A/N: Honest to god, have your tissues ready.

"As a gymnast, you've trained your entire life to be within a millimetre of perfection with everything you do. However, when it comes to your floor routine, you actually have to let that philosophy go," Teagan explained as she stood beside the stereo mounted to the wall by the floor. "It's important to feel the music, to express yourself with the routine. That might mean the choreography looks different every time you do it, but that's half the point really. Music is made to be felt by everyone, and everyone may feel it differently. You have always been good on floor, but this year, I think it's very possible to make your routine great"

JJ grinned, nodding in agreement.

"Now, you said you wanted this new routine to be for your dad, and you mentioned he's got some Scottish heritage that he's proud of, so I've been playing around with some music and I came up with something that I hope you're going to like"

Turning to the stereo, she pressed play.

The gym was immediately filled with the sounds of traditional Scottish music, yet, even so, it had a modern twist to it that immediately drew JJ in. It was so different to anything JJ had ever had before, and only ten seconds in, she was beaming from ear to ear.

"I love it!" she exclaimed, making Teagan's face light up.

"It's different, but I thought it would suit you. Now, the piece I have cut is a little longer than ninety seconds, but you heard that the intro is quite suitable for a held position, so if we delay your start by at least five seconds, it should be ok"

Half an hour later, Teagan and JJ were in the thick of choreographing the first part of the routine, while Nick watched from by his office. It had been a couple of months since Teagan had officially joined their team, and she and JJ got along like a house on fire. Teagan had eagerly taken on the responsibility of working JJ's new floor routine, and so far, Nick was very happy with that decision.

"This music is quite dramatic, so it's important to think about your expressions as your dance. Or better yet... don't think. Just act," Teagan said with a smile. "Let's run through the first part with the music"

Nick watched on as Teagan started the music and JJ focused herself onto the routine. They had choreographed about twenty seconds of the music, and he was quietly impressed with Teagan's ability as a choreographer. JJ, for the most part, made it through the choreography without a hitch.

Grinning, Nick nodded happily to himself.

It was exactly the type of routine Marta was going to love, and exactly the type of routine he knew JJ was going to extend her capabilities with. And he couldn't wait to watch her compete it for the first time.

She'd arrived home from training to find the house empty; she vaguely remembered her dad mentioning a hospital appointment that morning. Her mind was filled with dance sections, skills connections, execution tips, everything they had worked on in practice that morning. The national team camp was coming up in a little over a week, and that was when Marta was selecting the team for the Pacific Rim Championships. Seeing as Simone was likely to headline that team, JJ wanted to make the cut for the event as well; she wanted to help the USA have a strong international start to the year.

She quickly showered to rinse off the chalk, and pulled on her running clothes and shoes. Grabbing her phone and her earbuds from her bedside table, she headed out onto the landing, closing the door behind her as she put one of her earbuds in her ear.

As she made her way down the stairs, she could make out the sounds of two people talking quietly in what sounded like the kitchen. Realising her parents must have come home while she was showering, she headed towards the sound, smiling as she did. She was eager to tell them about her new floor routine.

Walking into the room, she found her parents sitting at the table, talking in hushed voices. They looked strained... upset even. In fact, JJ noticed as she looked closer, her mom's eyes were awfully red.

Had her mom been crying?

"Hi," she said uncertainly, slowly pulling her earbud back out of her ear.

"Hey sweetie, how was training?" Sandy asked, clearly fighting to keep her voice level. Michael squeezed her hands tightly, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by JJ.

"Fine... what's going on?" JJ asked slowly, looking worriedly between her mother and father for some sort of clue as to why they seemed so upset.

Michael took a deep breath, turning to face his daughter. Suddenly, in the dull light, his skin seemed grey, his cheekbones protruding further than JJ had ever noticed before. For the first time, he actually looked like a person who was seriously ill.

"There's something we need to talk about... I think you should sit down," he said gently.

"I'm fine standing," JJ said quickly, before repeating her earlier words. "What's going on?"

