#paseroney

“Who do yall miss the most, that got eliminated?” Mckayla asked from Maria’s lap. She had gone to look for Aly and Aliya earlier that morning but had soon learned that they had disappeared before anyone had awakened. After her failed attempts to locate the girls, she went inside the Russian cabin where Maria, Ekaterina and Viktoria were playing poker. She had laid her head in Maria’s lap after a few rounds of nothing but Maria winning.  She was also not trying to bring up the sore subject of yellow receiving the samdhi yesterday.

“Probably Tatiana,” Viktoria said without looking up from her hand. She raised the bidding to fifteen seashells (since they weren’t allowed to bring actual money to the island).

“Yeah it was hard to see Tatiana go,” Ekaterina said, folding her hand.

“No kidding,” Ksenia said from her bed. No one had noticed the blonde until then. She dragged herself from her bed and exited the cabin, sadness covering face.

“I raise twenty,” Maria said trying to lighten the mood. She only had a pair of fours but her gut told her that Viktoria had less.

“No way, you don’t got it,” Viktoria said, glancing down at her cards.

“Then put your shells where your mouth is,” Maria said with a dimpled smirk.

“Ah screw it,” Viktoria said folding her hand.

Maria gathered the pot and put it in her half-coconut that she called a bucket. “Better luck next time purple,” Maria said grinning wickedly.

“I miss Alicia the most,” Aly said entering the cabin with Aliya close behind.

“Yeah Alicia was funny,” Mckayla agreed, sitting up from Maria’s lap.

***

“Seeing Tatiana leave was just another blow that got me down because we just had so much fun together and she was really my only friend here,” Ksenia said to the cameraman by the woodline.

__________________________________________________________

Tatiana, Alla, Yulia, Mykayla, Norah and Alicia walked side by side as the sun casted glorious orange rays over the horizon. Their breaths shuddered as dread set into their minds. JD stood waiting for them silently on the edge of the beach. As they approached closer, he remained silent and lead them to their destination, a canoe a few feet away.

“Hey JD,” the six gloomy ex-contestants said.

“I bet you’re wondering why you’re all here,” JD said, studying their faces for answers. “On all accounts you guys should be heading back home right now, am I right?”

“Yeah,” everyone replied softly.

“You had an opportunity to earn the right to say but you just couldn’t hold on even though you gave it everything you had. You guys didn’t have the endurance to survive that game,” JD said causing all six girls to lower their heads in embarrassment. “Well, we brought you back to this beach right here for a reason. I know it was hard to get eliminated that first day, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” they all said again, some kicking the sand beneath their feet.

“It was painful but the best part is you guys gave it everything you have. That’s why we are going to give you guys a second chance,” JD said. Instantly everyone perked up, wanting to hear more about this new proposal.

“Shut up,” Alicia said, grinning ear to ear with renewed excitement.

“You are going to go back to the jungle to play one more game,” JD began to explain. “The winner, will get a chance to choose a partner, to become the eighth team on Endurance.

Tatiana smirked widely, she knew she had to win this.

“We got a little surprise for the fourteen contestants back there, you guys are going back,” JD said as Mykayla ran a hand through her hand, letting his words sink in. “You guys excited?”

“Yeah!” Alicia and Norah said excitingly.

“Alright, I’ll meet yall over there later to play, good luck.” With that said JD jumped into the canoe and began to paddle down the river leading to the camp, leaving the six girls to celebrate.

***

“I was so happy I get to try again because I was so mad at myself the other night for losing,” Norah said to the cameraman that JD left behind.

***

“I’m very excited about getting a second chance because it’s like getting a second chance in life,” Mykayla said to the cameraman after Norah had finished.

***

“What do you think the challenge is going to be?” Alicia asked the group after everyone had sat in the sand, forming a circle.

“I don’t know,” Yulia said, her mind thinking of every possibility of what it could be.

“It’ll probably be mind over matter,” Alla said, knowing they wouldn’t do a simple puzzle game or a game based on brute strength.

“Ok first things first, whoever picks their partner, no hurt feelings,” Alicia said trying to spare everyone the heartache.

“Agreed,” Tatiana and the other two Russian borns agreed.

“Yeah we’re all friends no matter what,” Norah added on.

***

“If I were to win today, I would probably pick Alla or Tatiana because they look like strong girls,” Norah said to the platinum blonde cameraman.

***

“I would pick Tatiana because she’s smart, sweet, athletic and funny so we’d make a really good team,” Alicia said, picturing the other girl smirking at her response.

***

“Well for this competition, I’m hoping that it’ll still be about the same physical wise because I’m pretty sure I can beat out the other five. Um, just as long as it isn’t holding onto a big pole while it’s raining,” Tatiana said to the man with a smile.

***

“Guys I’m a little nervous because if you lose the second time that means you’ve lost two times,” Norah said softly.

“Yeah that would be a little nerve racking,” Mykayla said, dusting the sand off of her hands.

“No that’s not what we’re gonna think about, we are going to think about giving it our best and knowing we tried our hardest no matter what,” Alicia said, rubbing comforting circles on the small girl’s back.

“We gotta think positive,” Alla said, flashing smile at the young girl.

“Yeah lets not think about getting eliminated, let’s think about kicking Alicia’s butt again,” Tatiana said playfully.

“Everyone put your hands in,” Yulia said, holding her hand out for everyone else to place theirs on top.

“One, two,” they said in unison, “three! LOSERS UNITED!”

***

“If I were to win this challenge and get a second chance on Endurance, I would definitely be a lot more grateful about what I had just because I got a second chance,” Tatiana said with hope in her voice.

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“You guys in there?” JD called into the huts, “come on out.” The contestants filed out of the cabins, some sitting on the two wooden stairs leading down to the ground, others jumping down off of the eighteen inch ledge and sitting there. “There’s everybody, team colors look really nice today,” JD commented. “And look, the sun is out!” JD said, pointing up to the sky.

“About time,” Mckayla said, missing sunny California.

“Now that we’ve had some time to let the hurt feelings subside I’ve been wanting to ask Aly something,” JD said, turning to the dark haired girl dressed in grey.

“Aly when you chose your partner, Aliya, I noticed some upset faces. Especially the face to your left,” JD said, casting his gaze towards Nastia. “How are yall? Did you work everything out, Aly?”

“Yeah I’m alright, I let it go, I didn’t want to make it a big deal,” Aly said coolly.

“And Nastia, is it a big deal?” JD asked the blonde.

“I mean no she did what she did, she did what she had to do,” Nastia answered.

“Do you think she’s wrong for coming out here and trying to play the game like it’s friendship when you’re not competing but when you are competing, all bets are off? Is that the right way to do it?” JD pressed on.

“If that’s the way she wants to do it then fine,” Nastia answered, trying not to cause any drama.

“Is that the way you’re gonna do it?” JD asked.

“I’ll play the game how ever we decide to play it,” Nastia answered, pointing beside her to Ksenia.

“Alright, Kyla, I saw you and Nastia spending a little bit of time together at dinner yesterday. Do you think being friends with Nastia will affect the game for you?” JD asked turning to the green team on the stairs.

“Yeah it could definitely affect the game but whatever I hope people play their cards right,” Kyla stated.

“Alright red team, are you trying to help some of that,” JD said, averting his attention to the petite girls on the bottom stair.

“No we’re gonna stay out of stuff like that, we don’t want to get involved in any potential drama,” Gabby answered immediately.

“Well you all are going to be involved shortly,” JD said to the fourteen contestants.

Uh oh Aliya said in her mind.

“I got a little surprise for you guys,” JD started. “Do you remember on the first day, when you competed and the six players that were eliminated were sent home?”

“Please let this be going where I think it’s going,” Ksenia whispered, folding her hands as hope of the possibility entered her mind.

“Well guess what? They’re back,” JD said, giving the verbal cue for the six contestants to enter.

“YES!” Everyone said, jumping up from their spots in excitement as the six girls revealed themselves from the dark shadows of the bamboo forest.

“Come on in here guys,” JD said, waving the group in.

Tatiana instantly dropped her bag on the muddy ground to run over and hug Ksenia tightly. Alicia did the same to Nastia as the other girls went to the other teams, catching up on what had happened since they left.

“Alright now listen up everybody!” JD shouted, getting everyone’s attention. “The six people who just came back come to this side,” JD said ushering the girls to the right. “And the rest of you on this side,” JD said moving the others to the right.

“Everybody! Aliya turn around! Let me tell you what's going to happen today,” JD said, noticing Aliya had turned around to tell Alla something. “Ok let me explain how this is going to work. Your friends are back but only two of them are staying. They are going to compete in one game, the winner will get to choose a partner and that team will make up the eight team, the brown team,” JD said midsentence to Tatiana, knowing she was going to ask what color, “on Endurance. Before that competition, I’m going to give you guys some time to reunite and say ‘hello’ to each other. Enjoy your short time and after that, we’ll jump right into the game,” JD said, excusing himself to help the other crew members set up the simple game a few yards away from the lake bank.

“What about the temple mission?” Viktoria quietly asked Jordyn. “Who are we going to send now?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to think about it after we see this ‘brown team’ in action,” Jordyn said, eyeing the new competition.

***

“We knew there had to be another twist coming up somewhere because JD loves twists, we just didn’t know it’d be so soon,” Nastia said to the cameraman, the wind blowing her hair as she spoke.

***

“When Tatiana walked in, I was so excited to see her because I thought she was gone forever and now that she’s back I know I’ll have an unbreakable alliance with her,” Ksenia said to the camerawoman by the pond.

***

“Ok on the count of three we’re gonna say we’re soulmates,” Tatiana said from beside Ksenia in the secluded room that held the diary camera.

“One, two, three! We’re soulmates,” Tatiana and Ksenia said to the small camera.

***

“Everybody likes Alicia, no one expected her to fall off on the first day so it’s a good thing she’s back,” Gabby said with a smile to the bald cameraman.

***

“I’m excited to see all my friends and I hope I’m one of the two that stay,” Yulia said to the platinum blonde from earlier.

***

“I’m really happy to be back and I can’t wait to stay longer,” Alla said with a smirk to the camerawoman.

***

“This is my last chance to prove to everyone and myself that I can do anything,” Norah said to two of the cameramen.

______________________________________________________________________________

The raindrops that had landed on the trees now falling to the ground onto the lush green grass, the green lizard’s tiny feet scratching across the tree bark, the exotic birds flying through the forest and the river’s sort current rushing down stream could all be heard to the eerily silent twenty contestants.

Alicia’s arm was wrapped around Norah’s small shoulders to help keep the girl’s nerves under control. Alicia could see the worry etched into her face. She turned behind her to see Mykayla’s face emotionless, the girl walked with an air that made everyone think she had won the challenge already.

