Not Just Yet, but Almost Chapter 75: Almost There, a make it or break it fanfic

As Kim slid into her seat, the same seat she'd occupied at all the gymnastics events thus far, a familiar feeling settled into her stomach. Half fluttering nerves and half unadulterated pride. Her daughter, was a two time gold medalist and today had a chance for two more. She'd watched the team competition with a lump in her throat, every hundredth of a point possibly meaning the difference between the long sought after gold and a disappointing silver. Payson's flawless uneven bars routine had clinched the gold medal, pushing the Americans a mere 85 hundredths of a point ahead of a phenomenal Chinese team.

The women's individual all-around competition just the day before was the exact opposite. From the moment Payson stepped onto the floor Kim knew that no one would beat her daughter that day. She'd watched in awe as Payson confidently blew the competition out of the water. Four near perfect routines later and Payson was awarded the gold medal, cementing her place in the discussion as one of the greatest gymnasts the sport had ever seen.

Kim looked to her right as saw the Kmetko-Young entourage finding their seats. Both Emily and Lauren would be competing today on the uneven bars and balance beam respectively, both girls with a great chance at an individual medal. She made eye contact with Chloe who smiled brightly, which she returned whole heartedly, but then her gaze met Steve Tanner's and her smile slipped, quickly morphing into an expression of undisguised loathing.

She remembered vividly the day Steve Tanner invited all the parents to watch the French Invitational, deliberately excluding her, completely disregarding the idea that Payson would regain the form she'd lost after her injury. He'd remained a constant thorn in her side in her role as the Rock's manager and his comments just before the start of the team competition had infuriated her to no end. There was no nice way to say it, the man was an ass and she was thrilled that after this week their paths would likely cross rarely, if ever again.

"You ready for this?" Mark asked from her side, lacing his fingers through hers and squeezing gently.

Kim nodded and smiled at him.

Whereas the team and the all-around competitions felt like marathons, the event finals were sprints. Routines lasted no more than ninety seconds and there were only eight qualifiers. In an attempt to draw a larger crowd and to keep the audience interested, London's organizing committee scheduled the uneven bars and balance beam along with two men's events, the parallel bars and pommel horse.

"American gymnastics fans are in for a treat today," Al said, turning towards Elfie and Tim. "There are five athletes competing in the event finals that will start in just a few minutes and each one of them has a chance to medal."

Tim nodded, "More than just a chance, Al. The American team at these Olympics is easily one of the strongest we've had in decades. The women won the gold and the men the silver in the team competition, but now we see what these gymnasts are made of, not just as a team, but as individuals. While of course the big story has been Payson Keeler and her attempt at sweeping the gold medals, you've also got her teammate Kaylie Cruz who won the silver in the all-around and the men went one-two as well, Austin Tucker and Nicky Russo claiming the gold and silver."

"These American athletes are absolutely dominating these games and we'll likely see more of that today, though I imagine the Chinese will have something to say about it," Al said.

"Exactly, Al," Elfie said with a nod. "The American women's team is extremely deep, but the top two competitors from China, Genghi Cho and the new kid on the block,LiJu Cheung, they are just phenomenal and while their scores weren't enough to push back against the Americans in the team competition, they've both qualified for each event final and are both capable of winning gold."

"And on the men's side, Tim?"

"Austin Tucker and Nicky Russo will both be competing today and Al, honestly, there aren't many challengers out there for either of them on these two events. Austin Tucker's parallel bars routine, is the virtual equivalent of Payson's Keelers in difficulty. It is almost the exact replica of the routine performed by his coach, Sasha Beloff, at the Sydney games, where Beloff won four gold medals. Tucker, the all-around champion, is well on his way to matching his coach's total for a single Olympics And Nicky Russo, his pommel horse routine is a wonder to behold, again taking a page out of his coach's book, calculated risk is the key."

