddie just wanted to investigate him. Now there's proof. You need to come here, and bring some weapons. If Freddie needs us, he's going to call us. Something tells me that he's going to need us."

"Okay. So what about Cara?" Cara was with her father, it was best for publicity reasons that no one knew about her or about her father. That saved Carly from the paparazzi.

"She's with her father. Do you have someone to watch over Rachel?"

"Yeah, someone can take her right now. I'll be in California soon…" His heart was pumping now, he was on a mission. He would save Valerie. Finally, the last Williams would be free, it was time. Vanessa raised her eyebrow as Jonah hung up his phone. "Vanessa, I need you to gather up everyone in your family and stay in the house. Take Rachel with you, along with my family. If anything should happen, you need to be together."

"What's going on?" Vanessa asked as Jonah slowly looked up to her. Rachel ran into the classroom with her two friends and stopped when she saw how serious her father looked. Jonah opened his eyes and stared into Vanessa's eyes.

"It's time."

And here we go.