“Come on in everybody! The six players playing come over here, everyone else over there where you can sit and watch the game,” JD instructed the two groups. The six once eliminated players stood before two conjoined bamboo frames that resembled a swing set. Three triangular bamboo braces were at both ends and the middle to uphold the long top bamboo bar that was set roughly six feet off the ground with four six-inch bamboo cut-offs sticking out from it. Beside the wooden structure laid six eighteen inch tikis. JD then guided the official players over to a cleared area with logs away from the game. JD shuffled the two brown shirts from his right hand to his left and held the perseverance piece in his right. “Ok how are you guys feeling?” JD asked the six anxious girls.

“Great,” they replied, some sarcastic.

“Good because you guys are going to compete in one final challenge, the winner will pick one of the other five to be your partner. This game is called Headstrong, you’re each going to balance one of those carvings between your head and this bamboo bar. If you drop the carving you are out, the person that lasts the longest gets a second chance and the opportunity to pick their teammate. Looks kinda easy, right?” JD asked with a smile.

“Just holding a carving between your head and a pole, but let me tell you, when that burning sets in you are gonna feel it in your legs. Do you have the perseverance to ignore that pain? All you have to do is hold that tiki between your head and that pole the longest, then you’ll be able to join those guys over there,” JD said, jerking his finger behind him to point to the silent seven teams. “You think you have what it takes?” Everyone was silent, doubt painted across their faces as they looked between JD and the structure. “Alright guys this is it. One last chance for a second chance, hop into place,” JD said to the six girls.

***

As the tikis were being passed out, the girls took their places between the two cut-offs they were assigned to. Tatiana held her tiki even with her chest as she examined how much space she had between the edge of the structure and the six inch hang off. About a meter so I can spread my legs into a triangle that's slightly less than that so I won’t feel the burn as much as I would if I was squatting Tatiana thought to herself. So if this thing is almost two metres high, one meter across and if I spread my feet just over ninety centimeters apart, I should be able to last the longest.

Norah looked up at the bar that towered above her head. Will I even be able to hold my tiki up that high? Norah thought.

“On your mark, get set,” JD said as everyone held onto their tikis as they got under them in crouched positions, all except Tatiana who spread her legs into a triangle. “Go!” JD said, immediately everyone’s hands left their tiki, leaving only their heads to support the carvings. “Whoever lasts the longest gets a second chance and gets to pick their teammate for Endurance,” JD said as Mykayla rested her hands on her right leg that was lunged forward.

“Let’s go guys,” Simone called out, clapping with Anastasia as encouragement.

“How badly do they want it?” JD said, examining the impassive faces on all six girls. Yulia rubbed the slight burn already building in her quads away. “Whatever you do, do not let the carving fall,” She heard JD say.

Time crawled by slowly and with each passing minute the burning in the contestants legs grew. “Three minutes and thirty seconds guys,” JD informed the girls. “You guys are doing great!”

“You’re doing awesome guys keep it up!” Kyla called out to the girls.

“Alla’s legs are shaking pretty good,” JD said as Alla’s legs shook with pain.

Mykayla shifted her weight slightly to her back leg to give her front one a break. She had not noticed until it was too late what a grave mistake she had made. Her tiki fell to the ground from the loss of pressure Mykayla had been exerting from her head.

“OH!” Erupted from most of the fourteen contestants sitting down.

“Mykayla’s carving has feel, you can leave your carving there, come on over here Mykayla,” JD said as the disappointed girl came over to stand beside him. “Don’t worry you did a great job,” JD whispered, laying a comforting hand on the almost crying girl’s shoulder.

Tatiana sighed as the slight burning sensation built up in her neck. “Hang in there guys, hang in there,” JD called out to the five remaining players.

Time passed painfully slow as the contestants reached the fifteen minute mark.

“Fifteen minutes you guys, fifteen,” JD informed the sweaty girls.

Norah’s whole body was shaking and sweat covered her face. The force from the tiki bearing down on her small body along with the exertion of balancing the tiki made her legs throb.

Tatiana closed her eyes and placed herself in another situation to fuel her motivation.

“How much longer can you guys last?” JD asked as the last of their resolve began to vanish.

“I don’t want to lose,” Norah whispered to herself and Alicia.

“Norah, you’re shaking, think about something else,” Alicia said, raising her voice for emphasis. She knew the young girl wouldn’t last much longer but she didn’t want her to be ashamed of herself.

“Whoa, you’re right on the edge Yulia,” JD called out to the Russian girl. Her tiki was on the curve of its back edge and was about to come out from underneath the bar.

“OH NO NO NO,” Anna shouted out. “YULIA GO FORWARD!”

Yulia closed her eyes as sweat rolled down her face, she inched forward, careful not to lose pressure.

“There you go,” Anastasia said with Anna when the girl’s tiki was back in place.

Tatiana smirked and rolled her shoulders, she wasn’t sweating or feeling as much of a burn as the rest of the girls were.

“TATIANA,” Yulia called out, eyes still closed. “You’re shaking the pole.”

Tatiana grinned and pushed her head up, making the whole structure move with her. Norah bit her bottom lip as the burning grew worse.

“Come on Alicia you got this!” Nastia cheered the other girl on.

“Come on Yulia,” Ekaterina said simply.

Yulia couldn’t take it anymore, she had to release some of the pressure she was exerting. She dropped her head barely a centimeter down, causing the tiki to fall forward and onto the grass.

“Yulia gave it everything she had,” JD said as the Russian wiped the sweat from her face on the bottom of her shirt. She stood beside Mykayla, body still shaking from the burning. “Two Russians and two Americans left, who’s going to win this thing?”

Norah’s body began to shake uncontrollably, her breaths shuddering every time she breathed. She clenched and unclenched her hands as time passed tortuously slow.

“Come on Norah, you got this babe,” Alicia said from beside her.

“Ahh my neck,” Tatiana groaned, lifting one hand to massage the pain away.

“It hurts so bad,” Norah whimpered.

“Please don’t shake Norah, you got this,” Mckayla encouraged.

“Come on Alicia,” Gabby called out.

Alla breathed in a long breath through her clenched teeth as the burning in her quads intensified.

“You sound like a snake hissing when you do that,” Tatiana said to the sweat slicked girl. Alla cut her eyes to her right, where Tatiana was standing, and murmured something in Russian.

Norah sighed loudly as her legs gave way from underneath her. She fell to her knees and cupped her face as tears sprung into her eyes, her tiki laid in the soft grass beside her.

“Norah, you lasted twenty-five minutes and thirty-seven seconds,” JD informed the girl as she came to stand beside them with teary eyes. “Good job Norah, you did great. Only one American is left along with two Russians, only one of you can win outright,” JD said to the tired girls.

Tatiana huffed out a short breath as Alla clenched her teeth tighter together and Alicia stared at a tree intensely.

“Come on Alicia,” Nastia called out.

“I can’t,” Alicia called back as her legs began to shake worse.

Alla’s face twisted in pain as she continued to balance the tiki.

“Which player will get to choose their-OH OH Oh,” JD’s sentence was interrupted as Alicia’s tiki tumbled to the ground.

“NO ALICIA,” Maria said, shaking her head as soon as the tiki touched the ground.

“Good job Alicia, you guys did great,” JD said to the three Americans and Yulia. “The game will now be one of those Russians picking one of the three Americans to be their teammate,” JD said to the two last players. Yulia hung her head in defeat as she realized there was no chance for her to be on Endurance.

Alla’s tiki was on it’s back right edge while Tatiana’s was still square with the pole. Alla rubbed her quads to relief some of the agonizing pain.

“Twenty-seven minutes and counting guys,” JD informed the two girls.

“Aghhh,” Alla let out a short moan of pain. Her quads were screaming with pain and her whole body was drenched in sweat.

“Come on Alla,” Viktoria called out to the girl.

“Aghhhhh,” Alla let out again, her face red with pain.

Tatiana smiled and rolled her shoulders I got this, I’m a beast baby.

“Alla don’t stop,” Jordyn said loudly.

“Aghhh,” Alla yelled in pain.

“Alla! Don’t move Alla your thing is on the edge,” Aliya informed the cringing girl. “Don’t move!”

“Tatiana you da man!” Ksenia shouted at the other Russian.

“Keep breathing,” Aly commanded Alla after she noticed her breath had hitched. “You can do this, Tatiana!”

Alla breathed in through her clenched teeth, “Aghh!”

Aliya face cringed as Alla came impossibly closer to letting her tiki fall. It’s only a matter of seconds before Tatiana wins the game Aliya thought as Alla let out another moan.

“Come on Tatiana focus!” Ksenia called out to the girl.

“Hang in there Alla! You’ve made it this far,” Aliya shouted.

Alla released a shuddery breath and with that, she stuck out her hand to catch the falling tiki. She stood up straight, her sweat covered shorts and shirts clinging to her body.

“Oh that’s it! Tanya won this thing!” JD announced to everyone.

Tatiana smiled widely and threw the tiki down. She ran over to Ksenia and hugged her tightly, they were now both in this game until the end. She let go quickly and ran over to stand with JD and the other six contestants.

“That was incredibly difficult,” JD started. “You lasted just over thirty minutes! And most of the time with a smile on your face,” JD said as Tatiana ran her hand down her sweat slick ponytail. “You are tough, you fought the burn longer than anyone else. You are now an official Endurance player but you still have a very difficult choice to make,” JD said to the blonde girl who was doing a victory dance.

“Alright Tatiana, you are now going to pick one of these three Americans to be your partner. Keep in mind you want a partner that will not only compliment your strengths but will fight just as hard as you did right now,” JD stopped, laying a comforting hand on Norah’s shoulder. “It’s either going to be Norah, Alicia or Mykayla that will join you in making the eigth team, the brown team, on Endurance.”

Tatiana examined each girl closely, biting her bottom lip softly as the long seconds passed by. Mykayla shifted uneasily as Tatiana’s eyes landed on her. “Ok well I thought about this and this just reinforced my thoughts,” Tatiana started. “I’m going to pick Alicia because she was also last for the Americans,” Tatiana finished with a smile just as big as Alicia’s.

“Look at that, Alicia,” JD began as whoops of celebration were let out behind him. Alicia half hugged both Mykayla and Norah at the same time as JD finished his sentence. “Go on over and stand next to Tatiana and take these two shirts with you, you know why? Because you and Tatiana are now the brown team,” JD said, handing Alicia the two identical shirts.

The seven other teams cheered them on as JD stepped closer. “Here is the perseverance piece for making it this far, go on and take that piece. For the four players over here,” JD said, turning around to the four sad girls.

“You guys didn’t make it out here for a second chance but you guys did make it out here to the jungles of Kauai. For that, you guys have endured, so congratulations and let’s hear for these guys and come on over and give them a hug. Then let’s head back over to the path so a few crew members can escort you to your way boat home,” JD said as everyone hugged goodbye. Some of the camera crew came out with the four eliminated contestants bags and handed it to them. The four girls then followed the four cameramen to the path leading into the dark bamboo forest, where they will take their leave once again.

__________________________________________________________

“Alright Alicia and Tatiana, go ahead and put your brown shirts on,” JD instructed the two girls. They slipped it over their other shirts and looked down proudly at the Endurance logo on the mocha colored shirt. “By putting that shirt on, you are now an official player on Endurance.”