"But first will be the women and we'll start out on the uneven bars and if you haven't seen any of the gymnastics competition up until this point, you're in for a treat. The routines we'll see today are some of the most difficult ever performed," Elfie said.

"Okay, so it's time, predictions you two? Whose taking hardware back to the Olympic Village tonight?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, Payson Keeler, Al," Elfie said with a rueful smile. "On these two events, with her level of difficulty and not only that, but the consistency she brings, I don't think it'll be close."

"Elfie is playing it safe," Al said and turned to Tim, "what do you think?"

"I have to agree with Elfie. I'm going with Payson Keeler until she proves me wrong and somehow I don't think that'll happen, but if she blinks there are seven other athletes, her own teammates included looking to snatch one of those golds away from her."

Payson stood on the podium, chalking her grips lightly. She met Emily's eyes across the chalk bowl and together they smiled. She remembered watching Emily two years ago, looking terrified as she prepared to mount the bars in their invitational meet against China, but her friend had persevered back then to a silver medal and the respect of the world.

She watched as the other girls warmed up, waiting her turn, then leaping up onto the bars and running through her high bar to low bar transitions quickly, making sure the timing was perfect. She let her momentum fail and then stepped away to allow Emily her warm up, moving down the stairs into the competitors area to visualize her routine.

Sasha approached her, brow furrowed, "You okay?" he asked, obvious concern in his tone.

"Yeah, fine," she said, tilting her head curiously, "why?"

He shook his head, "Nothing," he said, absently. He turned and watched Emily's warm up and then nodded to himself.

Emily moved down the stairs to join them as the judge's flag went up for the first competitor.

Payson closed her eyes again, running through her entire routine, every handstand, every grip change, the precision timing necessary for releases and as she opened her eyes she realized it was Emily's turn.

"Trust," she whispered to her teammate who nodded and took a deep breath.

"Trust," Emily replied and they knocked fists quickly.

"Go Emily!" Chloe Kmetko-Tanner shouted as Emily climbed the stairs towards the bars.

Kim smiled, clapping loudly as well.

"Yeah, Kmetko," Damon Young, yelled as well, though the general din of the crowd surely drowned out their cheers before they reached the floor.

Becca sighed next to her and Kim rested a hand on her younger daughter's shoulder lightly. Crushes were hard, especially when your crush was a world famous rock star who was already head over heels in love.

"You just gotta shake it off, Little Keeler," Kelly Parker said from Becca's other side. "I bet that Castleton chick is green with envy that you've spent the entire week with him. You just have to play it cool, tell her that you know how much Damon loves Emily and you'd never want to get in the way of that."

Becca turned to the older girl and frowned and Kim couldn't help but join her, "But Damon would never...and besides he's way too old for me."

Kim was relieved to hear that spill from Becca's mouth.

Kelly shrugged, "Yeah, but Lily won't be thinking about it that way. You make it sound like you were the one to make the decision then your cool factor goes through the roof."

Kim's eyebrows shot up. "Isn't that like lying?" Becca asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Kelly snorted, rolling her eyes lightly, "It's improving the truth a little and besides from what Payson told me this girl Lily needs to be brought down a couple of notches."

"She's my best friend," Becca defended.

Kelly smirked, "Exactly."

Kim almost laughed at Kelly Parker giving her daughter lessons on how to survive the world of catty girls. It was something she never had to worry about with Payson who had never cared a bit about those kinds of things, at least not much.

Becca seemed to be considering Kelly's words carefully and Kim felt the need to jump in at this point, "I'm not one for, what did you call it...improving the truth, but in this case we might have to make an exception, Becca. Lily Castleton could use a reality check."

Her younger daughter's eyes flew to hers and they both smiled. So could her mother, she thought to herself. She hadn't really considered the positives of Sasha's relationship with Payson, but one of them was certainly going to be her first meeting with Ivy Castleton, the woman who'd been flirting shamelessly with Sasha since her daughter started at the Rock.

