Chapter 23: Someday I'll be living in the big city and all you'll ever be is mean

She'd made the Olympic team, she and her teammates had been through more than most people would in a life time to get to where they were and now it was about to be ruined because one bitter woman didn't have the decency to back off and leave them alone. Emily's head felt like it would explode. She wanted to not care, to shake off Ellen's conduct and not care whether the whole world knew about James. It's not like she was ashamed. She was proud that she'd managed to fight and come back. But she couldn't shake the feeling of dread of everyone talking behind their backs about her. And she didn't want her teammates to be worrying about her. With a sense of trepidation she went into the shared lounge between their rooms.

Her teammates were all there. Kaylie had her arms crossed, looking at the ceiling, she looked tired. Rosa was sitting in a corner texting, Emily felt sorry for the younger girl. She had every right to be celebrating – she'd just won trials but now she was stuck here to deal with all the drama. And Kelly and Payson looked like they were talking seriously about something but looked up when Emily walked in. Kelly stood up "Em – we're going to sort this out. That bitch is not going to get away with playing mind games! She's going to be so sorry she ever messed with us."

Emily smiled at her friend. If she was going into a fight, she'd choose Kelly Parker to be at her back. "Thanks KP but I'm ok really. And you guys should be out celebrating, this is my problem."

Payson shook her head "we're a team. Trying to hurt one of us is hurting all of us. We're not going to stand by and let her do this!" Rosa and Kaylie fiercely nodded their assent.

Emily loved Payson and the others to bits, she really did. But sometimes they were naive, they didn't get how rough the world could be sometimes. Sometimes you got dealt an unfair hand by someone and you just had to deal. Chloe's experience with her father and Bryan's accident were perfect examples. "Guys I don't think there's anything we can do. I'm just going to have to deal with this." She gave a tight smile "I'm going to be fine." She lied.

Payson glared "this is crap! I know we'll just hide you from the media, whenever you get asked a question and if she goes to the papers anyway we'll just deny everything."

Emily hugged her friend tightly. "You're amazing Pay, but that won't work." Suddenly Emily realised that this wouldn't just harm her publicity, it would make Sasha look bad too, not to mention Damon's reputation being torn to shreds. Kelly and Payson would probably get fewer endorsements from their association with her and poor Summer and James – she wouldn't put it past Ellen to bring them into it as well. She sighed "can we just do something quiet. I don't want to think right now."

"Pride and prejudice? The BBC version?" Payson suggested while Rosa and Kaylie squealed their agreement and Kelly rolled her eyes. Her teammates were hopeless romantics, all of them.

Emily grinned "well if Colin Firth can't take my mind off this, nothing can."

XXX

Damon had seen Ellen's tacky attempt to bring Emily down on TV. He wanted to run over to the hotel straight away but Chloe had convinced him to wait "she needs to be with her team for a bit Damon. I know it's hard to accept but they need to talk. It's one of the downfalls of being close to an Olympian" she said sadly. She'd always felt a tiny bit hurt when she'd never been allowed near Emily during meets, or directly after. But she guessed that the girls were almost family to each other. Damon nodded and gave Chloe a brief hug before going back to his room. He kicked his shoes off and instinctively reached for his acoustic, hoping that a hard practice would block out his frustration but it was fruitless. He was too angry. He hated Ellen and he hated even more that he couldn't do anything about it. He roughly put his guitar in its case and turned the TV on. He channel surfed for a while until his phone rang, Damon picked it up eagerly, thinking it would be Emily but it wasn't a number he recognised.

"Hello, Damon speaking."

"Damon, how are you?"

"Walter? Is Mum ok? What happened?" There could only be one reason why his stepfather would ring.

"Fine, fine. I just was wondering if you were still with that Emily Kmetko girl. I just saw her make the Olympic team. Bloody brilliant work. Those gymnasts are tough."