“You know it,” Tatiana said playfully, causing laughter to come from the crowd.

“You guys made it, you won your second chance. I know your legs are burning but you are going to have to jump right into your next challenge, a temple mission. You guys are going to be playing later in the day for the chance to send two teams to the Temple of Fate. Meaning you could go home tonight even after only being a team for a few hours,” JD said to the brown team. “Welcome back, but don’t get too comfortable. See you guys soon,” JD said, hopping back in his canoe and disappearing down stream.

“Tanyaaa,” Ksenia squealed as she hugged the girl tightly. Everyone gathered arond them, forming a huge group hug.

***

“The way I was standing was sorta like a triangle. I knew the triangle is the strongest geometrical shape so by making that with my legs it made it easier for me to withhold the pain,” Tatiana explained to one of the few remaining cameramen.

***

“Tatiana really deserved it, she was cool and played with a smile on her face and I think everyone wanted her to win,” Aly said with a bright smile.

***

Tatiana and Alicia walked silently to their brown pole that had been out up during their challenge. Alicia placed their piece carefully on the lowest peg and smiled to her new teammate. Tatiana smiled back softly and placed her arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the cabins.

“I guess we’ll get the beds of the team that leaves,” Tatiana commented as they approached closer to the cabins.

“We better because I don’t plan on going home,” Alicia said, grinning ear to ear.

“Good cause neither do I,” Tatiana agreed.

***

“I’m really happy to be back and I’m really happy to see Gabby because she and I are good friends,” Alicia said to the camerawoman just as the clouds opened up.

***

Gabby and Alicia walked out in the rain, their boots sinking in the new mud.

“So you and me? All the way?” Alicia asked simply.

“Yeah of course,” Gabby said, flipping her wet hair out of her face. “We need to see who is the real strong team,” Gabby commented as they walked further.

***

“Gabby and I have formed an alliance because together I think we’ll get pretty far,” Alicia said to the same woman from before.

***

“We aren’t really sure who else we’ll be in alliance with because we aren’t sure who’s strong and thats not part of the p-o-g alliance,” Gabby explained to the white blonde camera holder.

***

“We’ll wait until after this challenge because we don’t want to get on bad terms with a strong team, yet,” Alicia said, casting a glance back towards the cabins.

***

“I’m so annoyed with Alicia and Tatiana because everyone thinks they are the queens of Endurance. Well newsflash they’ve already been cut once and I will send them home,” Aliya said full of vindication to the diary camera.

Mckayla, Viktoria and Aly squealed as their fellow teammates splashed them with yet another cold wave of water. The sun had just begun to sleepily poke it’s head over the horizon, sending long rays of brilliant light into the dark bamboo forest that surrounded the lake they were currently swimming in. The fresh scent of morning dew covering the grass filled their noses as they splashed in the deep lake. No one else had yet to waken from their slumber, more than likely to increase their chances of winning today’s challenge.

“Hey Aliya,” Viktoria said after their splashing had subsided.

“Yeah Vika?” Aliya responded as Aly settled close beside her. Everyone was now sitting at the slight curve at the west side of the lake. It was ideal because now everyone can see each other comfortably while sitting down.

“What’s your strategy for today? I mean, are you going to lay low and try not to be a threat or…” Viktoria trailed off for the taller Russian to finish.

Aliya smirked and shifted her weight to her hip closest to Aly, she flipped a stray wet hair out of her eyes and spoke with ease, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

***

“No, we can’t show all our strength right now...they’ll think we’re a threat,” Ekaterina explained to Simone, picking the bark off of the log they were sitting on by the edge of the camp.

“But then they’ll just pick us off as the weaklings and target us,” Simone retorted softly. Both of the petite girls whipped their heads up to look at the cabins where they just heard a sudden, loud yawn come from.

“They’re waking up…Listen, grey team is the strongest out here and we don’t want to be seen as a threat or get on their bad side, so we’ll lay low and blow the mission so they won’t even think about ‘picking us off’,” Ekaterina whispered much softer than before.

“But-”

“What piece did we get?” Ekaterina interrupted.

“Wha- knowledge,” Simone answered, confusion laced in her voice.

“Exactly, so lets use knowledge to get through this.”

“Hmph….”

***

Kyla and Anna stared out the Russian cabin windows. Their eyes were transfixed on locating all the teams before talking, they wanted to be certain no one would eavesdrop. Orange and purple were on the far side of the lake while red was on the other side. Blue was on the very edge of the woodline trying to see where the grey team had disappeared an hour ago. Finally yellow was behind the cabins in the hammocks, just far enough away to not hear anything.

“The day is crawling by slowly,” Anna commented as Ekaterina let out a loud groan of annoyance. Simone was smirking at the other girl as if she were right...or she accomplished something? Anna couldn’t quite put her finger on it but she knew the girl succeeded in some way.

“It is...we need to talk strategy,” Kyla said keeping her eyes on the yellow team out of the other window. She was leaned against the wall, enough to keep her body out of sight but not too much to block her view of the odd team.

“I agree, we need to give it our all. That way we can make sure they know we aren’t something they can dust off their shoulders,” Anna stated, watching how the red team kept glancing at the cabin they were standing in.

“But won’t that make us a target?” Kyla added, tearing her eyes away from the yellow team to glance at her teammate.

“No, I heard orange saying they wanted to get rid of the weak ones first,” Anna retorted, averting her eyes to the orange and purple teams. They seemed...relaxed, like they already figured everything out.

“But what about purple and grey? They are as strong if not stronger,” Kyla argued as Anna continued to stare out the window.

“They’re in an alliance, they’ll all agree with orange,” Anna said, finally turning to face the taller girl.

Kyla sighed deeply and pursed her lips, “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

__________________________________________________________

“There are no official alliances here that I know of,” Aly said pressing a hand to her chest. “Jordyn and I made fast friends so we have a ‘I’ll watch your back if you watch mine’ agreement,” Aly explained to the cameraman by the forest.

***

“I think a lot of people were upset about their partners initially but now everyone is kind of good with it, you know except for Nastia. I think she’s just wanting to cause drama,” Jordyn said to the cameraman by the lake.

***

“I am not really sure if me and my partner will be a good team because she just seems- you know… not as strong as the partner I could’ve had,” Nastia explained to the diary camera that was set up inside the secluded room.

***

“I think Anna and Kyla are planning something because me and Anna talked about being teammates and strategies and her main strategy so far is to remain ‘mysterious’,” Gabby explained to the cameraman from inside the cabin.

__________________________________________________________

Everyone gathered on the island in the middle of the pond, where they are supposed to meet before and after every challenge, but to their surprise JD wasn’t there. In his place was map leading them through the bamboo forest and onto the beach, where JD and the challenge awaits.

“What do you think the challenge is?” Maria asked Aly, carefully avoiding a mud puddle in the middle of the path they were walking on.

“Hmm I don’t know, something to do with water and something big probably,” Aly answered as they followed behind everyone on the trail.

“Why do you think that?” Maria questioned.

“Well think about it, why would we have to go to the beach unless the challenge was to big to set up at camp and we’re in the wettest place on earth so it makes sense if it deals with water,” Aly explained as they trekked up the steep hill leading up to the beach.

“I have butterflies in my stomach now,” Maria said with a giggle.

Aly laughed along with her and shook her head, “Don’t worry it can’t be that bad.”

__________________________________________________________

Everyone walked along the wet, sandy beach with their boots in hand. Out on the water they could make out a large metal contraption with thick metal rods sticking out of the metal platform nearly twenty feet above the water. Anastasia shook her head and looked closer, she thought she could see straps blowing in the breeze.

“Hey everybody! Ready for your first Endurance mission?” JD asked the silent group.

“Yeah,” The entire group chorused except for Aliya, she had her eyes focused on the metal beast in the water.

“I see you all have your game faces on,” JD commented with a smile. “Today we are going to be playing for the discipline piece, the first piece to be given out in a mission. You will also be tested for the first time as a team. But, I bet you are all wondering what this is,” JD said holding up a tiki vase with one hand, “the samdhi, the Buddhist word for contemplation. This little tiki will negatively affect the team it is given to,” JD announced causing everyone’s eyes to grow wide. “So not only are you playing for a piece, you are playing for power and control. You’ll have all day to decide who you want to give it to but at the end of the day, you will give it to a team, handicapping them in tomorrow’s challenge.”  Everyone shifted eyes to the people next to them except for, once again, Aliya. Her eyes were studying the vase intensely. “Now you ready to play the game?” JD asked the now anxious group.

“Yeah,” everyone responded.

“In 1953, New Zealand explorer Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to climb to the top of Mount Everest. But he didn’t do it alone, his partner Tenzing helped him through the treacherous snow and the slippery ice. These two men depended on each other, much like how you and your teammate are going to do right now. Way up there,” JD said pointing to the top of the metal contraption, “on top is a platform. It stands way above the water, one team member from each team is going to be harnessed to a pole. You are going to have to hold onto your partner as the platform tilts downward. The team that can hold on the longest gets the discipline piece and the almighty samdhi. If you guys are ready, lets head on out to the game,” JD said walking over to two canoes that were bobbing in the water. The contestants followed, splitting up by Americans in one boat and Russians in the other.

“Oh my god I’m so nervous,” Mckayla whispered to Jordyn.

“I’m not my partner is small,” Jordyn said with a smirk. Mckayla glared at the smug girl as the canoe’s approached closer to the object.

***

Orange team was the first to go up, Mckayla’s hands trembled as she climbed up the edge of the contraption. She tried to get her breathing under control as JD strapped her into her harness. Maria soon followed up and stood in front of Mckayla and grabbed the her by her wrists.

“What are you doing?” Mckayla asked nervously.

“Making us get a good grip,” Maria replied, smiling so her dimples would show. “Relax we’ll do great,” Maria said, sensing Mckayla’s nervousness.

***

Red soon followed with Gabby being strapped to the pole. She smiled as Anastasia stood in front of her visibly shaking.

“Hey, you ok?” Gabby asked, truly concerned for the small girl.

“I’m afraid of heights,” Anastasia confessed.

“Uh oh, well don’t think of it that way, think of it as if you are doing monkey bars,” Gabby reassured. Anastasia smiled in response, hooking her arms in a circle to around Gabby’s arms (who was holding onto her arms with the opposite hand right below her elbow).

***

“Aly if you drop me-”

“I’m not going to drop you,” Aly said cutting off the oncoming threat.

Aliya narrowed her eyes at the girl as she grabbed her forearm with her right hand and then grabbing Aly’s bent arm with her left, forming a basket toss position.

“I mean it Raisman, Don’t.Drop.Me,” Aliya said announcing each word with emphasis.

Aly rolled her eyes, “Have faith in me woman.”

***

“Turn around,” Nastia commanded Ksenia.

“Why?” Ksenia asked eyes growing wide.

“Just do it!” Nastia exclaimed, almost jumping out of her harness to turn the girl around herself.

“Ok ok I’m doing it!” Ksenia said turning around carefully.

“Good, now grab my wrists,” Nastia said holding her hands above Ksenia’s head.