"Here we go, that's LiJu Cheung," Kelly said, nodding towards the floor where the tiny gymnast was preparing to mount the bars.

"How old did they say she was?" Mark asked, turning from his conversation with Marty Walsh who was once again sitting right behind them, frowning at the event program.

"Seventeen," Kelly said to him, rolling her eyes, "fat chance."

"It looks like this is going to be a four girl race for the medals," Al said, "unless we see a huge mistake from our last competitors."

"Exactly, Al. It'll come down to the top two women from China and the United States, which is the way the sport has gone over the last few years."

"Here's LiJu Cheung and she's just so tiny that she can absolutely fly on this event," Elfie said. "But at the same time, her smaller frame is a disadvantage, she sometimes doesn't have the strength necessary to power through to the end of her routine."

"And there's what Elfie was talking about, Al," Tim said, "She gets through her routine beautifully, but as she transitions back up to the high bar to build up momentum for her dismount she just doesn't have enough strength to gain the speed she needs. It was still a good routine, but because of that huge step on her landing that will probably take her out of medal contention."

"Here's Emily Kmetko. She competed all around in the team preliminaries, but since then this is only her second routine and both times she's been on these bars it's with a medal hanging in the balance."

"Emily is taller for an elite gymnast, but I liken her style to Svetlana Khorkina's, elegant lines and gorgeous skills, especially on the uneven bars where she's capable of a very big score."

Sasha watched as Emily swung through her routine, nailing her handstands, her long limbs creating exquisite lines as she moved back and forth between the bars. He moved closer to the bar as she swung into her full twisting Tkachev. He let her swing right past him and then moved off the mat again.

"Good, and now the dismount," he mumbled and then as she released and landed, "Stay!" slipped loudly from his lips as her arms wavered for a moment, before she fully gained her balance and stood tall saluting the judges and then smiling.

"Excellent job," he said as she embraced him tightly. And then suddenly it hit him, when Emily's feet hit the mat here international career had ended. Somehow in all the craziness and confusion of the last few days, the thought hadn't crossed his mind. He wrapped his arms around the girl who'd trusted him all those years ago and allowed him to coach her to this point. "I'm so proud of you," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

They waited for her score and didn't have to wait long, a 16.825. He looked down and smiled. She was in first place with two competitors left. Emily Kmetko was going home a two time Olympic medalist, one gold for certain and the other remained to be seen.

Genghi Cho got the flag from the judges and he watched carefully as she approached the bars. He felt someone move next to him. Looking down he saw it was Payson and he smiled to himself. She was focused, her eyes open but unseeing as she mentally prepared herself for her routine.

His hand went to his chin as Genghi Cho flawlessly executed her skills. The girl was truly phenomenal. He took a deep breath as she swung around the high bar three times before releasing into a double twisting double straight, distinctly not the dismount she had been performing in her routines up to this point. Sasha's eyes flew to Ki Young Tang the Chinese head coach who was already looking at him, his face as usual a mask of non-expression, but Sasha could see it in his eyes.

He heard Payson release a breath next to him, "Someone's upped her game," she mumbled, mostly to herself. Apparently her eyes weren't nearly as unseeing as he'd thought.

Sasha glanced up at the scoreboard as Genghi Cho's score was posted.

1. Cho, Genghi [CHN] - 17.2

2. Kmetko, Emily [USA] - 16.825

3. Cheung, LiJu [CHN] - 16.545

He looked back to Payson, but she was already moving away from him, up the stiars towards the chalk box, preparing to begin.

He inhaled deeply and then blew out the breath quickly, before climbing the stairs as well to adjust the tension in the bars for her.

Payson had scored a 17.2 both in the team finals and during the all-around, but never higher. No one had, it was a record she now shared with Genghi Cho.

"Nothing crazy, Pay," he mumurred as he stepped towards her, where she was waiting for the flag to go up.

She lifted her eyes to his and smiled.