Choosing not to argue with her, Michael glanced down at his hands, swallowing thickly as he tried to find his voice. "I had my monthly checkup today," he started in a quiet murmur, just loud enough for JJ and Sandy to hear. Lifting his face, he brought his gaze back to meet JJ's. "And... it wasn't good"

The last three words were all it took for JJ to feel like the air was starting to slowly drain out of her lungs.

"JJ... the chemo isn't working anymore... the cancer is spreading too fast and too far," Michael explained, his body language softening towards his daughter as he noticed the colour slowly starting to leave her face.

"But there's other treatments... radiation, and-"

Michael shook his head. "It's spread too much for radiation to be effective anymore. Radiation would just shorten the time I have left"

"Time you have left?" JJ repeated, disbelief dripping from every word. "Dad..."

"There's nothing they can do," her father said gently; it was almost remarkable how calm he was. "I'm dying, JJ, the cancer's just too advanced"

She felt like the room had started to spin, like her lungs had collapsed in on themselves and refused to draw anymore air. Instinctively, she took a step back, barely noticing that her mother had collapsed in a sobbing heap on the table, or that her father had stood up and was reaching out towards her.

"JJ-"

"No, don't!" JJ yelled, her focus snapping back into blinding clarity as she took two more steps back; she was now standing under the doorframe. Her mom's shaking form was just visible out of the corner of her eye, but instead of sending her into hysterics as well, it only emboldened her anger.

Turning on her heel, she stormed through the front passageway, her world blinded by seething hatred as she wrenched the front door open and hurried out into the cool spring air. Even as her dad called out for her to come back, she slammed the door behind her again, hitting the frame with such force that two of the frosted glass panes cracked clean in two.

Her mind was nothing but a numb, blank canvas. She'd walked at first, with no clear sense of where she was going, but when the anger had started to be replaced with an impending sense of doom, she'd broken into a run.

She only came to her senses when she realised she was walking across the parking lot of Romero's Gymnastics Academy, heading directly for the double glass doors that led into the familiar comfort of the gym foyer.

Silently, she entered, walking somewhat calmly through the foyer, past the change rooms, and out towards the gym floor.

It was peak recreational hour, with kids in every which direction, but Nick was clearly visible amongst them, training a group of level tens as well as Kate and Clem on the beams. Kate and two of the younger kids were standing on a beam each, while the others stood grouped at the end, waiting their turns.

"Ground yourself out of every skill, because the second you're too high, if you're doubting yourself, it's all going to come unravelled," he was saying to them as they listened intently.

Kate flicked her eyes up, suddenly spotting JJ in the bustle of the gym. "Uh... Nick," she said softly, gesturing behind him.

Nick whirled around, frowning when his eyes landed on JJ.

"Hey... I don't have you back until three," he said quietly, his confusion evident.

She was just about to open her mouth to speak, when it all suddenly hit her. Tears cascaded down her cheeks faster than she could try to stop them, accompanied by great gasping sobs that rendered her feeling immediately dizzy.

Nick barely hesitated, rushing forward and wrapping JJ up in a tight hug. Not only had he never seen her get so upset so fast... he'd never seen her so upset, period.

"What happened?" he asked, and JJ heard something in his voice she had never heard from him before; fear.

"My dad," JJ sobbed, her hands shaking terribly as she clutched at Nick's shirt. Her voice was trembling so badly that it was piercing Nick's chest in the most painful way. "He's end stage... Nick... he's going to die"

And with that, she crumbled completely, time seeming to stop altogether as Nick hurriedly guided her away from the prying eyes of about thirty curious children. Her face was buried in his chest, her tears soaking the front of his shirt, her body shaking with the tragedy of what her family was now facing. He kept a tight hold on her, keeping her supported as he led her towards the offices, directing Teagan to take his place with a single jerk of the head as they passed her at the front desk.

When they were in his office, shielded from the wondering looks of both parents and children alike, he wrapped her back into his embrace, tears burning his eyes as she shook beneath him.

