A/N: Keen to get Worlds on the road!

Dazzling red leotards, crystal necklines, hair and makeup… the time had come for the first performance of the world championships.

With almost an hour left until they were due to be called in for the start of their qualification subdivision, they were in the training hall at the back of the arena, keeping warm and training skills to make sure they were sharp and ready to go.

"Remember to anticipate the turn. As long as the turn onto the table is sharp, the rest of the vault is easy for you," Nick instructed from alongside the vault runway as JJ lined her toes up for a practice of her second vault. She nodded, rubbing her palms together to distribute the chalk more evenly, taking a deep breath as she focused on the vault table at the other end.

With a resolute shrug of her shoulders, she took off, powering down the runway. Hurdling into the round-off, her body was strong, every muscle activated as she rebounded off the springboard and turned her shoulders towards the table. When she blocked off the vault, she could tell she had been almost completely vertical, and as a result, the following full twist off the table was incredibly tight and clean.

She landed upright with barely so much as a hop, holding the landing for a second before turning to face Nick with a wide smile.

"Do it like that every time and we have zero problems," he said with a laugh. "That was almost perfect!"

"Almost?"

"You crossed your ankles as you turned off the springboard, but honestly, you can cop that deduction and still be near the top with that vault"

Moving to the side of the podium the vault was sitting on, JJ took a seat on the edge, allowing Nick to start gently stretching out her troublesome ankle. He had started doing it after championships, taking a minute or so after each event, or each hard landing in training to make sure everything was stretched out properly. JJ knew he was just making good on his promise to get her to the end of her career in one piece, and so hadn't argued one bit.

Behind her, she listened as the rhythmic thumping of Ragan taking off down the runway sounded out. The springboard recoiled, followed by a split second of silence as Ragan presumably whirled through the air.

And then there was a hard thump, followed by Ragan gasping in pain and letting out a strained groan. Without even hesitating, Nick let go of JJ. She turned, watching as he leapt up onto the podium and crossed the short distance to where Ragan was crouched over on the landing mat. Kim was hurriedly making her way from the other end of the vault runway, her face written with concern for her young gymnast.

"What happened? What hurts?" Nick asked gently as he reached the younger girl.

"My ankle," Ragan said with a wince as she moved to get her feet out from underneath her. "It hurts so bad"

"Ok, let's get you over here and we'll get the medical team to take a look," Nick said, easily scooping the seventeen year old up as Kim reached them, carrying her over to the edge of the podium. JJ slid off as they approached, walking over to where the other girls were stretching out on the floor. Valeri was making his way over to Ragan, leaving the four athletes alone for a moment as the coaches began to confer over in the corner.

"Morgan, are you warm?" JJ asked quietly as she dropped down between her and Jade.

"Yeah. Is Ragan ok?"

"I don't know. She just crunched her ankle, she sounds like she's in a lot of pain," JJ said worriedly.

It seemed to be an agonising wait, the girls quietly stretching together as they watched the coaches and the medical team trying to see what condition Ragan's ankle was in. However, when Ragan got up after being heavily taped and attempted to run down the runway, only to stop and hop in place after a few steps, JJ knew; she was too injured to compete.

Her heart broke as she watched the young girl be helped down the stairs, tears streaming down her face as she realised her first world championships were over before they even started. She remembered that feeling all too well, for when her shoulder had dislocated on her first qualifications event back in 2010, she had felt the same crushing despair.

So when Valeri began to make his way over, no doubt to tell Morgan that she was now being called up to compete, JJ pulled herself off of the floor and headed over towards where Kim was trying to comfort a distraught Ragan at the side of the vault. Everyone was calling her the leader of this young team… now was the time to make that the case.

Kim looked up, smiling softly as JJ approached, taking a step back so that she could see Ragan properly. Without a word, JJ gently reached out and pulled Ragan into a tight hug, trying to convey even a skerrick of the comfort and support she knew the younger girl so desperately needed right now.

"I know how much this sucks," she said gently as she pulled back a few moments later, bringing her hands to rest on Ragan's shoulders. "And honestly, it feels like the end of the world because you're so close to competing on the biggest stage of your life, but I promise it isn't. You don't have to let this be the downfall it feels like it is"

Ragan managed a shaky nod, bringing up a hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Allow yourself to be sad for however long you need, but then it's time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and have another go. You're going to take some time away to rest this ankle and get healthy again, and next year you'll be able to come back even stronger"

"It doesn't feel like it," Ragan sniffed. "I felt like I was at my best this year"

JJ lifted a hand, tipping Ragan's chin up as she gave her a sad smile. "I thought the same thing, Ragan. I was sixteen and I blew out my shoulder in Rotterdam and I was convinced that I would never be as good as I was that year. But the reality is… I was sixteen, and I had a lot of room to improve. I'm twenty three now, and I've had many better years than 2010 in that time. You're so young, as long as you take that time to rest this injury properly, there is absolutely no reason why you can't have a long, amazing run in gymnastics"

Sniffing, Ragan managed a nod, prompting JJ to pull her in for another tight hug. When they broke apart, Kim moved over to stand beside Ragan, giving JJ an appreciative smile.

With a lot of last minute shuffling to make sure Morgan was properly accredited and listed on the start lists, it wasn't long before the four girls were following along with the other teams in their subdivision to compete. They were the last team to enter in a long line of gymnasts, stepping out into the arena through a heavy black curtain, walking across a raised stage as flames shot up from the decorative torches lining the edge of the stage. It was incredibly theatrical, a celebration of world level gymnastics in Montreal for the first time since the 1976 Olympic Games.