Sasha blinked and when his eyes refocused she was already gone, having gotten the signal from the judges.

This routine was the first they'd redesigned after Istanbul, after they'd foolishly decided to put their relationship on hold until after the Olympics. They'd worked together day and night, some days their visions flowingly seamlessly together, other days their tempers would boil over as they disagreed on a particular point, the passion they were trying so hard to avoid in the private lives spilling into their professional, but this routine had been the result.

Sasha watched as she released and caught the bar after a Comaneci, the skill he'd insisted upon for weeks until she'd given in and done it. She'd been unhappy with the way it broke up the flow of the set, but had come around once she saw what the skill did for her degree of difficulty.

"This is ridiculous, Sasha. You've been on about the artistry of my routines since I came back and this skill completely undermines it," she complained, after she'd successfully executed her routine again. She shook her head, "I've seen the training video we've done and the Gienger fits better."

Sasha ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "Enough, why do you continue to fight me on this? This skill moves your A-score to an eight, Payson! "

She rolled her eyes, "I thought it wasn't about degree of difficulty anymore, it was about telling a story."

He snorted, "Well here's the story you're telling with this routine, love," he shot back. "You're telling the world that they can just call it a day and go home because the routines won't even come close to matching yours. There, is that enough story for you?"

He hadn't realized just how close they'd gotten until the last syllable fell from his lips. His breath was coming in short spurts and as their eyes met he swallowed roughly, feeling her body practically calling to his, drawing him closer. He leaned in slowly and he felt her breath against his lips. Her tongue peaked out quickly, moistening her bottom lip and Sasha felt a surge of lust pulse through his body, but just before their lips met, they both hesitated.

Payson rocked back onto her heels and he took a small step back, avoiding her eyes.

"Fine, you win," she said, moving back towards the chalk box to re-chalk her hands and mount the bars again.

"I win?" he asked in disbelief, not being able to hold back an eye roll as she swung herself up onto the low bar. "Fine, if you want to be a stubborn mule about it, look at it that way. I win and your DOD goes up again."

He watched in silence as she completed the routine perfectly again and then glared at him after she landed.

Sasha shook his mind from the memory as he approached the bar to spot her on the backwards straight one and a half release move. Her hands hit the bar firmly as she swung past him and he moved away, his throat dry as she flew through the rest of her routine. He closed his eyes as she released finally and heard the sharp thwap of her feet hitting the mat and the crowd erupting all around them.

In the next moment she was in his arms, her hands running up into his hair as she kissed him lightly. He pulled away with a small smile, "Not yet," he said.

They moved back down the stairs to wait for her score. Emily stood on one side, Sasha on the other as they waited.

Kim watched Sasha release Payson as the entire arena waited for her score.

She kept her eyes trained on the scoreboard.

"They've got to give it to her," Kelly Parker, the most unlikely of Payson's friends mumbled.

"C'mon, c'mon," Mark begged from her left, grasping her hand in a death grip.

The crowd was restless around them, humming in anticipation.

"What is taking so long?" Becca asked, though it wasn't taking any longer than usual.

"She did it," Marty said, finally and Kim realized she'd been looking at the wrong section of the scoreboard as the crowd began screaming in response to the judge's posting.

Women's Uneven Bars - Final Standings

1. Keeler, Payson [USA] - 17.245

2. Cho, Genghi [CHN] - 17.200

3. Kmetko, Emily [USA] - 16.825

"Yeah!" Kim shouted, leaping to her feet and applauding wildly.

"Woo!" Chloe Kmetko-Tanner screamed, "Yeah, Emily! Yeah, Payson!"

Mark's arms came around her as she embraced the man who'd believed, even when she was unable to, that their daughter would return to this point, that her dreams weren't dead.

Kim felt the prick of tears filling her eyes and she pulled away, breathing deeply, "Okay, gotta pull ourselves together, she's got another one of these in a half hour." She wiped under her eyes quickly., though she felt more tears falling despite herself.