Ksenia complied, grabbing ahold of Nastia’s wrists with a death grip. “Why can’t we stand like them?” Ksenia asked, jerking her head in the direction of the orange team.

“Because this way we don’t have to twist our hands like that.

“Ok I guess you’re right,” Ksenia said still unsure.

“I’m always right.”

__________________________________________________________

The rest of the teams loaded, holding onto each other in similar fashions. JD’s countdown fell to deaf ears as everyone focused on holding onto the person in front of them. Everyone looked down at their feet as the platform slowly started to tilt.

“Holy crap,” JD said as everyone’s feet began to drift off the platform. “Hold on tight.”

Simone and Ekaterina’s criss crossed arms untwisted as Simone’s full weight came off the platform. She looked down at the choppy waters beneath her, shivering at the site. She tried to minimize her moving but the strain on her arms forced her to move to obtain some sort of relief.

“This is a game of endurance, how long can you hold on?” Viktoria heard JD ask no one in particular. She pulled up on her left arm so Jordyn could readjust her grip on her right. She let down with a soft jerk, feeling that their grip had tightened.

“Oh shoot!” Aliya heard Ekaterina exclaim as her grip loosened on Simone.

“Oh god!” She heard Gabby shout from beside her. Their eyes met as Gabby tried to readjust, “My hands are slipping!” Anastasia said, panic evident in her voice. Aliya looked up to see Aly barely fazed, she smirked up at the other girl just before they heard JD speak.

“Looks like Maria’s gonna be the first,” JD said as Maria almost let go off Mckayla’s left hand. As soon as the words left JD’s mouth, a splash was heard. Everyone looked down to see Ksenia in the water swimming to shore.

“Sorry that was my fault,” Nastia called out to the girl.

“I KNOW,” Ksenia replied loudly.

“Ksenia, the yellow team is out of this game,” JD said as Ksenia reached about halfway to shore.

Viktoria pulled up on her right arm, easily readjusting her grip on Jordyn. Her arm’s were burning with pain but her grip was holding firm.

“Oh my gosh I’m going,” Maria said right before she let go of Mckayla, her arms and hands slipping right through the American girl’s grip. The cold water knocked her breath out as her body slid through the water.

“Oh! Orange team’s gone,” JD said as Maria resurfaced. “Remember you guys are playing for two pieces here! Two pieces and the samdhi!”

“That’s going to get old quick,” Simone said under her breath, causing Ekaterina to laugh from beneath her.

“Five teams- OH Anastasia’s gone!” JD said as Anastasia hit the water while he was talking.

“Ughhhhhh,” Aly let out a loud groan as Aliya’s weight pulled her wrist from her forearm slowly. Aliya looked up just in time to see their hands slip apart, her body flew through the air to hit the water quick and hard. She dug into the water and pushed it beneath her to get back to the surface. Aly cringed in anticipation for the ear bashing she was about to receive. To her surprise Aliya swam away without a word.

“It’s come down to purple, blue and green,” JD said as Anna squeezed her eyes shut to ignore the strain on her arms. All of the American girls, still strapped to the poles without a teammate, looked at the remaining teams and made mental bets on who would win.

Viktoria pulled up on her left arm to let Jordyn readjust again as Simone shouted frantically at Ekaterina.

“I’m slipping, I’m slipping!” Simone shouted as her grip loosened.

“No you aren’t going to let-” Ekaterina’s words were left at the tip of her tongue as Simone let go of her, sending her body into the choppy waters below.

“Oops,” Gabby said as the now drenched Russian resurfaced.

“It’s now green or purple! Green or purple is going to win!” JD said excitedly.

Anna squeezed her eyes tighter as the weight of her body made her arms scream for a relief. She heard Kyla take a deep breath and opened her eyes to look over at Jordyn and Viktoria. They didn’t even  seem to have any problems. Viktoria was occasionally pulling up to let Jordyn readjust and then Jordyn would pull Viktoria up to let her readjust. Anna averted her gaze back up to see Kyla struggling to hold on.

“Wah!” Anna let out a surprised shout as her body fell to the water below.

“That’s it! Purple team you won the game, the discipline piece and the samdhi!” JD announced as Viktoria and Jordyn shouted in celebration.

“Wooooo we won!” Viktoria shouted excitedly before Jordyn let go of her.

"Oh my god my arms are on fire,” Kyla commented as Jordyn continued to obnoxiously celebrate with her soaked partner.

__________________________________________________________

“I’m not really afraid of heights but when I got up there and started looking down, I freaked out,” Anastasia said to one of the cameramen on the beach. JD had left to go unstrap their partners, leaving the Russians to talk to the camera crew.

***

“I kinda knew I wasn’t going to win because my partner is smaller than me so I think it should’ve been the other way around with me holding her,” Ksenia said to the cameraman as she dried her hair of with her towel.

***

“I just had my eyes shut, trying to keep focused. Really when it came to mind over matter, I had the mind part down just the matter,” Anna trailed off as she remembered falling into the water.

***

“When we were up there, I would say ‘right arm’ and she would’ve sorta loosen her grip so I could slid my hand up and then she would readjust her grip,” Viktoria explained to Aliya, making the hand motions to demonstrate.

***

“When I was on shore, I waited for Anastasia because I knew she was going to be close behind since Gabby was struggling to hold on. So when she swam in we hugged because we knew we were in trouble since purple, grey and orange have this alliance and they all want us gone,” Ksenia explained to the cameraman.

***

Back at camp

“Everyone is just real worried about the samdhi so everyone is just really quiet and making secret agreements,” Nastia said to the camerawoman near the wood line.

***

“Everyone is just so worried, like ‘oh no I’m going to get the samdhi’ ‘oh no they’re going to pick me’,” Aliya mimicked with a roll of her amber eyes. “Instead of crying about it, everyone needs to shut up and take it like a big girl,” Aliya said to the diary camera, annoyance dripping from her voice.

***

“We won the endurance mission and that puts you in the lead and everything but it also makes you think about who you want to handicap because you don’t want any bad blood,” Jordyn explained to the cameraman, turning the samdhi thrice in hand.

***

“We won the endurance mission and we are staying on this island to be top three, top two and then one,” Viktoria said with confidence to the diary camera.

***

“Who do you think they’re targeting?” Gabby asked Mckayla from inside the American cabin.

“Oh I know who they’re targeting, I’m just not going to mention it,” Mckayla said laying down on her hard bunk bed.

“What why not?” Gabby said coming over to stand beside Mckayla’s bed.

“Because they are targeting the same people we are and that’s just going to make it more complicated,” Mckayla said, staring at the shorter girl.

***

“From what I’ve heard, either blue or green is getting the samdhi tonight,” Anastasia said to the two cameramen from the bank of the lake.

***

“So we aren’t giving it to red because they’re too weak and won’t win tomorrow anyway,” Viktoria said beginning the list of teams that they could handicap.

“Yeah and not grey or orange because of our agreement,” Jordyn said drawing circles with the tip of her boot in the muddy bank by the far side of the lake.

“Ok so that leads us with yellow, blue and green,” Viktoria continued, scanning her eyes across the camp.

“Blue and green seem strong but they won’t win tomorrow,” Jordyn stated, looking up to see the clouds had opened up to let the downpour began.

“But giving it to yellow is pointless, we should give it to green since they lasted the longest,” Viktoria argued, covering her eyes from the rain.

“Ok how about this, give the samdhi to yellow and try to win tomorrow or help grey or orange win, then we get blue and green to go to the temple of fate,” Jordyn offered. In reality she just wanted yellow gone, she didn’t have a problem with Ksenia but Nastia rakes her nerves.

“Deal but next time we can’t decide, I’m making the compromise,” Viktoria stated, leaving no room for argument.

“You got it boss.”

__________________________________________________________

Sunset on the island in the pond

“Purple team, you did an amazing job on tilt, now it’s time for your reward,” JD smiling at the standing purple team. All the other teams had taken seat on their damp logs and were waiting silently for the samdhi to be given out. “You get the discipline piece, that leaves four pieces left in play. Remember everybody, the first team to win all twelve pieces wins the game and becomes Endurance champ,” JD said turning his attention to the silent crowd. “You guys,” JD start, turning towards the purple team, “are well on your way. So everybody this is how I kind of look at this, purple team is in control. They won the first endurance mission, they have the most pieces and they have the powerful samdhi,” JD said, listing the reasons on his fingers. “Must be easy to make friends out here right now, huh?” JD asked, turning to Viktoria.

“Oh yeah,” Viktoria replied sarcastically.

“Yeah I bet it is. I’m going to give you time to go place your piece on your pillar and when you get back we’ll give out the samdhi,” JD explained to the purple team, taking the samdhi and trading it with the discipline piece.

Jordyn and Viktoria walked in silence across the makeshift bamboo bridge laying over the shallow water and over to their tall purple pillar.

“Are we sure we want to give the samdhi to yellow?” Viktoria asked in a hushed voice as Jordyn placed the piece on the next free peg.

“Yes remember the plan,” Jordyn reminded the other girl.

They walked in silence back over to the small island. As they crossed over the tiny bridge, they could feel the heated looks on them before their eyes made contact with anyone.

“Before we start, I want to know a few things, has anyone tried to sway your minds on the choosing of who you are giving the samdhi to?” JD asked the purple team.

“No, not really we have been swaying each other’s minds and that’s pretty much it,” Viktoria answered with a smile.

“Samdhi does mean contemplation in buddhism, which it seems like you’ve been doing all afternoon,” JD commented.

“Yeah, there really hasn’t been a moment where we weren’t contemplating,” Jordyn said, casting a look to the silent group.

“Aliya,” JD said, turning to face the Russian, “I’ve noticed something about you.”

“Oh really?” Aliya drawled, leaning onto her hands.

“The first day you were really quiet and watching, the second day you were quiet and watching and today you are out of your shell. Which leads me to believe that you know more than what you’re letting on,” JD said with a smirk. Aliya smirked back with mystery sparking in her amber eyes. “Maybe Anna isn’t the real mysterious one here,” JD trailed off.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Aliya said mysteriously.

“I’m guessing that means you’re a strategy over friendship player?” JD assumed.

“Wouldn’t you love to know,” Aliya retorted, leaning back into her original sitting position.

“Wow, you’re very secretive,” JD said.

“No just cunning,” Aliya corrected, smirking wider.

JD grinned widely before averting his attention back to the matter at hand. “Purple team, it is now time to hand over the samdhi to negatively affect a team in the next mission. This a really big decision to make so choose carefully,” JD warned.

“It came down to the,” Viktoria trailed off for Jordyn to finish.

“Yellow team,” Jordyn said looking Nastia straight in the eye.

“The yellow team...do you want to tell me why?” JD asked Jordyn.

“Just did,” Jordyn said, trying her best to avoid the oncoming drama.

“Yellow team come on up here,” JD said as Nastia and Ksenia stood up from their damp logs and up to the front with JD. Viktoria and Jordyn took their places on their log and watched the yellow team whose faces were red with anger.

