A/N: Sorry this took so long!
Between the sweat drenching her leotard and the chalk in her hair, JJ didn't know if she was ever going to feel clean again. Every muscle in her body was screaming for a break, but she was not giving up. Not now.
For she was deep in the woods outside Huntsville, Texas, at the famed U.S. Olympic Training Site, known only as 'the ranch'. Normally when she came to camp, there were roughly twenty other girls accompanying her. But this time, it was just the eight of them who had been named to the Olympic squad. The gym was far quieter than it usually was, giving an almost eerie vibe. But JJ was determined to use it to her advantage as she trained and prepared for the Olympic Games.
"Good training," Martha said in her thick Eastern European accent as the girls stood lined up before her at the end of practice. "You are all working very hard, I am pleased. Remember to perfect every tiniest thing, to achieve the best. Tonight you have little free time, please see the therapists to take care of your bodies and prevent injuries"
With a nod and a smile, she gave the girls their dismissal.
"Thank you Martha, coaches and national staff. Goodbye," they all recited in unison, before breaking from their lineup and heading over to the alcove off the side of the gym where their bags were stored in cubbies.
She must have grimaced as she stepped down from the raised floor of the gym, because Nick immediately approached her, looking somewhat concerned.
"Are you sore?" he asked as she grabbed her USA t-shirt from on top of her bag and tugged it over her head. Turning her head towards him, she jokingly rolled her eyes, getting a grin from him.
"That's an understatement," she said dryly, furthering his grin into a laugh.
"Well, come on, we'll go get you looked at by Larry and then you can jump in the ice tub. Your favourite part of being a gymnast," he teased.
"Oh sure," JJ said sarcastically as Aly sidled up beside her and slung an arm over her shoulders.
"I'll come with you. My back is kinda sore," she said with an out of place dramatic sigh, drawing a laugh from JJ.
With Nick behind them, they headed out of the gym complex and down the hall to the treatment rooms. JJ was the first to enter the room, finding it empty save for Larry Nassar, who was setting up the treatment table.
"Hi JJ," he said with a smile. "How was training? They work you girls way too hard"
"Only way to keep up the consistency if they want to go to the Olympics," Nick replied as he walked across the room and pulled up a chair. JJ grinned.
"How are you, Nick?" Larry asked as JJ dropped her bag and jumped up to sit on the edge of the treatment table.
"As good as I can be when we're being kept prisoner in Satan's armpit," Nick chuckled, dragging the chair over to sit closer to the table. "What about you, how's the wife and kids?"
"Good, good. Enjoying summer vacation," Larry replied.
"Lucky for some," Aly piped up from the other side of the room, making JJ giggle.
"Alright, so what's giving you trouble today?" Larry asked.
"My calves are killing me," JJ said softly. "Mostly down near my Achilles, but it's really sore below my knees as well"
"Alright. Lay down on your stomach and I'll have a look"
Flipping over, she propped herself up on her elbows as Larry placed a hand against the top of her right calf. When he gently squeezed the muscle, feeling for tenderness, she winced.
"Sore?" Larry queried. She nodded, turning her attention back to Nick. As Larry began to massage out the knots in her legs, her attention became fully divulged in Nick, who was flipping through his notebook fervently.
"So your vault was really good, but you have to trust your landing, you always seem to second guess yourself a little bit there," he said after a minute, looking up at her with a small smile. "Your bars could be a little cleaner in places, but overall… I'd say it's pretty good considering 18 months ago you were in a sling and not weight bearing at all"
JJ grinned.
"I'm going to get nitpicky with your beam only because you can be pretty close to perfect and today was a little messy…"
Twenty minutes later, she was hopping off the table as Aly got up and crossed the room for her turn. As she reached the door, she turned and looked back expectantly at Nick, who hadn't moved from his chair.
"You go on, I'll wait with Aly," he said with a smile. "Mihai thinks she's too much of a menace to be left alone"
"Hey!" Aly giggled, sliding onto the table. Nick grinned as JJ shook her head. Pulling her bag higher on her back, she closed her hand around the door handle and turned the latch.
"I'll catch up with you at the ice tubs," Aly called after her as she pushed the door open and stepped out into the hall.
Chewing her lip in thought as she headed through the complex to the ice room, she pushed away the worried thoughts in her mind.
As always after treatments with Dr Nassar, she felt off. Not that he had ever given her a reason to. Nick was always in the room with her, and Larry was a brilliant doctor whom they all trusted. But even with that, he was a strange man. A little withdrawn, even.
Shaking it off, she reached the double doors that led to the ice tub room. Pushing on them, she found McKayla already standing in one of the tubs in her leotard.
"Oh thank god you're here, I was getting really bored! The others have already left, but I thought I would wait and freeze my ass off a little longer until you got here," she said in her excited, shrill voice. JJ grinned, tossing her bag onto the wooden bench and crossing the room. She climbed in, breathing in sharply as the freezing water touched her skin. Immediately, relief seemed to flow into her aching legs, the cold attacking her battered and seized muscles.
"I was so not prepared for how intense this camp was going to be," she breathed as she settled against the edge of the tub.
"I know!" McKayla exclaimed. "I honestly thought it would be like camps, but it's so much harder. But I guess I don't really notice… or mind… because it means I'm going to the Olympics!"
JJ grinned. "That doesn't feel real. I won't believe it until we're walking into the arena"
"Me either. It just feels so crazy, like out of all the girls who could've gone, it's gonna be us!"
In JJ's mind, she saw a flash of Jordyn's face at the team announcement. Tears streaming down her face, her expression reading nothing but utter defeat.
A pang of guilt stabbed her in the stomach. With a quick shrug of her shoulders, she brushed it off, fixing her gaze on McKayla's smiling face.
"You ok?" McKayla asked. JJ nodded, sinking a little lower in the tub to allow the ice to treat her hips.
"I'm fine"
After dinner, which had been the camp's finest bland chicken and vegetables, JJ was slowly ambling back towards the dorm room she was sharing with McKayla and Aly.
Not looking where she was going, she bumped hard into someone's shoulder, stumbling back in surprise.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in apology as her eyes flew up to meet those of the person she'd knocked.
She was even further thrown when she found Jordyn standing in front of her, scowling at her with intensity she'd never seen before.
"Jordyn, I'm sorry," she said again, much softer. This time though… she wasn't sure she was apologizing for the same thing.
"No you're not," Jordyn whispered. As much as the words stung, JJ was relieved to hear that Jordyn's voice didn't sound as angry as her facial expression seemed to be giving away.
"Jordyn… I'm sorry you're not on the team… I really am," she breathed, reaching out towards Jordyn, who angrily pulled away.
"No you're not," Jordyn repeated, but this time, her voice was filled with sadness. "You get to go to London and make your dreams come true. I get to sit in the stands and watch you compete on a team that everyone's been saying I should be on"
"I didn't make the decision Jordyn… I just went out and competed to the best of my ability," JJ said softly. "I am sorry it wasn't you… but it's not my fault"
Jordyn's shoulders slumped.
"I know," she muttered, before turning and continuing along the deck towards her own dorm room.
Heaving a sigh, JJ crossed the remaining length of the desk between herself and her room. She pushed on the door, entering the room to find McKayla and Aly giggling about something on McKayla's bed. Shooting them a smile, she flopped down onto her own bed, pulling out her phone as she did.
Staring blankly at the screen, she couldn't ignore the gnawing guilt any longer.
Jordyn truly believed she had stolen her place on the team. And maybe, just maybe…
… she believed it too.