"And there's another gold medal for Payson Keeler," Al Trautwig said, awe very clearly in his voice. "I can't help but feel that no matter what the competition throws at her she's always going to find a way to just be a little bit better."

Tim nodded, "I have to agree, Al. Genghi Cho completed what was likely the best bars set of her career, absolutely incredible all the way through, but Payson just calmly stepped up and delivered a routine that was simply better."

"Incredible," Al said. "Moving on now, to the men's side, we have an exciting even coming up. Like the women compete on a set of bars, so do the men and here come the athletes that will compete on the parallel bars in just a few minutes."

Payson's heart was still racing as they retreated back to the locker room while the men competed on the p-bars. She quickly moved to the corner where there was a television set up and flicked on the competition, wanting to watch Austin win his gold.

She was confident that he'd nail this routine. It was fait accompli, as far as she was concerned.

"Great job, Pay," she heard from just behind her and saw Lauren moving towards her from the door. They hugged quickly and she smiled. "Still going to have to settle for silver on beam though."

They laughed together, as Emily moved their way as well. They all sat on one of the benches watching as the parallel bars routine began.

"Austin's got this in the bag," Payson said, almost to herself.

"You think so?" Emily asked, "I was watching Nicky during podium training and he looked pretty good."

Payson shrugged, "We'll see."

She leaned back on her hands and let her body relax. As she did, suddenly, a fatigue she hadn't even felt building began to wash through her. She shook her head and before she could move towards the far end of the locker room to grab a banana, one was being held out in front of her.

"Eat," Sasha's voice echoed from behind her.

"How did you know?" she asked, turning around to face him.

He shrugged, "I could just tell. Eat it and then grab a Gatorade. You need to refuel. Line up is in twenty minutes," he said, nodding towards the clock on the wall.

They managed to watch most of the p-bars routines before she and Lauren had to line up for their march into the arena.

They could hear the crowd cheering from their place just outside the gate that led into the arena, but it was impossible to see anything.

An usher flew past them. "Who won?" Lauren shouted to his retreating back.

"Austin Tucker!" he responded over his shoulder.

Payson smiled and then it only grew as the men marched off the competition floor right past them. She was near the front of the line, having qualified with a relatively low score and so she was the first to see Austin's head sticking up over the rest of the competitors.

They embraced quickly, "Congratulations. I'm so proud of you!" she mumbled into his neck.

"You too," he said, "now go win another one."

She laughed as he released her and their line began to move forward back into the arena.

They were announced to the crowd one by one and at the loud reception that followed her name Payson smiled brightly and waved with both arms in the air. Because their team strategy had her performing a relatively safe routine during qualifying, her score had been third from the bottom of the eight qualifiers.

They took their warm ups quickly and Payson watched as a gymnast from Brazil and then one from Italy performed solid routines, but without the difficulty necessary to medal.

She moved up the stairs almost mechanically, realizing belatedly that she hadn't visualized her routine beforehand as was her wont. She chalked her hands and feet lightly,allowing the powder to soak up any moisture and she closed her eyes briefly, seeing her mount in her mind, fast forwarding through her routine to the double flic-flac, full twisting layout and then to her dismount, the Keeler as it would be called beginning next year. She turned to face the judges just as the flag went up and raising her arms in the air, she began.

"It's not the best we've seen from Payson Keeler," Tim said, "but that was still pretty phenomenal. There were a couple of balance checks and a slight wobble on her full twisting layout, but other than that, I still didn't see much room for the judge's to deduct."

"This will be an unfamiliar place for her though, sitting and waiting for everyone else to compete to see if she's won," Elfie said.

"And there's her score, a 16.8."

"Like I said, not up to the standard she set during the all-around, but still a very, very good score. However, she may have left the door open for the likes of Genghi Cho, LiJu Cheung and her own teammate Lauren Tanner. All of those young ladies are capable of a score like that."