“Ok this is for you,” JD said handing Ksenia the samdhi. “Ksenia, what I want you to do is break this tiki in half on the pointed edge on that rock right there,” JD instructed the blonde.

Ksenia placed both her hands on either side of the tiki and pressed it hard against the sharp rock. The wood instantly began to split, revealing two small foam blocks.

“Alright hand one of those to Nastia,” JD said to Ksenia who automatically obliged. “This means that you guys will have an extra two blocks in the next mission. Getting the samadhi doesn’t mean you’ll lose but it does make it harder to win,” JD explained to the seething pair.

“The type of mission tomorrow is called a temple mission, meaning whoever wins get to send two teams of their choosing to go to the temple of fate to battle it out until one team is eliminated,” JD told the group. “Now go get something to eat and a good nights rest, you’re going to need it,” JD said dismissing the group.

***

Dinner

Aly swung her legs off of the big tree branch that was her and Aliya’s meeting place. They had just settled in comfortable silence after talking about their siblings. Aliya smiled softly, taking another bite out of her turkey sandwich.

“Aliya?” Aly said, looking at a pair of birds perched on the branch in front of her.

“Hmm,” Aliya responded, setting her plate aside closer to the base of the tree.

“Are you the mysterious one or is Anna?” Aly asked recalling the conversation from earlier.

Aliya let out a sigh before speaking, “we both are the difference is, I know what I’m doing. I’m not watching from the window and trying to make plans, I’ve already got every move of this game played out in my head.”

Aly looked at her in shock, “really? Please tell me we’re the champs in your plan.”

Aliya let out a short laugh and looked at the dark haired girl. Her eyes met Aly’s chocolate brown ones that were being bathed in the retreating sunlight. Her eyes shone beautifully and her dark, wavy hair contrasted greatly with the brilliant pinks and oranges of the sunset and the forest surrounding them.

“Of course it does,” Aliya said causing Aly to grin. The shorter girl leaned her head on Aliya’s shoulder as they watched the sun disappear from the sky.

“We should head back,” Aly commented without moving.

“Yeah we should,” Aliya agreed, she sat still wanting to savour the moment.

***

Back in the cabins

“Drop ‘em,” Jordyn said dropping her last four cards on the table. She already had three queens as her three of a kind and two aces, a two and a four in her hand. She looked around the table seeing she had the lowest hand score and the highest three score. She smirked as everyone else playing realized she had won, again.

“I have a feeling this isn’t your first time playing,” Nastia said, tossing her cards in the middle of the table.

“Nope and I hope you all get used to losing to me,” Jordyn joked.

“We’ll see about that purple,” Mckayla said with a smirk.

“I so could’ve won with that four,” Gabby said causing everyone to laugh.

We’ll see about that Nastia thought in her head.

tbc.......

COLOR                         PIECE(S)

GREY-                          Courage 

YELLOW-                     Luck

RED-                             Heart

BLUE-                           Knowledge

PURPLE-                      Strength, Discipline

GREEN-                        Commitment

Tatiana approached the lower bar, rolling the kinks out of her neck and shoulders as she muttered words of encouragement to herself. While she was preparing herself she hadn’t noticed Valentina approaching her.

Valentina leaned into the girl’s ear and spoke softly, “It’s time to show these Americans who the best country is, do the Nabieva.”

Tatiana paled and tensed, “Have you lost your mind- actually I already know the answer,” Tatiana said cutting off Valentina when the older woman had opened her mouth to respond. “I am not doing it,” Tatiana said looking at Valentina’s hard face that left no room for argument. Damn it Tatiana huffed out a hard breath as she looked back at the low bar. She hadn’t done her signature move in years and was unsure if she’d be able to do it. Despite her doubts she mounted on to the low bar going through the motions of a routine that she had never unveiled at competition. She transitioned to the high bar with ease and swung effortlessly as she prepared for her release. In a flash Tatiana was on the ground trying to catch the breath she had just lost when she had tried to catch the release.

“Again,” Valentina said coldly to the Russian girl that was picking herself up. Tatiana turned her head slowly with a glare gracing her face as she looked at the impassive mask on the older woman’s face. Oh hell no! Go shove it you old grumpy toad!

“Yes ma’am,” Tatiana bit out between clenched teeth. She felt her anger bubbling beneath her skin as she jumped to get hold of the high bar. She cleared the bar three times before letting her body soar through the air and recatch the bar. She heard many of her teammates cheering for her and could feel the Americans’ eyes on her as she came to the dismount of her routine. She let the momentum carry her through the air and kept her body straight as she completed the double layout dismount. She raised her hands in salute to the non existing judges as she smirked at Valentina’s nod of approvement.

never had a doubt in my mind, Tatiana said smugly in her mind.

__________________________________________________________

“Ok Queen Musty, let’s try this again,” Mihai said pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger. He had been trying to ‘fix’ Aliya’s twisting form for the past hour and he had yet to accomplish anything.

“It’s Alka and this is a waste of time,” Aliya hissed in frustration. “My twisting form has never been great and it’s been worse since I injured my knee,” Aliya said still fuming.

“I know dear but practice makes perfect,” Mihai said putting a fake smile on.

“Well can I practice the rest of my routine instead of just my triple twist?” Aliya complained.

“Oh come on Mihai give the poor girl a break,” Alicia said wrapping her arm around Aliya’s shoulders. Aliya scrunched her eyebrows into a frown as she looked at the girl’s arm around her.

“We must practice in order for her to be ready for this competition,” Mihai explained, he could feel an argument brewing as it so often did when him and Alicia discussed during training.

“Well she can’t win with just a triple, can she?” Alicia retorted with a raise of one of her dark eyebrows.

“She won’t win anything if we don’t fix that horrendous form!” Mihai exclaimed. Aliya’s eyes traveled between the two as Alicia’s eyes narrowed. She watched with great curiosity as the two went back and forth over and over again. She had been watching so intently she hadn’t notice a hand encircle her wrist until she was being tugged away from the arguing coach and gymnast.

“You looked like you needed someone to rescue you,” Aly said when Aliya’s surprised amber eyes landed on her smiling face.

Aliya smiled widely as she walked over to the floor with Aly at tow. She was careful not to intertwine their hands since Nailya was on the beams closest to the floor.

“You aren’t going to make me do triples are you?” Aliya joked as she stood in the corner of the floor waiting to do a pass.

“No,” Aly said grinning widely.

“Good,” Aliya said before taking a deep breath before starting her pass. Aly waited silently for the girl to go through all her passes one by one.

“She’s good,” A voice said from beside Aly. Aly looked over to see Marta watching Aliya run through her passes again, the older woman’s face was stripped of any emotions and she seemed deep in thought.

“Yeah she is,” Aly agreed quietly.

“But you’re better,” Valentina said after a few moments of silence.

“Maybe in 2012 but now,” Aly said chewing on her bottom lip.

“No you are still better,” Marta reassured her causing Aly to blush in response. “Do you feel confident enough to do your first pass?” Marta asked the dark haired girl.

“I think so,” Aly said softly after pondering her decision for a few quick moments.

“Mustafina! Bring it in,” Marta ordered the Russian girl. Aliya stalked over to the American woman with a questioning expression playing across her face. “Your turn Raisman,” Marta said when Aliya had finally joined them.

Aly went to the corner of the floor and stood in her opening pose, she played the music in her mind as she began her routine. The old pass came to her as naturally as flying came to birds. She went through the pass with ease and squeezed her legs together during her punch front. She looked over to Marta with a big grin as the older woman hurried over to her.

“Good job Aly!” Marta said cupping Aly’s face and patting her cheeks with her hands. Aly looked over to Aliya expecting to see her girlfriend smiling at her but instead she saw Aliya’s back. The girl apparently had turned around to watch her sister. Aly’s face fell momentarily but she soon recovered and tried to shrug the slight pang of sadness off.

__________________________________________________________

Viktoria sighed in disbelief as she came off the beam yet again. She had missed her standing arabian seven times now and was getting frustrated beyond belief. She couldn’t focus on sticking the skill because a certain silent, brown eyed American plagued every thought that coursed through her mind. She sighed raggedly as she mounted the beam once more, her feet automatically gripped the rather small piece of wood as she prepared for the move, again.

*

Jordyn winced as the sound of Viktoria’s feet slipping off the beam filled her ears. She glanced over to see her girlfriend sighing in desperation as she dragged herself back onto the beam.

*

Viktoria raised her arms in preparation before stealing glance of Jordyn. She did not expect to see her girlfriend looking back at her, let alone with a small, sympathetic smile playing across her lips. Viktoria was unaware of the smile now tugging at her own lips and the new warm feeling that filled her chest as she threw herself through the air, executing the skill with ease. She smiled widely at herself before turning back to see Jordyn clapping silently.

__________________________________________________________

Nastia leaned against her crutch as Kyla went through her beam routine again. Her fiance had left her with Kyla and Ksenia so she could go talk to Mihai. Ksenia had left to go over to the floor to wait her turn and Kyla had begun her beam routine immediately after she left.

Nastia glanced over her shoulder to see Ksenia almost step out of bounds. She shook her head as the frustration grew within the other girl. She sighed and hobbled over to the other Russian born, waiting silently for the other girl to come back towards the corner she stood by. Against her better judgement, she felt like helping the other girl.

Ksenia saw her as she started her pass, she stopped in the middle of her pass and crossed her arms across her chest. She lifted a blonde eyebrow in question to the other girl. Nastia rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to her uninjured side.

“Would you like my advice?” Nastia said across the floor.

Ksenia narrowed her eyes slightly as she took the other girl’s words in. “Depends, how do I know your ‘advice’ won’t make me do bad?” Ksenia said, taking a few steps closer to the other blonde.

Nastia smirked and shook her head for the second time in the past five minutes. “You have no confidence,” Nastia said moving forward as well.

“Excuse me?” Ksenia said slightly offended.

“When you get ready for that pass, you look like you are going to fail before you even start. It’s as if you don’t think you can do it,” Nastia explained coolly.

“Not true,” Ksenia scoffed, causing Nastia to roll her eyes and turn on heel. “But if it was,” Ksenia blurted out to Nastia’s retreating back. Nastia smirked and stopped in her tracks. “How do I fix it?” Ksenia finished.

“Easy, instead of thinking about London constantly and that one mistake, put it behind you. It’s a new day and a new chance to get it right,” Nastia explained. “You’re only as good as you think you are. If you start by saying ‘I can do this’ instead of ‘I can’t do this’ you’ll do better. Maybe not perfect but it’ll be better,” Nastia said coming to stand back in her spot by the edge of the floor.

“Ok, I’ll try,” Ksenia said after a short silence. She went back to the corner of the floor and took a deep breath. Her eyes fluttered shut for a mere second and let her mind clear except for one thought. I can do this. Ksenia wasn’t even aware of the fact she had finished the pass until she heard Nastia speak.

“Look down,” Nastia commanded softly. Ksenia lowered her eyes and looked at her feet, she had landed in bounds. She looked back up, beaming at the other blonde. “Good-” Nastia’s words were cut off by Ksenia enveloping her into a hug.