Trust Walker, he couldn't care less about how he was doing but he would love to be able to brag that he was in some way connected to an Olympian. "Yeah Walter we're still together."

"Good, and she sorted out her problem with her court date? The judge called me after, saying that her coach didn't want the date changed or something."

So that's what happened. Damon almost swore under his breath. He'd been mad at Walter because he thought he'd stabbed him (and Emily) in the back, but no: Ellen had tried to ruin Emily's life. Again. "Wow I didn't realise she did that. Emily did have a bit of a rough patch but she's worked through it. Actually Walter could I ask you a huge favour? Well it's more for Emily really."

"Shoot" Walter said, intrigued. Being a corporate lawyer was well and good but it could be a bit dry at times so he revelled in anything a bit different.

Damon explained the situation "is there any way we can prevent her from going to the media?"

There was a short pause "I'll do my best. I think I can come up with a few things, from what you've said it sounds like she's messed around with a few girls already. Do you and Emily want to come and listen and watch? I've got a reversible mirror in one of my offices. It looks like a mirror on one side and a window on the other."

Damon grinned "I'd love to. I'll give you Ellen's contact details."

"Fantastic. And Damon?"

"Yeah"

"Your mother recently bought your new album. Your mother and I are very proud of you."

"Thanks Walter." Damon said stiffly, though he couldn't help grinning after he'd hung up. He'd waited for years to hear those words.

XXX

Maybe she could ask Damon to go swimming in a white shirt Emily mused as she and the other girls watched Colin Firth emerge from the lake. It sent shivers down her spine everytime. They were interrupted from their fantasising when Damon burst into the room.

"Em! I've just spoken to Walter, he thinks he can sort Ellen out!" He said then realised what they were watching. "Pride and Prejudice? That's your way of celebrating after you make the Olympic team?"

Kelly reluctantly paused the DVD. "Go sort your man out Em, and teach him some taste. Damon, P + P is a classic if you can't appreciate it, you have issues."

"She's right" Rosa said, surprising everyone including herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth "sorry Damon, I just really like this story." Rosa was more than a bit intimidated by the older girls and she idolised Damon Young.

Damon chuckled "well I might have to read the book sometime Rosa, if you like it so much." He felt sorry for the 15 year old. "Em – come on!"

Emily rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's excitement. She'd forgotten how passionate he could be about things. She followed him out into the hall. "So fill me in."

He told her about how Walter had tried to change her court date but Ellen had screwed it up and about how he thought he could somehow stop Ellen from going to the press. Emily smiled at how happy he seemed. She often forgot how hard his childhood had been. Losing his dad and sister in a car accident had taken its toll on both Damon and his mother, they each hated themselves for still being alive and then when Claire moved on and married Walter, tweenage Damon found it impossible to handle: especially Walter's high expectations of him.

"So are you okay with this? I think it's our best bet. I don't want you distracted during the games, and I'm all for Ellen being dragged down a peg or two."

Emily smiled and took Damon's hands in hers "I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course" Damon said nervously. In his experience when girls said that sentence, it was never good.

"I am so happy for Walter to talk to Ellen, but I think you, or we, should tell Claire and Walter about James. Maybe even introduce them to him if Summer agrees."

"No" Damon said automatically without thinking. Memories of his childhood hurt too much that he instantly tried to block them out. "We don't have that sort of relationship."

Emily nodded, she had mixed feelings about what she'd do if her father ever decided to reappear. "Well it's your decision obviously but try to think of it from their perspective. He's their only grandchild."

Damon nodded. "I'll think about it."

XXX

The girls had weaselled out Emily what Damon's plan was so instead of just Emily and Damon looking in on Walter and Ellen, the other Rock girls, Darby and Sasha were coming too. After training of course. Emily, Pay, Rosa, Kaylie and Kelly were excited as they entered the Rock for their first Olympic training. That excitement soon turned to apprehension as they saw the look on Sasha's face.