Payson hugged Lauren and then Sasha before sitting in a chair and leaning back up against the wall. Her eyes slid closed. Every limb suddenly felt extraordinarily heavy and despite the loud music in the background between competitors and the ever present crowd noise, she could actually feel herself drifting into a half conscious state.

She shook herself and opened her eyes as the crowd let out a particularly raucous reaction. She saw Lauren moving up towards the beam, Sasha setting up the springboard for her front tuck mount and then standing off to the side to move it out of the way as soon as she was on the beam.

She stood and moved next to Sasha as they watched the routine. Payson swallowed. "Yeah, Lauren," she cheered as her friend nailed her aerial series. She took a steadying breath however as she realized it could all be slipping away right now. She bit her lip as Lauren dismounted the beam, saluting the judges and then waving to the crowd.

"Great job!" Payson said, smiling genuinely.

Lauren hugged her, "Thanks, Pay," she said pulling back and then hugged her again. Payson shook her head at the oddly emotional Lauren. Then the realization hit her. That was the final routine of Lauren's career. Having two more event finals after this, Payson hadn't given much thought to the end, which was quickly approaching.

The fear of losing the gold medal was gone in an instant and she was immediately rooting for Lauren to score above her, to have one last victory before it was over. They stood together, shoulder to shoulder and then it went up...

Tanner, Lauren [USA] - 16.775

Payson's jaw dropped, "They're kidding right? Lo, you were robbed, you were better than me today."

Lauren shook her head and laughed. "Easy there, Mama Bear," she joked.

"I'm not kidding," Payson said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Lauren smiled, "I know you're not."

Payson fumed inwardly and it wasn't until Sasha's hand found her shoulder and massaged lightly that she calmed a little. "Relax, love," he said, softly. "Lauren was better, but her DOD wasn't, simple mathematics. That's what it comes down to." She nodded and took a deep breath as they watched Genghi Cho move through her routine solidly, but Payson barely noticed.

Lauren squeezed her hand as Cho's score went up.

1. Keeler, Payson [USA] - 16.800

2. Cho, Genghi [CHN] - 16.795

3. Tanner, Lauren [USA] - 16.775

Payson blinked and squeezed Lauren's hand right back. As it stood now, they would both medal. She looked up and saw LiJu Cheung walked towards the beam and she couldn't believe what she was seeing, the younger girl's hands were actually shaking. Her head titled and she squinted to try and get a closer look.

They watched as the tiny girl mounted the beam and looking unsure of herself and that spelled disaster as soon as she went into her first leap. Her foot landed half on the beam, half off it, and no amount of arming waving or compensating could keep her on the four inches.

Payson and Lauren looked at each other, neither wanting to show too much emotion. They last thing they needed in their press conference later was to be asked why they were celebrating a competitor's fall from an apparatus, but that clinched it, they were the bronze and gold medalists on beam.

"Payson, how does it feel? You're now a four time Olympic gold medalist."

Payson tilted her head and smiled sweetly at the reporter, "It feels great," she said, allowing her tone to take on that which one would use when speaking to a small child. The rest of the room laughed a little at her slightly sarcastic reply.

"Lauren congratulations on your bronze. What are your plans now that the competition is over for you?" another reporter asked.

"Chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate and sleeping past six in the morning," Lauren joked, smiling brightly.

"Payson," a reporter called out, not waiting for the press officer to acknolwedge him. "Payson, what do you say to critics who say that your coach and your fiance deliberately kept your Rock teammates degree of difficulties lower in order to pave the way for your victory?"

Payson blinked at the audacious question and found herself at a complete loss for words. She opened her mouth to respond and then closed it again, knowing she shouldn't say what she was thinking aloud.

Lauren, however, cut in, glaring at the reporter, "I think I'll answer that. Even if Sasha had tried to do that, which he never would, my teammates and I, including Payson, would never have allowed it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a complete idiot."

