Disclaimer: Sometimes I forget, but, yep, I don't own anything.

A/N: HELLO, FANDOM! So, if you haven't heard, I'm crazy and I've challenged myself to do as many Christmas oneshots as I can for this month. I'll be doing a variety of ships, sometimes not even ships, just character-specific, some serious and sweet, others pure crack, canon and even my personal AU. Consider this my Christmas gift to y'all.

Summary: "Two lonely old men walk into a bar on Christmas…" "Hey. Watch who you're calling old, Belov." Sasha/Marty Bromance

-BB-

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

1

Though they'd all rather not, snow makes them all think of Marty, back to a time where they weren't Sasha Belov's Rock Rebels, just little girls in leos with big, faraway dreams.

"It's snowing! First snowfall of winter!" Marty would shout around the same time every December. Usually he yells at the girls about bent elbows or gossiping when they should be in the middle of conditioning, but around Christmastime his voice would take on a strange, almost childlike tone. "Everyone, take ten! It's snowing!"

Kaylie and Lauren jump for joy and readily abandon whatever they're working on in favor of scurrying off to grab their coats and sweats. Knowing Lauren, it's whatever designer wear her daddy is using to buy her love this month and knowing Kaylie—pink. Definitely pink. Marty smiles at the two thirteen-year-old best friends, bursting with excitement over something not related to gymnastics. Sometimes they all just need the reminder that essentially, they're just kids.

"I'm going to make you eat snow, Russo."

"Shut up, Carter."

The curly-haired teen laughs arrogantly and shoves the younger gymnast right into Marty. The coach has a curse at the back of his throat, but manages to repress it and settle for shouting, "Watch it, Russo!"

Usually quiet and extremely focused Nicky Russo gives a nervous laugh and rakes his fingers through his dark hair that sticks up in a constant state of disarray. Carter laughs, wrapping a scarf around his neck and continuing out the door without a care. Nicky remains there, embarrassed and nervously shifting from side to side. "Sorry, sir," he says meekly.

Marty's irritation quickly flees and he waves him off, watching the promising gymnast quickly turn and join the rest of the gym in going outside. As Marty slides on his thick coat and fastens the zipper, he notices Kim Keeler standing a little way off from the beam where Payson remains, feet firmly planted on the beam. She makes it clear she thinks everyone else is being silly and disregards Marty's direction. It's just like her to undermine his authority.

"Payson Keeler, that was an order," Marty says playfully. He walks closer to the beam and Kim wishes him luck getting through to her. "Payson, it's snowing. Snow is literally falling from the sky. Outside. Now. How do I make myself any clearer?"

"So, it's falling," Payson says, clearly uninterested. "This is Colorado. It'll probably still be snowing in February. Marty, Kelly Parker is a Junior International Elite and we're the same age! If I even want to test for Elite I need to nail this."

"Understood," Marty says. "But fifteen minutes to ooh and awe at the snow with your friends and your favorite coach isn't going to ruin your career. Trust me, Payson."

She doesn't look at him, doesn't budge and so Marty takes it into his own hands. He grabs the blonde gymnast around the knees and throws her over his shoulder before heading to the door. Despite Payson's demands to be put down and her referring to him as a "disrespectful caveman", Marty carries her out of there with a smiling Kim following after them, trying to put Payson's sweats and shoes on her before they venture out in the cold.

Outside, the sky is overcast, gray clouds as far as the eye can see. Little white snowflakes flutter down from the sky, little by little, but increasing by the minute. Classy, crystal iced Christmas lights are strung up around the outside of the Rock and ropes of red and blue decorate a few of the surrounding trees. All lit up and with the falling snow, it feels so much like Christmas. Magical even.

Marty finally sets Payson down on the sidewalk when she has her sweats and shoes on. The blonde gymnast gives her coach a sour look as her mom wraps a parka tight around her. Ignoring her, Marty smiles at everything around him and especially the glee of the young gymnasts, twirling around the parking lot, excitedly chattering away with their friends and marveling at the sight of their breath in front of their faces.

"See, Payson, aren't you glad I dragged you out here?" Marty asks. He can't help it if he sounds just a little smug.

"I still don't see the point of this," she answers promptly.