"JJ," Nick breathed, fighting to keep his voice steady. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"

She couldn't reply, she couldn't speak. All she could do was break down.

It had taken nearly an hour and a mug of steaming hot chocolate before Nick had managed to calm JJ down enough to stop her from going into shock or hyperventilating. He had offered to drive her home, but she had refused; she needed to process it away from home.

And so she had taken up residence beside the floor, perched on a foam block as she watched the kids practicing their first optional floor routines. Some of them had smiled and waved at her, and despite how awful she was now feeling inside, she had managed to smile back at them.

She'd been sitting there for about half an hour when Nick came and sat down beside.

"JJ... I just spoke to Marta, and we've both agreed to pull you from this selection camp, which withdraws you from the Pac Rims team," he said gently. "Unless you want to go"

Numbly, JJ shook her head. All the excitement about her routine, about Pac Rims, about everything gymnastics related had been pushed deep in the back of her mind. None of it even felt worth anything anymore.

"She's not going to say anything to anyone until you're ready for them to know," Nick continued. "I also want you to take some time away from training"

JJ nodded, still refusing to open her mouth or look at him.

"And," Nick said slowly, reaching out and tipping her chin towards the edge of the floor. "Someone's here to see you"

Her eyes fell on her father, standing at the edge of the floor with a wan smile on his face. She felt a sob bubble up inside her at the sight of him, but still, she stood up, walking over to him and straight into his embrace.

"Shh," he said softly as the hustle and bustle of the gym carried on around them. "It's alright"

"How did... you know where... I was?" JJ sobbed, burying her face in his jacket as he held her as tightly as he possibly could.

"Lucky guess," Michael said softly, rubbing her back gently. "Why don't we get out of here? I think we deserve some ice-cream"

JJ couldn't argue, simply allowing her dad to guide her from the gym and out into the car. It was hard to believe he was dying... he still seemed so strong. Granted, he was thinner and paler than usual, but he still moved with the swiftness she had always known him to have.

She stayed completely silent in the car as he drove them to their favourite ice-cream place which lay about halfway between the gym and their house. They had frequented it many a time on the way home from practice.

Her dad had gone inside and left her in the car, returning ten minutes later with two huge takeaway cups of ice-cream. She'd hardly touched hers, only staring sadly down at it as he drove them through town.

Eventually, they wound up at the old lookout. From there, they could see almost all of East Allegheny, and right in the distance, the white box that was the gym, much closer to Pittsburgh.

"I know it sucks... I know you're angry," Michael said softly after some time had passed. "Trust me... I wanted to rip my oncologist limb from limb until he changed the report, but I figured spending the rest of my life in prison wasn't really worth it"

"It's horrible," JJ said, finally speaking up. Lifting her face to look at her dad, her eyes welled with tears once more. "What am I going to do without you?"

"As much as it breaks my heart to think of all the things I'm going to miss out on," Michael started softly, "I think you're going to be just fine"

"How long do you have?" JJ asked, her stomach churning; did she really want the answer?

"Maybe six months," Michael replied, watching, heartbroken, as JJ started to cry again. "Just long enough to see Rio if I'm lucky"

"I don't give a shit about Rio anymore," JJ sobbed.

"Yes you do," Michael said, his voice catching in his throat as he reached out and squeezed JJ's hand. "Sweetheart, right now, you're angry, you're upset, you're hurting. I know, deep down under all this hurt, you do care about the Olympics because it's what you've been working the last four years for. I want you to promise me something"

JJ didn't speak, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks as she gazed down at her lap.

"Don't let this disease take away the dream you're so close to reaching," Michael said softly. "If you give up now because of the cancer, then the cancer wins"

"It's already won," JJ sobbed.

"Not a chance in hell," Michael replied, stretching over the console to pull JJ into a hug. Kissing the top of her head, he finally allowed the tears he'd been holding in all day to fall. "I'm so sorry, baby girl"