Knowing Will and her mom were in the stands gave JJ a wave of invigoration even as she shook off the last of the shock of watching Ragan go down at the very last minute. Even though it was an individual worlds with no team competition, the four of them were still a team in how they represented the USA, and JJ wanted them to feel as such. As they worked their way through the competition before them, she took it upon herself to be a leader, a calm and experienced presence at the helm of what was largely a young and relatively inexperienced team.

What came of that was a slew of fantastic results at the conclusion of qualifications. JJ had easily qualified into first place in four out of five finals; the all-around final, the vault final, the beam final, and the floor final. She had also qualified to the uneven bars final in second place, just a couple of tenths behind Elena Eremina, the new breakout star from Russia. Joining JJ in the all-around and beam finals would be Morgan, who had qualified to the all-around in sixth place, and third place on beam. Jade would be her compatriot for the vault and floor finals, having qualified in third place for both, while Ashton would be joining JJ in the uneven bars final in eighth place. Oddly enough, the bars final was going to have 9 competitors; Luo Huan of China and Diana Varinska of Ukraine had tied so perfectly that the score would not be broken, a new change in the new Code of Points. Instead, both gymnasts would be permitted to compete in the bars final, and the rankings would be set 1 to 9. Ashton had also tied with them in the final score, but as her execution score was higher, she had been moved up to 8th place.

Later that night, while Ashton was in the bathroom taking a shower, JJ flopped back onto her bed, lifting her phone to her ear as it rang through to Will's number.

"Hey you"

Smiling as his voice floated down the phone, she allowed her body to relax fully. "Hey. How was your day?"

Will chuckled at the other end. "Went for lunch at this little French cafe in the city with your mom, and then I watched my amazin' fiancee go and be amazin' as per usual"

"Such a smooth talker"

"All part of my charm," Will laughed. "How are you feelin'? You competed really well today"

"Tired. It's been a long day. And with Ragan getting injured, we kind of all had the adrenaline pumping at the wrong time, so we started off feeling a bit on edge"

"Well, it didn't show, you all looked fantastic out there. Was Ragan ok? What happened to her?"

"She landed really hard and crunched her ankle. They're not totally sure what's done to it, but they're pretty confident it involves torn ligaments," JJ said softly. "She'll be ok, but she was devastated"

"Yeah, I bet"

"I remember how that feels"

Will paused for a moment. It had been a long time since JJ got injured at the 2010 World Championships, and while he had been well and truly involved in her life while she was recovering from it, she had never really talked about how it felt in the moment. "You mean when you were in the Netherlands?"

"Yeah. It was my first Worlds, and I was so excited to go out and compete… next thing I knew, I was lying there on the mat, crying, holding my shoulder. I knew right away I wouldn't be able to continue, and I just remember thinking 'what if this is it. What if I never compete at the world level again?'"

"Look at you now though. Sixteen year old you would idolise the JJ you are today"

JJ broke into a smile. "I know. And I tried to give Ragan a bit of that insight… she's so young, and she has so much potential, this absolutely doesn't have to be it. I guess… I didn't have anyone to tell me that when it happened to me. I mean, Nick was great, but he was also as new and wide eyed to the world stage as I was, so he didn't really even know if I would be able to get my skills back. I just… I wanted to make sure Ragan heard it from someone who's been in her shoes"

There was a short silence on the other end of the phone before Will spoke again. "You're an incredible teammate to those girls, you know that Jayje? You've grown so much since you went to London, even since you went to Antwerp with Simone and the other girls. Don't get me wrong, you're still the JJ I fell in love with, but as an athlete, you've just grown into this… fuckin' badass"

JJ giggled.

"I'm serious," Will chuckled. "You used to be the shy, unsure member of the team who looked to the older girls for some guidance and confidence. And now, you're that person these younger girls are lookin' to, and you've taken on that role so easily. Proves even more that you're gonna go on to do amazin' things"

JJ snorted. "I've barely finished a college degree"

Will laughed. "Doesn't matter, you'll succeed in whatever you want to do"

A short silence fell over them, in which JJ heard Ashton switch off the shower. "You know, I… not that I've given this a whole lot of thought, but… I was kind of thinking that when I get back from Worlds, we could start looking for a place to live. Just the two of us"

When Will spoke again, she swore she could hear the shit eating grin on his face. "You mean you finally wanna live with me without your mom as a buffer?"

Grinning, JJ bit back a laugh. "I wish I could reach through the phone and smack off the grin that I know is on your face right now"

Will burst out laughing. "I'm just teasin'. I would love that. I've actually noticed a few places that we could start lookin' at. Would be nice if we could be settled before the weddin'"

"Yeah, that was my train of thought too. Speaking of the wedding, since I know we're basically going to have to jump straight into some serious planning when I get home, I thought May would be nice. It would be warm enough to have it outside, but not so hot that our guests would roast"

"Yeah, considerin' I'll be in a tux, I don't want to get married in summer"

"And I don't want to sweat off my makeup, so I'm glad we're in agreement," JJ laughed. Glancing over as Ashton came out of the bathroom, she pushed herself up. "Hey babe, I should probably go, I need to have a shower and start getting organised for bed"

"Alright. I love you. Have a great day tomorrow, and if I don't talk to you before then, smash it in the all-around final on Friday, I'll be up in the stands cheerin' like a crazy person"

JJ giggled. "I don't doubt that for a second. I love you too. I'll talk to you tomorrow"

Hanging up the call, she dropped her phone down on the bed as she stood up and moved over to her bag to grab her things for a shower. Already, she felt relaxed, ready to take on what remained ahead. As much as she felt bittersweet about the whole retirement thing, she was excited to finish things off on a high note before moving into the next chapter of her life with Will.

She just had to stay focused and make sure that a high note was exactly how it finished.