But Marty sees the way Payson smiles when Kaylie comes over and steals her away, going over to where Lauren giggles, watching Carter try to catch snowflakes on the tip of his tongue. Marty lets them enjoy the moment long enough for him to sing Frosty the Snowman in his head before he puts on his coach-voice and shouts for all of them to get back to the grind.

-BB-

Present

Marty knows it's sad, a grown man spending Christmas in a bar, but it could be worse. He could be in a strip club.

"Two lonely old men walk into a bar on Christmas…"

"Hey. Watch who you're calling old, Belov." Smiling gently, Marty sips his scotch before looking over his shoulder and finding Sasha. The man with the short, blonde hair and just the perfect amount of scruff clasps a hand on Marty's shoulder and shakes him slightly before taking the barstool to his left. "Can't believe you actually showed. Shouldn't you be at midnight mass with Summer right about now, literally sweating like a whore in church?"

"I think you're mistaking me for Steve Tanner, which I find deeply offensive, I'll have you know," Sasha cheekily replies. He rubs his hands together and looks around Marty at how the bar is completely empty other than the two former gymnasts, current coaches. "Where's the bartender?"

"With his wife and newborn. I told him I'd lock up when we're done," Marty explains. "It's self-serve for the rest of the night."

"Luckily, I know my way around a bar," Sasha says. He shrugs off his jacket, folds it neatly and lets it hang over the edge of the wooden bar. Rubbing his hands together, Sasha makes his way behind the bar. "Sorry I was late. I came here straight from Christmas dinner with the Keelers."

Marty grunts and takes another sip from his glass. He remembers when he would get invitations to Christmas dinner at the Keeler house. Not so much anymore.

"How's Payson?" Marty asks urgently. He can't help himself whenever he's around Belov. The curious pertaining to who his former protégés have become is always at the front of his mind. He nearly had a heart attack, watching the televised Worlds. Marty couldn't be any more proud, watching Kelly completely dominate the uneven bars (just like he coached her to, obviously) and the other girls following her lead.

"You know Payson. She's a quick healer and you can never keep her out of the gym for too long," Sasha says. He has his back to Marty, looking at the liquor bottles that line the bar shelves, but Marty notices his smile in the reflective back wall of the bar. "Honestly, I don't know anyone who wants or deserves it more."

Nodding, Marty lifts his glass. "I'll drink to that."

Marty and Sasha never considered each other friends even though they've known each other since they were young, idealistic gymnasts themselves. The media always made them out to be these big rivals and that's essentially what they were up until making peace after their last run at the Olympics. Even after retirement, they weren't really friends, not like how they are now.

They only started hanging out in bars and the Denver fight club when Marty approached him, enraged over the rumors about Sasha and Payson having some secret affair. Marty punched him right in the face and though it was mostly over defending Payson, a girl Marty's known ever since she was a little girl (and moved from Minnesota to train specifically with him) but also it was a little payback after the last time Sasha punched him in front of everyone at the Rock.

There was shouting and shoving, adrenalin and testosterone through the roof, but one look at Sasha and Marty could tell the rumors weren't true. He could tell that Sasha cared too much about Payson to exploit her like that, respected her too much and was too much of a gentleman and a professional. Once things settled, Marty asked if he wanted to go get drunk and Sasha murmured a, "what the hell," and they ended up in the very same bar they're spending Christmas in right now.

"So how was your Christmas?" Sasha inquires. He pushes the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows and inspects the label of a nicely aged brandy. "Don't tell me you've been sitting here all night. It's Christmas for Christ's sake."

"Nah. Though that doesn't sound half bad compared to where I really was. My presence was requested at some snazzy dinner party one of the Denver Elite parents hosted. Because that's what they do. Beals. Sheila. All them. No sitting around, watching A Christmas Story in pajamas with the family. Instead, they dress their prized gymnasts children up and play Best in Show," Marty says bitterly. "I saw Nicky Russo, though. In town visiting his dad. Catching up wasn't so bad."

Sasha nods, replacing the brandy and reaching for a bottle on one of the higher shelves. "I tend to be harsh and critical more so with the men, being a former gymnast myself, seeing them try to do what I once did. You know what that's like." Marty nods and finishes his drink. "But I'll admit, I noticed him at Worlds. He had a good run."