“Thank you,” Ksenia said softly.

Nastia smiled gently, “You’re welcome.”

__________________________________________________________

Maria narrowed her eyes as her girlfriend executed her amanar perfectly, again. She had yet to land one nearly as good and her frustration was beginning to get the best of her.

“You could try a different vault,” Valentina suggested from beside her.

“Like what?! I haven’t trained anything else,” Maria exclaimed.

“Not true, you can try a handspring-rudi,” Valentina said.

“I haven’t done one in ages and competition is coming up,” Maria bit out.

“Then you better get started,” Valentina stated bluntly before turning away.

“That’s a downgrade though!” Maria all but shouted.

“In the code of points an amanar is a 6.3 and a rudi is a 6.2, you can make up in execution,” Valentina said, leaving the girl.

Maria clenched her jaw as she went over to the runway leading up to the pit with a small mat in the middle of it. She waited for her coach to get in position before she began the new vault. She ran down the runway, pushing her body forward to execute a handspring instead of a round off (what she was more accustomed to). She completed a layout salto with one-and-a-half twists, landing facing backwards. Her feet were unsteady causing her to take several steps backwards resulting with her landing on her backside. A soft grunt escaped her lips as her body met the mat.

That was pretty good considering I haven’t done a rudi in a long time. Maria glanced over at Mckayla to see her watching with an emotionless mask painted onto her beautiful face. Maria smirked and stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend playfully. Mckayla rolled her eyes and shook her head as an amused grin graced her lips.

“Paseka! Again!” Maria heard Valentina command from across the gym. I can’t stand her sometimes.

__________________________________________________________

Summary: The Russian team goes to a camp for elite gymnasts with the American team. How will this experience change their feelings for each other though?

Disclaimer: contains swearing (none of this is true)

Chapter 24 Part Two: The Trick

“Alicia Marie Sacramone why on earth are you dragging me to Aly’s room?” Nastia said as she desperately tried to keep up with her fiancé's pace. Training had only ended an hour ago and she had decided to take a hot shower. To her dismay, Alicia had interrupted her bathing time to not join her but to force her to get dressed so they could go to the Boston girl’s room.

“Because we all need one less blow out before this training gets too serious,” Alicia explained, loosening her grip on Nastia’s hoodie as they came closer to the dark haired girl’s room.

Finally, the two came to a stop in front of Aly’s door. Alicia knocked three times before turning back to Nastia. Her breath hitched as the site of her fiancé hit her full force. Big green eyes shining like newly polished emeralds, straight blonde hair in a messy bun, Alicia’s dark grey hoodie showing off her thin waist, black skinny jeans hugging her hips and her amazing legs, and to top it all off was black vans that made the casual outfit look complete.

“Leesh, you ok?” Nastia asked as her girlfriend continued to stare open mouthed.

“Erm..yeah..It’s just you look really beautiful,” Alicia said fumbling over her own words.

“Aw thanks babe, you’re not so bad yourself,” Nastia said giving the other girl a sexy wink.

Before Alicia could retort, the door opened to reveal an almost empty room. Only Aliya, Nailya and Anastasia sat in the room talking quietly amongst themselves.

“Hey guys! Can I speak to you quickly?” Aly said already stepping outside and shutting the door behind before the pair could answer. Alicia and Nastia stared wide eyed, waiting for Aly to continue. “Aliya has been ignoring me- well not ignoring but acting differently since Nailya came here and I am worried she will want to end things so her parents won’t find out about us and I’m stressing really bad because I don’t want to be without her and-” Aly’s rambling was cut off by Aliya opening the door.

Aliya looked curiously between the three Americans. Alicia and Nastia had wide eyes and Aly’s hands had frozen mid air from speaking? and her lips were pressed in a thin line. “Is everything...ok?” Aliya asked examining the trio.

“Yeah great! We’ll be in shortly,” Aly explained quickly.

Aliya raised her eyebrow in question, “Explain later, Raisman,” Aliya said ducking her head back inside.

“Ok I will,” Aly said as quickly as the first time.

Aliya took one last look at the group to see Alicia glaring at her briefly before Nastia subtly elbowed her in the side.

“I’m just going to go back in now…” Aliya said closing the door.

“I don’t like her,” Alicia stated bluntly.

“Babe-”

“No Nast, she has no right to treat Aly that way!” Alicia exclaimed, clearly mad that anyone would have the nerve to make her mini me upset.

“She’s just scared, give her time she’ll come around,” Nastia said opening the door and going inside to avoid the argument coming up.

***

Fifteen minutes later

Gabby, Kyla, Jordyn, Viktoria, Maria, Aliya and Nailya had formed one circle while Anastasia, Tatiana, Semy, Ksenia, Nastia, and Alicia had formed another. Aly and Mckayla stood at the front of the room, preparing to tell everyone their idea.

Aly cleared her throat, “As everyone knows we are about to undergo weeks of intense training for the new competition. Mckayla and I have known for a few days before it was announced which gave us time to prepare a little ‘trick’,” Aly paused to let Mckayla take over.

“Party Raisman and I have decided to take everyone on a senior elite prank. Some of us will be teepeeing Valentina and Marta’s separate cabins, others will be sticky noting their cars and the rest of us will be setting up the master prank in the front yards,” Mckayla said with a evil glint in her eyes.

“Now,” Aly started, “The teepeeing group will be Alicia, Nastia, Semy, Ksenia and Tatiana. Next the car group will be Kyla, Gabby, Anastasia, Aliya, and Nailya,” Aly looked up to see Aliya staring at her with narrow eyes. She shrugged her shoulders barely before continuing, “Jordyn, Viktoria, Maria, Mac and I will be doing the ultimate prank,” Aly finished letting Mckayla take over again.

“We have a limited amount of time to finish this prank. The two devils will be in bed sound asleep by midnight, which is half an hour away. We will have until dawn before Valentina wakes up to go on her morning stroll. If we figured it out correctly, Valentina will see the toilet paper and call Marta who will see their cars out of her window. Then they will step out, setting off the master prank. Now with that said, everyone needs to wear dark clothes, like Nastia,” Mckayla said pointing to the blonde. “Wear a dark hoodie or something with a hood that way no one can tell it is us if we were to get caught. Now any questions?” Mckayla asked the group.

“Where do we meet up?” Aliya asked still glaring at Aly.

“Meet back here in twenty-five minutes,” Mckayla answered. She looked around the room seeing no one else had any questions. “Alright lets go.”

***

Aliya and Nailya were the last to leave Aly’s room to get ready. Nailya had already began walking down the hallway when Aliya turned to go back in the room.

“What are you doing?” Nailya asked curiously.

“Oh I’m...uh...Just saying bye to Micah. It’ll be my first night not being in the room with her,” Aliya lied.

“Oh ok...I’m going to go ahead and get dressed then,” Nailya said as she hurried to her room.

Aliya turned back to the still opened door; Aly was on the other side of the room laying Micah in her crib. She leaned her shoulder against the door frame waiting for Aly to turn around.

“Are you going to say bye to her or stand there?” Aly asked after several moments of silence.

Aliya sighed and went over to the crib; she kissed the little girl’s head and turned to Aly. She studied the other dark haired girl’s face. Her chocolate eyes were soft but her face was emotionless. “Why did you put me in the other group?” Aliya asked looking into Aly’s eyes.

“You’re always wanting to be with her so I put you with her...plus you don’t want her to find out about us,” Aly explained, her voice growing quieter with each word.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t do anything together!” Aliya exclaimed as silently as she could be.

“Well you sure act like it! You won’t even talk to me when she’s around!” Aly retorted. She could feel the tears stinging in the back of her eyes as they began to well up.

“Aly-”

“No Aliya, just go get dressed,” Aly choked out, turning away from the Russian.

Aliya looked at Aly’s back in disbelief before shaking her head. “See you in twenty minutes,” Aliya said walking over to the door shutting it loudly behind her. Aly looked down to see their baby still sound asleep. She stared at the angelic baby as she let her tears fall freely.

__________________________________________________________

“Ok is everyone ready?” Mckayla asked the dark dressed group.

“I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Kyla said.

“When this is over, you’ll be glad I did,” Mckayla chuckled.

Everyone walked to the side entrance and single filed out of the small door. Tatiana grabbed a small rock that was laying astray near the door and propped it open, that way they wouldn’t be locked out.

“Teepee group and car group, you guys start first that way we can stand guard,” Mckayla said ushering the teepee group to the left (toward Valentina’s house) and the car group to the right (toward Marta’s house).

***

“Ky, throw me the blue stickys,” Gabby said from on top of Marta’s car. Kyla kept her eyes glued to the third tire she was covering in yellow sticky notes as she threw the blue pad up to Gabby. Gabby caught it with ease and began covering the sunroof with the blue paper.

Below her, Anastasia was covering the right side of the car with green stickys while Aliya and Nailya were covering all the windows with orange sticky notes when something landed on Nailya’s head. She patted her head to feel a pad of blue stickys. She looked up to find Gabby looking at her with an amused grin.

“Sorry,” Gabby giggled her hand out. Nailya rolled her eyes playfully and handed the girl her stickys.

***

“Alright we got the fountain, I think that’s the centerpiece of the yard so we’ll start with that first,” Alicia said to Semy.

“Don’t worry guys, I’m a pro at this,” Tatiana said throwing a roll of toilet paper up towards a tree branch. The roll missed it’s target due to Tatiana throwing the whole roll.

“I thought you said you were a pro?” Ksenia sneered.

Tatiana stumbled forward as she tripped over her own feet. Ksenia and Semy laughed at their friend’s antics.

“Do better Nastia,” Alicia said without looking at her fiancé. “Nastia?” Alicia called out after her fiancé had failed to answer her.

“This is in my way,” Nastia said to herself from the row of bushes several feet away. She was leaning against her crutches as she carefully moved a branch out of her way.

“Nast what are you doing?” Alicia asked, turning to look at her completely.

“I’m trying to do a nice pattern-”

“It’s not about being nice,” Alicia said to the tall blonde.

“I know but I want to make it look like chevron,” Nastia said laying another piece of toilet paper down.

“We aren’t making chevron babe!” Alicia exclaimed as she started rolling paper around the fountain.

“Well fine I’m making zigzags then,” Nastia said tearing off more toilet paper.

“This starting off bad,” Alicia said to Semy. Rolling Marta and Valentina’s cabin is probably a little over ambitious for this team.

“Guys, I’m stuck in the shrubs,” Nastia called out quietly to the others.

“Oh crap,” Alicia said looking at her lovely soon to be bride. It’s no surprise my wifey is having problems.

“I think I’ve been pierced,” Nastia said looking down at her hip.

I figured Semy would have some issues too. “Alright how am I doing?” Semy asked as she ran around the fountain with a short tail of toilet paper whipping through the air behind her.

Ksenia can’t get worse- Alicia’s thoughts were cut off by Ksenia throwing a roll of paper up just to have it come crashing down on her head.