"You're late. Practice starts at 7 am sharp. I expect you to be half an hour early from now on. 100 push ups each for your apathetic attitudes" he said calmly. Too calmly. Emily swore, she should have known that making the team would mean working harder. She had been so focused on just getting through nationals and trials that she'd given next to no thought about how hard training would actually be. Sasha made them do conditioning, with weights strapped to them. This bit killed Emily, she was the least strong of the girls but she gritted her teeth and thought of herself on the podium in London.

Once they'd finished their conditioning members of the NGO came to observe the training. The lower level Rock gymnasts came too, but they trained at the other end of the gym. They still watched the girls in awe whenever they could though. The Rock had become even more famous since it produced four of the five Olympians and many of the girls bragged about being friends with the elites. It was cute.

After conditioning the girls trained their events for half an hour each. Then they had a break and then did a mock prelims line up and finally they warmed down. It was gruelling but they were all together motivating each other further. Sasha also made them watch each other's routines and cheer each other on. He needed this team to be completely bonded, there was no way there was going to be a repeat of worlds. Finally have gave the words they'd been waiting to hear "good job. I'm all proud of you. There are improvements to be made but you all did well." He posted the team prelims line up and finals line up based on the practice on the whiteboard. He hated doing it but the NGO insisted and his girls were tough enough not to let it get to them.

The Olympians were stretching in a circle when there was a bit of commotion among the level 9 and 10s. Payson looked up – Lauren was here! The blonde girl was wearing jeans and t-shirt. Unusually, her face was free of makeup and she looked tired but not tense or stressed. Sasha looked up and beamed. He walked briskly over to her, brushing past the younger gymnasts gawping awkwardly. Pay, Emily, Kaylie and Kelly followed behind him quickly.

"Welcome back Tanner." Sasha said quietly and Lauren smiled shyly and hugged him.

Payson then remembered what Sasha had said two years ago, something that she'd always remember. She looked around the faces of the younger gymnasts "girls, a champion has returned, show me how you welcome back a champion!"

The level 9s and 10s took a couple of seconds and then burst into cheers. The parents, sitting in the parents' viewing area also stood up and clapped. Sasha looked at Payson. He was so proud of her.

Lauren grinned and gave a mock bow. "Thanks ladies, now I believe we have an appointment with the lovely Miss Beals?"

Sasha laughed and directed his elites to shower then meet him in the foyer. He motioned for Lauren to sit on a bench next to him. "I admire you for coming into the gym."

Lauren nodded "it was hard, but I want to show my support. I mean if I can't go to London, at least my best friends can."

Sasha smiled, amazed at how far this kid had come. "Well said, Tanner. What have you been up to?"

"You mean in the last 48 hours?"

Sasha laughed "wow, it feels so much longer!"

"A lot of nothing. Dad and I looked at wedding photos yesterday and visited her grave. We cried a lot and then I had a bowl of ice cream." Lauren paused "I'm going to be ok Sasha. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not even sure I want to retire, I mean I know I'm 19 but I think there's more I can do. But at the moment Dad and I are just getting to know each other again."

Sasha put an arm around her shoulder "if you decide not to retire, I'd be honoured to continue to coach you."

Lauren smiled "I wouldn't settle for anyone else."

Kelly, leading the rest of the Rock girls marched over to them. "Ready to see Ellen get it once and for all?"

"Easy Kel, we don't know what's going to happen yet." Emily said nervously. She hoped Walter had some watertight way of keeping Ellen quiet. She smiled as Kaylie gave her a quick hug.

Sasha cringed as Kaylie put Lady Gaga on full volume in his truck. "Child you really need to listen to some Ramones or Rolling Stones, heck I'd even settle for Guns n Roses." Sasha joked and Kaylie just poked her tongue out at him, making Sasha chuckle, he sometimes forgot just how young his athletes were. They picked up Damon and then went to Walter's offices. They were plush and had an air of business about them, much like the gym. A lot of hard work happened here.