Marty laughs, reaching over for one of the nozzles and filling a glass with whatever's on draft. "What do they say about never know what you have till it's gone?"

"Indeed," Sasha agrees. "So Dallas suits him, does it?"

"Seems so," Marty answers. Even if it pained him, losing Nicky and gaining Carter, it is the truth. He takes a big gulp of his beer, a nice transition between hards. "I think he's dating Kelly Parker."

Sasha spins around with a rich laugh that makes Marty groan. "Nicky Russo and Kelly Parker? Talk about an odd couple. Well, that's unexpected."

"Yeah, laugh it up," Marty says gruffly. "I don't think it's serious. Lord knows all of Denver would feel the backlash if the Momager had any idea. I'm betting they took the cue from Kaylie and Austin Tucker. Good job letting that escalate, Belov."

Sasha's laughter fades as he sets down two shot glasses and pours. "What a year it's been, huh? Emily got pregnant, left the sport." Marty feels his chest clench. Emily Kmetko, his YMCA discovery, the dark horse game-changer, now reduced to teen mom. The reminder makes Marty drink even faster. "Not to mention the media's fascination with KayAus." Marty grunts again. What the hell kinda name is that? "Next thing you know, Lauren will be engaged. The No Dating rule was supposed to take care of all this, but apparently, they just see rules as a challenge."

"Like we didn't do the same back in the day," Marty murmurs. This little nostalgia expression takes over the Romanian man's face and it makes Marty smirk a little. A couple drinks and the reserved Sasha Belov will be spilling all his secrets in no time. Of this Marty is sure.

"I do worry about Kaylie though," Sasha confesses. "As much as I like Austin, them dating, I don't like it any more than you do. Out of rehab, straight to Worlds, straight into a romantic relationship. No doubt Kaylie's stronger than she used to be, but it's all a bit much, a bit fast if you ask me."

Marty chuckles. "Bet if Alex Cruz had hair he'd be pulling it out right about now. Has that weird goatee thing of his turned gray yet? I bet he dyes it. That's what he does."

Though he shakes his head in disapproval, Sasha laughs, amused. He pushes a shot glass towards his friend. "Merry Christmas, Walsh."

Glancing over at the bottle, Marty smiles. It's what they drank at the end of their last Olympics together. There's something incredibly endearing about his careful choice in liquor and especially how Sasha tries to play it off like he doesn't even realize. "Yeah. Merry Christmas to you too, Belov."

When Sasha lifts the glass to his mouth, Marty suddenly shouts, "Hold on!"

Sasha murmurs incoherently to show his annoyance, but Marty doesn't really give a fuck and quickly stands. He has to pause a moment to wait for the room to stop spinning, but then makes his way to the jukebox. Sasha grows impatient and tosses back the shot without him, quickly refilling his glass as Marty slides loose change from his coat pocket into the old-school musical relic.

He's met with crushing disappointment when he sees they don't have Frosty the Snowman ("What kind of piece of shit jukebox doesn't play ol' Frosty during Christmas!") and settles on Frank Sinatra's Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow! When he makes it back to the bar, the two men cling glasses before drowning themselves in liquid fire.

Two lonely old men walk into a bar and drink till they're good and sloppy, delving back into stories of the old days and of how gymnastics used to be, as snow continues to cover the city outside.

A/N: I've wanted to do something with the Sasha/Marty bromance ever since the Denver Exhibition where Kelly told Payson that Marty was the only one who knew where Sasha was. And the throwback to when everyone was younger was cute, right? What'd you think?

Things to look forward to: Possibly a look at the girls' individual fav./least fav. Christmas memories, Razor visiting Damon and Emily in Vegas for Christmas, Paystin and mistletoe, NickKelAus throwbacks, some Nickelly (obvi-freaking-ously), Damon/Kaylie, Lauren/Razor. Whatever randomly comes to me.

Contributions: I want this to be like HUGE and DIVERSE ship-wise so if you want to write a Christmas-related oneshot to add to this lil' collection, PM me! I'm totally getting LCTD to join. Specifically, if you're totally badass at writing ships I don't usually write (*cough* Sasha/Payson, KayAus *cough*) and want a part in this, I'd love that!

Who's as excited for Christmas as I am? Oh, and no promises, but any requests for what I should write next? Tell me in a review.

Xoxo