Payson finally found her voice, but the reporter interrupted, "Then you might be interested in know, that this particular critic was your father, Miss Tanner."

Lauren laughed it off, "My father is very competitive and sometimes he lets that get the best of him. I can't imagine he actually believes it," she said, but Payson could tell that she was fuming inside.

"I think that does it for you two," the press officer said and ushered them off the podium, back into the tunnel.

Payson took a deep steadily breath as they saw their families waiting for them and cringed as she saw Steve Tanner among them.

"I can't believe you!" Lauren shouted, everyone around them falling silent. "I won an Olympic medal today. I went out there and hit a phenomenal beam routine and all you had to say about it was that Sasha and Payson cheated?" she shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"Steve!" Chloe said, her jaw dropping.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? He's been favoring her since she got hurt! I mean have you even seen today's papers, they're pictures are plastered all over the cover, again," he said, holding up a copy of The Sun, a picture from the other night splayed across the front page. Payson was dressed in the outfit Kelly had picked out, looking very much not like herself. They were dancing in the picture, their bodies pressed together closely, Sasha's mouth at her neck, her head thrown back, his hand pressed rather obviously against her bum, gripping it tightly. "Obviously he's been more than compensated for the extra attention."

Payson watched in horror as Sasha took three strides from where he'd been standing just off to the side, hauled back and landed a solid, cracking right hook to Steve Tanner's jaw.

"Sasha!" she cried out, but he was leaning over speaking in a dangerously low tone to Lauren's father as he bent over reeling from the contact.

She moved towards him and gently put a hand on her arm.

Security converged at that moment, looking around at the group suspiciously, "Everything alright here?" one of the guards asked.

They were silent for a moment until, "Everything's fine," Chloe said, glaring at her husband, but placing a comforting hand on his back. "Just a little accident," she insisted. Steve raised his head and nodded to the guards who, seeing that further incident seemed unlikely, took them at their word.

Payson turned to her mother and father, embracing them both quickly and then hugging Becca tightly. "Guys, I know we said we'd go to dinner, but..."

Her mom nodded and Payson immediately felt relieved. "You look exhausted honey, go back and get some rest."

Sasha appeared at her shoulder again as everyone began to move their separate ways. "You shouldn't have done that," she chastised lightly, not really meaning it, his arm went around her waist, pulling her into his side as they moved down the hallway.

"He's had it coming for a while," Sasha said, flexing his hand against her hip. "C'mon, we're going back to the Village and you, love, you are going to get some rest."

"Mmm," she agreed, resting her head against his shoulder.

The Olympic Village was nearly empty at this point. Many of the athletes were well on their way home by now, others were competing and others were out celebrating the manifold accomplishments of the last two weeks.

Sasha nodded to their security guard as they entered the elevator and moved up to their floor. Payson was practically asleep, still huddled against his side.

"C'mon love," he said, as the doors opened on their floor.

"So tired," she mumbled, "you were right."

He laughed softly, "About what?" he asked, as he unlocked her door and led her towards her bed.

"This took a lot more out of me that I realized. Maybe we shouldn't have had sex," she said, as she sat down on her bed, slipping off her sneakers and removing her warmup jacket. She lay down on her stomach and he climbed over her, keeping his weight on his knees and began to massage her back lightly.

He chuckled at her logic, "I think we made the right decision, love, especially the time in my office," he murmured against her ear.

She laughed into the pillow, "That was amazing," she said, and then moaned softly as he found a knot in between her shoulder blades. "I can't believe we made the papers again."

"Shh," he hushed her, "don't think about it, love. You won two more gold medals today, think about that." He brushed his mouth against the skin of her neck lightly, just a small caress, nothing more. "You were fantastic today and I love you."

"Love you too," she said, as his hands lulled her to sleep.

As soon as her breathing became deep and even, Sasha shifted from above her, wrapped his body around hers and fell asleep.