A/N: I'm so fucking excited to write this, oh my god.

The lights were dazzling, but her heart was pumping with excitement.

Four long years after she had graced the floor in London, here she was, about to take the Olympic stage again.

They looked incredible under the lights of the competition arena, dressed in the navy and red leotard adorned with two different patterns of crystals. JJ had slicked her long blonde hair back into a high ponytail, before braiding the lengths and wrapping them into a bun and securing them with a red hair bow. She had sent Will a Snapchat that morning of her hair, and his simple reply of 'you look beautiful as always' had given her an amazing confidence boost.

"So the United States will start on floor exercise, and they will be starting with the reigning silver medalist on this piece, Jennifer Jareau. The fact that she's going first of the four actually means they aren't intending to use her routine in the team final… which is confusing to say the least, because she has outscored Laurie Hernandez on floor at every meet this season. But what can I say, Marta Karolyi has her reasons!"

Over the past few days, talk had been swirling online of her potential to come home with six Olympic medals from Rio; a feat that would be a first for an American gymnast. She knew she could qualify into every event final, but one of them was dependent on another factor; if she wanted to outscore Aly to make the floor final, she was going to have to do the 6.7 routine she had been aiming for all summer. The problem was, she hadn't actually achieved it in competition. The closest she had come was the second night of Olympic Trials, when she had done everything she intended except for the whip into her double Arabian.

But, that didn't really matter. Because to her, it seemed like the gymnastics community cared more about her winning six medals than she did. All morning, she had been mulling it over in her head, until she'd reached a silent decision; she was going to do her 6.2 routine, omitting both the connections in her third line, and the Moors.

Because she knew that in the end, that floor medal was going to mean a hell of a lot more to Aly than it was to her. By giving Aly the half a point advantage, she was almost certainly going to be two per countried out of the final.

"On floor, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"

Saluting as the crowd cheered, JJ stepped out onto the floor and took up her starting pose.

"Let's go JJ, you got it!"

Her music started, the booming Celtic sounds filling her ears. She swung her arms through the opening choreography, stepping back into the corner to line up for the first pass.

The run and the hurdle felt strong, and seconds later, she was soaring through a clean double layout.

"What?" Nick muttered, frowning in confusion as he watched his athlete continue the routine. Why she hadn't gone for the harder routine, he had no idea… but given the month she had had, he wasn't really going to question it. JJ knew herself and her own capabilities. Clearly, she had made a decision based on her own insight, and that was a trait of hers that Nick was always proud of.

"That was odd… that's supposed to be a Moors, a double twisting double layout"

"Probably just decided to play it a little safe in the qualifying round, since the Moors is such a big skill"

She tumbled seamlessly across the floor for her second run, relaxing fully into the routine and the music. There was a mildly painful tug in her chest as the bagpipes boomed across the arena; as little known as her father's Scottish heritage was, he had always been proud of it. Hearing the music, knowing he wasn't watching for the first time… it made it all that much stronger in her heart.

By the time she'd completed the routine to the applause of the excited Brazilian audience, she was feeling a little heady, even a little overwhelmed. But just moments later, that feeling disappeared as she descended the stairs and walked straight into Aly and Simone's embrace.

One down. Four to go.

It wasn't too much later before Laurie and Simone had both completed their routines, with just Aly left to anchor the team. Both the younger girls had come down the stairs, excitedly proclaiming to each other, "you're officially an Olympian!"

JJ smiled. Their energy, enthusiasm, and overriding joy was infectious to say the least.

JJ and Simone had gone first on vault in the second rotation, as they were both attempting to qualify for the vault finals. The entire team had been strong, solid, and clean, as was expected of them.

Moving around to bars, Aly started them off with a consistent bars routine. Consistent was always about the nicest way to describe her bars; she certainly wasn't the most naturally gifted on the apparatus, but all the girls gave her serious props for the improvements she had made in the last few years.

Simone and JJ both followed, delivering strong routines that kept them solidified as two of the strongest all-arounders in the competition. Madison had followed, performing an outstanding routine that put her ahead of the reigning Olympic Champion, Aliya Mustafina, into the bars final.

Then it was time to close their competition on beam. Aly led off again, her consistency and cool head under pressure leading the USA into an exceptionally strong beam rotation.

Laurie, despite her youth and inexperience, had performed like a complete pro up there on the nerviest event. However, when her score was passed by Simone just minutes later, she knew her bid for event finals was over unless JJ fell from the beam, which, given JJ's track record, was incredibly unlikely.

And unlikely it remained, with JJ nailing the crap out of her routine to contribute one last fantastic score towards the USA's team total. As she had turned and left the podium, she had spotted her family sitting in the block just above the beam. Feeling more confident and bubblier than she'd felt in days, she'd blown them a kiss before leaving the podium to rejoin her team.

A few hours later, the final qualification subdivision had finished, and the final standings were in.

The USA had qualified a staggering 11 points ahead of second place China into the team final. Simone was leading the pack in the all-around, with JJ not too far behind her. Aly had finished third in the all-around standings, but once again, she had been two per countried out of the final. Simone and JJ were also leading the standings on vault, showing that the USA was already lined up for a possible five medals out of three finals.

The question mark that had hovered over JJ's ability to make the bars final had been erased completely; she may have qualified seventh, but she had qualified regardless, and would be joining Madison in the bars final the following Sunday.

Beam was arguably JJ's to lose, even with Simone nipping at her heels in the standings. And sure enough, JJ's decision over floor had had the desired result; Aly had knocked her out of the final, and would have the chance to defend her Olympic title, as unlikely as it was that she actually would with Simone leading the pack.

Now, it was time to go out and fight for the medals.