Walter smiled as the five girls, Sasha and Damon converged on his office. He shook all their hands "It seems Ms Beals has made herself unpopular. I pity her, you seem like a formidable bunch." She said smiling at each of them. Like most lawyers he'd had to fight hard to get where he was today and he admired hard work above all else. "Now if you come through here you'll see this room seems like a window, but from the other side it's a mirror." They all nodded their understanding. Walter's associate gave them some tea and then they waited.

They made themselves comfortable, it was fairly squashed, the viewing room was small and there were a lot of them. It got even more uncomfortable when Darby joined them. She mumbled an apology before sitting down next to Emily. Sasha frowned. Darby was fastidious about punctuality and this was weird. She looked distracted too, Sasha made a mental note to check in with her, more for Emily's sake than anything else. He didn't want his athlete distracted. After a couple of minutes Ellen entered, she looked jaded as she shook Walter's hand.

"What can I do for you Mr Davidson?" She said pompously. Never having been to varsity, Ellen was inherently nervous around professionals. She was jealous.

"Just a few things Ellen. I have a client who would prefer it if you did not go to the media or any public forum regarding any members of the Olympic gymnastics team."

Ellen's eyes widened in surprise but she kept her cool. "Mr Davidson, I don't see how you can control this in any way."

Walter smiled. He could be a prick. And sometimes, not often, he enjoyed being one. "I beg to differ. If you could look through these please" he handed Ellen a thick wad of papers.

He watched smugly as Ellen's face paled as she began to read. "This is a quick summary of the criminal proceedings you will likely face if the police discover your interference with an athlete's drug testing, the claims the NGO will have against you as a breach of your employment agreement that states you are to uphold confidentiality about the athletes, the summary proceedings you'll likely face in London for breaching their special regulations in place for the Olympics, namely disturbing the peace. Finally you'll probably have a defamation action brought against you by the Kmetko family."

Ellen paled. "Mr Davidson, surely this is an overreaction."

Walter ploughed on "should you be found guilty of criminal proceedings you'll be restricted in where you can travel and your job opportunities will diminish. A breach of employment contract will result in you having to pay a serious amount of compensation, and because it's a high profile sport in an Olympic year, this will expose you to a lot of bad publicity. Finally the breach of regulations will mean you will never be able to enter the European Union again and defamation cases are very expensive. I'm talking seven zeros Ms Beals. Now if you'll excuse me I am a very busy man. But I want you to think long and hard about what I've given you. I imagine you're an intelligent lady Ms Beals and I would strongly caution against you throwing your life away for the sake of petty revenge." He stood up and held the door open for her.

All of the girls stared, jaws open. They had never seen Ellen get owned like that. Kelly grinned. She now knew what she was going to be studying at uni: law! The Rock girls, Sasha, Darby and Damon all filed into Walter's office, Sasha slapped him on the back "well played", Emily grinned shyly "thanks" she said softly. And Walter smiled at her. He couldn't explain why but he really admired the slight girl. She had guts, and she'd also made Damon make something of his life – which was more than he or his mother had ever managed to do. The others all slowly left, keen to make the most of their break before afternoon training.

Damon remained behind. Wordlessly he hugged his stepfather for a long time "thanks Walter. Really, and I'm sorry for being such a useless stepson."

A lump rose in Walter's throat. "Son, Damon, and you weren't. You were hurting."

"I know but I should have gotten over myself and tried to move on."

"You have now."

Damon nodded. "Walter, there's something I need to tell you and Mum. Would I be able to meet both of you for lunch sometime this week?"

XXX

Damon was so nervous, his hands were clammy and shaking. Emily gripped his hand with hers tightly under the table. "It's going to be ok" she whispered "I'm here, and they're your parents, they love you."

Damon nodded: amazed at Emily's calmness. He supposed competing in a leotard in front of thousands made things like this easy in comparison.