But Tatiana...She’s supposed to be a pro at this! Alicia thought as the same roll of toilet paper Tatiana started out with went unsuccessfully flying through the air, again. “Sorry that was an accident,” Tatiana said picking up the roll that landed by Alicia’s feet. Didn’t they do this back in Russia?!

“Oh my god!” Alicia turned to see a startled Semy.

“Sorry that one got away from me,” Ksenia said, picking up the roll that had just fallen on Semy.

“This is like dodging bombs,” Alicia whispered loudly.

“It looks pretty when you throw it though,” Nastia said watching another roll of paper fly through the air without touching anything.

I think I’m dealing with a few noobs here and it’s embarrassing. Alicia thought just as Tatiana successfully threw a roll over a tree limb. “Yeah good job!” Alicia praised as Tatiana gave her a thumbs up. On the opposite side of the tree, Ksenia threw a roll covering two branches. “Yes good throw!” Alicia said to the blonde.

Suddenly a light came on from inside the house. “Crap! Valentina’s up!” Alicia whisper shouted to everyone. Everyone ran for cover by the nearby cars and sat quietly as they waited for the older woman’s reaction.

Valentina looked out with sleep filled eyes; her vision was blurry and she couldn’t see anything moving in the dark. Once she decided everything was ok, she headed back to bed.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but stayed a few moments to ensure she wasn’t going to come back.

“Wait..where’s Nastia?” Anastasia asked Alicia.

Alicia looked around frantically before her eyes landed on her fiancé still by the bushes. She had to cover her mouth from laughing when she saw Nastia had crouched down (leaving her injured leg to stick out straight from her almost sitting position) and pulled her hood over her head.

“Babe what are you doing?” Alicia asked holding in her giggles.

“I’m acting like a stump,” Nastia whispered back.

Everyone had to stifle their laughter as the Olympian remained on the ground, acting like a stump.

***

Aly, Viktoria and Jordyn stood side by side as Maria and Mckayla put the finishing touches around the yard.

“Bucket of water balloons above the doors?” Aly asked Jordyn.

“Check,” Jordyn confirmed.

“Bubble wrap under the welcome mat?”

“Check.”

“Wire to set off the sprinklers?”

“Check.”

“Hair dryers beneath the bushes filled with baby powder?”

“And finally, rope to trip them into the slip n’ slide filled with whip cream at the bottom?” Aly smiled evilly.

“Check,” Maria and Mckayla said in unison.

“Great now let’s make like a banana and split!” Aly said running back to side entrance. She held open the door as everyone ran in one by one. Tatiana was the last to enter, kicking the rock out of the way as she went. She stood by the door as Aly slid in.

“See you in the morning V-rod,” Tatiana said, smirking as she closed the door.

"Blue, alright head on over," JD said turning to Ksenia. "Anastasia is on blue, as you know it is one Russian and one American per team. You can now pick any other color she hasn't, which one will it be?"

Ksenia smiled brightly not even having to think about the choice, "Yellow."

"Yellow it is, head on over to your color. Now Gabby, here is where it gets a little interesting. You can choose one of these Russians or you can choose a color of your own. Gabby, where do you want to go?" JD asked the dark haired girl.

"Um I think I want to be red," Gabby said with her eye glued to the bright red rope.

"Red, she's going out on her own for red. So far Jordyn, you can see you got Anastasia in blue, Ksenia in yellow or you can choose one of the other colors. What do you wanna do?" JD asked.

"I think I'm going to pick pink," Jordyn said walking over to the rope.

"Everyone is out on their own so far and that's actually purple." JD said pointing to the contestants by the ropes.

"Oh purple?" Jordyn asked while all her thoughts of Marta vanished.

"Alright you can see what's going on over here," JD said to Kyla. "You can pick Ksenia, you can pick Anastasia or you can pick one of the other colors that are open. Where do you want to go?"

"I'll take green," Kyla said walking over to the forest green rope.

"Green it is go for it. And here comes the rain," JD said as the clouds opened up to let another down pour out. "Well as the rain picks up here Anna, you are now going to have a big decision to make. You can either choose to take one of your own team colors or you can partner up with Gabby, Kyla or Jordyn. What do you want to do?"

Anna smiled shyly before answering, "I wanna be Kyla's partner."

"Kyla it is," JD said to the remaining free contestants. "The first partnership has now been formed between Kyla and Anna. And although they're hugging, that doesn't mean they'll be teammates," everyone gasped in shock and stared at JD. "Here's the twist, those of you with lower number balls, you can bump other people to get the partner you want. Now it may not be the best way to make friends but it will guarantee that you will get your teammate. That's why Maria down there with ball number one is going to get exactly who she wants. Mckayla, you are the first person that can bump Kyla out and take Anna as your partner. What do you want to do?"

"Don't do it," Kyla said loud enough for Mckayla to hear. Mckayla laughed at the other girl's antics. Her eyes scanned the playing field, wondering which partner would be ideal to win this competition. Finally her eyes landed on the Russian holding the number one ball, Maria Paseka. "She'd be perfect! She showed her strength in the right to stay AND she got the first ball." Mckayla thought to herself.

"I'd like to go to orange," Mckayla answered JD.

"Orange it is, head on over there," JD said to the girl. "Simone, would you like to bump someone to get the partner that could either help you win Endurance or lose it OR would you like to pick one of the free colors?"

"Can I go to blue?" Simone asked grinning widely.

"Of course you can! Go on and stand beside Anastasia," JD said to the already leaving Simone. Simone hugged Anastasia tightly and stood beside her proudly. She had a good feeling about their team despite their size.

JD turned to a smirking Nastia who had her eyes narrowed at Jordyn. "Nastia, what would you like to pick? We have grey completely opened, you can join Ksenia on yellow, or you can bump either Simone or Kyla to take their partner."

"Can I bump Jordyn to get on pink?" Nastia asked eyeing the bright rope that laid in a perfect circle in the wet grass.

"No you can't bump anyone to get their color...and that's purple," JD corrected the girl as her smile faded.

Nastia scanned her options and checked them off one by one. "Ksenia? Hell no. Either of their partners? No they'll be first out. That leaves me with boring grey," Nastia thought to herself

"I'll go to grey," Nastia sighed. Ksenia rolled her eyes as the girl headed over to the shiny grey rope.

JD's eyes landed on the nonchalant Aliya. She seemed unfazed and bored with the whole situation. "Aliya, there are now no open colors. You can pick to join Nastia on grey, Mckayla on orange or Jordyn on purple," JD paused stressing the word so Jordyn and Nastia could hear. "Or you can bump Anna or Anastasia to get their partners."

"I'll go to grey," Aliya said coolly. "Better this than hearing her complain later on."

"Ekaterina," JD said with a smile, "I have a feeling I know what you are going to do but I need to hear it from you."

Ekaterina smiled evilly and looked Anastasia straight in the eye as she said slowly, "Blue."

Tears glazed Anastasia's eyes as she stepped out of the blue rope and headed over to JD with her head hung. "Anastasia, you are no longer a part of the blue team but you can join one of the free spots. However, you may not bump anyone."

"I'll join Gabby," Anastasia said weakly. She walked over to Gabby who smiled warmly and hugged the girl.

"Not Mckayla she's too out there, I don't want to bump anyone because I don't want any enemies, so that leaves me with Jordyn." Viktoria thought to herself as JD told her the choices.

"Viktoria, what is your decision?"

"I'd like to go to purple with Jordyn," Viktoria answered without hesitation. She didn't even wait for JD to instruct her to her spot, she walked quickly over to Jordyn and stood beside the taller girl as JD faced to the final American.

"Well well Aly it's down to you and Maria. Aly, you are guaranteed to get the color you want and you are almost guaranteed your partner. You can either bump any American with the exception of Mckayla or you can join Ksenia on yellow," JD finished pointing at the still very muddy Ksenia.

Aly was letting her eyes roam the playing field when a certain Russian's amber eyes caught her own deep brown ones. They spoke without words as everyone waited in an eerie silence. Aly was the one to break the gaze as she stared down the line to Simone. Simone pleaded with big eyes to save her from Ekaterina. Aly stood for long seconds before finally making her decision.

"I want to bump," Aly started causing everyone's breath to hitch. "Nastia."

Simone's face fell and Aliya smirked secretly with joy. Nastia on the other hand glared at Aly with hate in her eyes. Ksenia smiled in amusement as the angry girl walked over to JD.

"Alright Nastia that only leaves you with Ksenia," JD said to the steaming girl. Ksenia looked at JD with wide eyes as the situation dawned on her. Shit. Nastia walked over to Ksenia and stood as far as way from her as possible so she wouldn't have to touch her.

"Maria, you are the most powerful person here right now. You have the power to pick anywhere you want to go and be guaranteed to stay there. You also have the power to alter anyone's chance of winning, so choose carefully," JD warned the blue eyed girl.

Maria smiled shyly causing her dimples to show as she looked at all the worried faces before her. "I want Mckayla," Maria said happily as she headed over to the girl.

                                                                                                                      "Congratulations girls you are all now official Endurance players, well almost official," JD said causing a chorus of groans to erupt from the crowd. "To become official contestants you will need an Endurance piece, everyone starts out with one piece and can earn more through endurance challenges. We will start with the grey team, Aly and Aliya, " JD said motioning the girls over.

Aly and Aliya stood before JD as he went over to the wooden bar holding all twelve pieces in by a peg. "You girls will get the courage piece, you see those poles over there?" JD asked pointing to the colorful, tall poles surrounding the giant pond that held the island. "You will place all the pieces you earn on the grey pole over there. Go ahead and place your first piece," JD said sending the pair of girls over to their pole.

"Next, orange team, Mckayla and Maria will receive the trust piece," JD said as the girls grabbed their piece and headed over to their pole.

"Thirdly, the team of Jordyn and Viktoria, purple will receive the strength piece," JD said handing the piece to Viktoria who handed it to Jordyn.

"Now, yellow team with the lovely Nastia and Ksenia, they will receive the luck piece," JD said to the unimpressed pair.

"Yeah because we have terrible luck," Ksenia mumbled under her breath as they took the piece to their pole.

"The heart piece will go to the amazing red team, Gabby and Anastasia," JD said as the now smiling pair walked up.

"Our next piece goes to Kyla and Anna, green team, come get the commitment piece," JD said to the girls that were joined by their hands.

"Last but not least, blue team will take the knowledge piece," JD announced as Simone and Ekaterina walked up.

                                                                                                                      "We need to come up with a plan," Aliya said to Aly as they wondered through the bamboo forest looking for the perfect secret place.

"For temple of fate or challenges?" Aly asked as the came to a stop in front of a huge tree. Its branches twisted and turned out from the trunk and onto smaller bamboo trees making the branches look like an evil claw clenching the smaller trees.

'Alliances and challenges," Aliya answered as she began to climb the tree.

"Oh...I think purple will be a good ally," Aly said as she followed Aliya up the tree.

"Yeah and we have to try not to piss yellow off," Aliya added, taking a seat on the branch.

"Ummm I think I already pissed Nastia off when I took you as a partner," Aly said sitting beside Aliya.