Vivienne and Walter entered the small cafe, Walter striding confidently and Vivienne looking incredibly pale. She shared Damon's dark good looks and expressive eyes. She hadn't seen her son in person in years. Damon and Emily stood, Walter and Damon formally shook hands while Vivienne let Emily kiss her on the cheek. Vivienne then went to shake Damon's hand but Damon pulled her into a hug. She smiled, Damon had been very shy about showing affection after his father and sister died.

After they had exchanged small talk and drunk their coffee Walter cut to the chase "so you had something to tell us?"

Damon cleared his throat. "Um yes, we, I mean Emily no..."

Emily's hand still held onto Damon's she gave his hand a quick squeeze. "I'll tell them. Walter, Vivienne just over a year ago I had a son, his name is James, Damon is his father. As I wanted to return to gymnastics and did not have the financial means to raise a child I put him up for adoption. But I opted for an open adoption, I am still in relatively frequent contact with my son and he knows who Damon and I are, although his mother Summer will always be his main mother. We thought we should tell you and if you would like a relationship with him, Summer is more than happy to facilitate as are we. What Damon also wants to say, but finds it hard to, is that he misses you both and hopes that even if you don't want to have a relationship with your grandson, he can have a better relationship with you both."

Damon gave Emily a look of gratitude. If they weren't sitting in front of his parents he would have kissed her. Emily just smiled back: they were a team.

Vivienne started crying "we've got a grandson?"

Emily walked over to hug the older woman "he's gorgeous, he's got the same hair as you and Damon." She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a photo album documenting Damon's milestones. Vivienne put her arm around Emily's shoulder and looked at Damon "I'm proud of you, son."

Damon nodded, tears running down his own cheeks. They'd never be a conventional family, but that didn't mean they couldn't be close.

Walter cleared his throat "so young lady, how would you like two more supporters cheering you on at the games?"

Emily grinned and kissed Walter on the cheek "well if we've got you rooting us on I think we'll be invincible."

XXX

Sasha sat his girls in a circle on the mats. They'd just finished their last workout before leaving for London. He was fairly pleased with them. The team dynamic was much calmer and more focused than it had been last year. Which was exactly as it should be. They all looked exhausted but excited.

"Well done on getting this far and staying focused. You are about to experience one of the most amazing times of your lives. It is a time you've all worked hard for and deserve. I want each of you to remember that – remember how hard you've worked to get here, remember who you are. You are Olympians and no one can take that away from you. I want you all to go home and enjoy your last night with your families, relax and enjoy yourselves because as rewarding as the next three weeks will be, they will be hard."

Each of his athletes was listening to him intently, completely poised and focused. They each had an air of stillness about them, he knew it well. It was the same determination he himself had before his Olympics.

"But before we do that, I need you to choose a captain. That is not to say the captain will be the only leader: I expect you all to support each other. Having said that the role of captain is important, her job is to foster a team environment, be a sympathetic ear when needed but also give her teammates a kick up the butt when they need it." He handed each athlete a small piece of paper and a pen.

"Write your choice on your piece of paper and put it in here. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

Each girl wrote down her choice, although everyone knew what everyone else was writing. When Sasha came back he pulled out each piece of paper "six votes for Payson and one for Emily, congratulations captain." Sasha said softly, incredibly proud of the young woman sitting before him.

"Wow, girls are you sure?" Payson was genuinely shocked.

Kelly rolled her eyes. Pay was an amazing person but her humility could be infuriating. "Cut the false modesty Keeler and do the captainly thing and shout your team to some spruce juice."

Payson hugged her friend tightly before giving her a noogie. One by one the other girls jumped on Kelly and Payson tickling them and giggling. Sasha sighed. Sometimes he thought he understood teenage girls, and then things like this happened.

A/N Ellen is done! Gone! Over! Hope you're pleased. And next chapter we're at the Olympics baby, and then this story is nearly over . Who's excited for the real Olympics? I'm so going to get no work done next week! Thank you all so much for your reviews and as always let me know what you thought