"I know but let’s try to get them on our side or at least not make them our enemy," Aliya said with a giggle.

"Dang she has a cute laugh.... actually she has a cute everything," Aly thought to herself. “Wait! No Aly stop that!”  Aly yelled at herself as her heart rate picked up.

“What about orange?” Aly said trying to keep her cool.

“Hmm I don’t know… do you think we can trust them?” Aliya asked turning to the other girl.

Aly pondered for a while, “I don’t know but I do know they will be a strong team,” Aly answered.

“So be allies with purple, non-aggressive towards yellow and keep orange on our side?” Aliya reiterated to make sure they were both on the same page.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Aly said with a smirk.

“Great now let’s talk about challenges…”

                                                                                                                      “What are we going to do about challenges?” Simone asked Ekaterina who laid in the hammock beside her own.

“I think we should stay on the down low, that way we aren’t seen as a threat,” Ekaterina answered as she continued to strategize.

“What about temple of fate?” Simone asked just as quietly as she asked the first question.

“I don’t know, we don’t even know what’s up there,” Ekaterina said staring off to the ghastly temple miles away.

“Should we try to find out or wait until someone gets sent up?” Simone asked following JD with her eyes.

“We should find out, I’ll follow him after dinner to try to find out something,” Ekaterina said as JD went into the huts.

“You sure? I can do it if you want me to,” Simone offered.

“No that’s ok… they will know you’re missing before me,” Ekaterina said sitting up.

“What do we do now?” Simone asked following the suit.

“Now, now we wait.”

                                                                                                                      “Listen, I know we are polar opposites but we need to start working together,” Ksenia said to a still upset Nastia. Nastia glared at the girl waiting for her to continue. “Do you want to stay solo or try to make allies?”

Her glare intensified as Nastia thought about the decision. “We need at least one ally,” Nastia answered moving to lay down on her bed.

“Well we know grey, purple and orange will be allies because they are the strongest here so that leaves us with red, green and blue,” Ksenia thought aloud.

“Not blue, they’ll screw us over so we need to get rid of them. Green will go solo and red is already mad at blue so red is our best choice,” Nastia added.

“But are they strong enough?” Ksenia asked looking at Nastia, seeing she had calmed down.

“Better than nothing.”

                                                                                                                      “We need some allies,” Gabby whispered to Anastasia. They had been walking around the huts when suddenly they heard their team being brought up. They headed over to the American hut and pressed their ears to the wooden wall.

“Not blue, they’ll screw us over so we need to get rid of them. Green will go solo and red is already mad at blue so red is our best choice,” they heard Nastia say.

They pressed their ears closer to the wood trying to hear the rest of the conversation but some parts fell to deaf ears.

“So it’s settled, red will be our ally,” Ksenia finished before walking out the door with Nastia.

Anastasia and Gabby crouched low to avoid being seen by the pair. The pair walked slowly out of the hut and paused in front of the hiding girls before continuing out. Once the two girls were out of ear shot they went into the hut.

“I think we found our allies,” Anastasia said with a grin.

                                                                                                                      Anna sat on the wooden plank that was their swing here at the camp as Kyla pushed her.

“Are you sure we should trust blue? I mean we can always go solo,” Kyla said pressing her hands to Anna’s back as she pushed her again.

“We won’t make it through this game without an ally plus it’s only temporarily,” Anna reassured the taller girl.

“Ok as long as you know what you are doing,” Kyla said with uncertainty in her voice.

                                                                                                                      “All we are going to need is grey Viktoria,” Jordyn said sitting by the pond.

“Call me Vika and I know but we need others to make sure we don’t get sent to temple,” Viktoria explained sitting beside her.

“No one else is as good though,” Jordyn said laying back to stare at the clouds.

“Orange might be,” Viktoria said as she looked for animals in the shapes of the clouds.

“We can’t trust them,” Jordyn retorted.

“I know but we can act like it,” Viktoria offered.

“Go on,” Jordyn urged.

“Pretend we are allies until we are in the final three then drop them,” Viktoria said coolly.

Jordyn smiled widely, “I like how you think.”

                                                                                                                      “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Maria asked Mckayla before they split up in opposite directions.

“Yes we need to do whatever it takes to get everyone on our side,” Mckayla said peering over the edge of the roof of the huts.

“I know but lying? What if they find out?” Maria asked.

“So what? We’ll be so far ahead by that point it won’t matter,” Mckayla said flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“What if we hurt their feelings?” Maria said mainly thinking of gentle Anastasia.

“We are here to win not make friends. We are going to do whatever it takes to win, got it?” Mckayla said with determination.

“Got it,” Maria sighed.

“Good girl, now go get purple on our side,” Mckayla said sliding down to go talk to yellow.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Maria mumbled to herself.

tbc......

COLOR                         PIECE(S)

GREY-                          Courage 

YELLOW-                     Luck

RED-                             Heart

BLUE-                           Knowledge

PURPLE-                      Strength

GREEN-                        Commitment

__________________________________________________________

Alicia helped Nastia sit down on their bed and went to start the bath water. Nastia unbuttoned her shirt as she waited for Alicia. She had begun to get her pants off when Alicia appeared by her side. She smiled shyly at her fiancé as Alicia dropped to her knees and carefully removed her jeans over her injured foot.

“Thank you for dealing with me,” Nastia said after her jeans were gone completely. Alicia rolled her eyes as she sat up to place a kiss to the taller woman’s lips.

“I wouldn’t be marrying you if I didn’t want to deal with you,” Alicia said smiling into the kiss. Nastia’s hands cupped Alicia’s face, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Alicia’s hands ran up and down Nastia’s bare thigh sending shivers up the blonde’s spine.

“I..think..we..should..stop..kissing,” Alicia said placing a peck to Nastia’s lips with each word.

“Why on earth should we do that?” Nastia breathed out as Alicia’s lips moved to her neck. She wrapped one leg around Alicia’s hips and moved her head to the side allowing the other girl better access.

“Because your bath is going to overflow,” Alicia said grazing her teeth over Nastia’s pulse point. The blonde gasped, bucking her hips into the older girl on top of her. Alicia grinned, pulling away and standing up. Nastia groaned at the loss of contact.

“Will you at least join me?” Nastia asked sweetly.

“Nast, you are a grown woman-“

“But what if I fall and I drown because I can’t get up?” Nastia joked, grapping Alicia’s hips. She pulled the girl closer and rested her head on Alicia’s toned stomach. “Please Leesh?”

Alicia picked the girl up and balanced her on her hips so she was facing her. “You’re lucky I love you,” Alicia said kissing Nastia’s nose as she carried her to the bathroom.

__________________________________________________________

The two Ksenias walked side by side while they roamed the grounds of the facility. They had been catching up on what’s happened since they last saw each other. They had now fell into a comfortable silence and were going over to sit on the bank of the lake at the edge of the facility. It was Afan’s favorite spot to take Dmitri. No one knew about it except her and it was a good place to relax.

“So are you making a comeback?” Ksenia asked Semy as they both dipped their feet into the cool water.

The other Ksenia shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know yet….I mean I love the sport but I don’t think I have a chance of being as good as I once was,” Semy answered, swirling her feet in tiny circles.

“I don’t believe that for a second, you are an amazing gymnast!” Ksenia said putting emphasis on the word amazing.

Semy blushed and hid her eyes from Ksenia’s view. “Thank you Ksushya,” Semy said using the nickname she had given the girl when they had first became friends.

Ksenia grinned widely blushing too. The silence overcame them again and Semy had rested her head on Ksenia’s shoulder. Ksenia hesitated a moment before resting her head on Semy’s.

__________________________________________________________

Tatiana struggled to carry Sonya (who was pulling her hair), the diaper bag, and Gabby’s, Kyla’s and her gym bags. Kyla and Gabby walked ahead carrying nothing but their phones.

“Douglas, can you not carry your own shit?”  Tatiana asked almost dropping the bags.

“No this is your punishment for eavesdropping on us,” Kyla answered for Gabby.

Tatiana rolled her eyes and caught Sonya’s hand before tangling it into her hair again. “Don’t even think about it you little shit,” Tatiana whispered to the little girl.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER?!?!?!?!?!?”

__________________________________________________________

Maria and Mckayla walked hand in hand into the cafeteria. Mckayla leaned against the wall with Maria in front of her. She intertwined their free hands and waited for Maria to talk.

“So you aren’t mad at all? Not about the spying or the not so graceful falling?” Maria asked unwinding their hands, placing her hands on Mckayla’s hips.

“Babe, I have a little brother, I’m used to the spying. Plus Tarynn isn’t the most coordinated child,” Mckayla said smiling in remembrance of Kav spying on her and Aly and Tarynn tripping over air.

Maria rolled her eyes playfully, “I’m so lucky to have the best girlfriend.”

“Yeah because if I was like Jordyn you would be dying right now,” Mckayla said draping her arms around Maria’s neck.

“Oh god what is she doing to Vika?” Maria asked widening her eyes.

“She’s ignoring me!” Viktoria said in distress as she walked behind a silent Jordyn. Jordyn rolled her eyes and moved ahead of Mckayla and Maria. Viktoria hung her head and stood beside Maria.

“Jo can I talk to you real quick?” Mckayla asked leading the other girl outside the cafeteria. Jordyn looked behind her to make sure the other two girls couldn’t hear them.

“Have you gotten Gabby in on the trick?” Mckayla asked quietly.

“Yeah but Kyla said no,” Jordyn said frowning.

“What?! She isn’t going to tell-“

“Excuse me,” Nailya apologized after bumping into Jordyn with her two suitcases and gym bag.

“Hey it’s ok, do you need some help?” Jordyn said offering to take one of the heavy bags. Nailya smiled, nodding her head as she handed Jordyn a bag. Mckayla smiled sweetly taking her other bag, leaving Nailya to carry her gym bag.

“Thank you, this is very kind of you,” Nailya said leading the two older girls to her room. Mckayla and Jordyn hadn’t been down this wing; they thought only Alicia’s and Nastia’s rooms were there but there were several other rooms similar to their own.

“How do you like the camp?” Jordyn asked while Nailya opened her dorm door.

“It is beautiful here, my sister and I don’t get to see this scenery often,” Nailya said taking the suitcase from Jordyn.

Before Jordyn or Mckayla could answer Anastasia came running into the room talking in Russian at a fast pace. Nailya looked at her with curious eyes as the girl continued to ramble. As fast as she came, she was gone back the way she came.

“What was that about?” Mckayla asked the younger girl.

“Mrs. Rodionenko wants to see everyone in the gym,” Nailya explained already walking out the door. Jordyn and Mckayla looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before hurrying after the other Mustafina girl.

__________________________________________________________

“I don’t understand why we can’t tell her,” Aly grumbled as she and Aliya walked on opposite sides of the hallway to the gym.

“Because it’s frowned upon in Russia,” Aliya huffed.

“Alka we aren’t in Russia!” Aly whisper shouted.

“I know that Aly but she might tell my parents!” Aliya said back, folding her arms.

“I’m willing to take that chance,” Aly sighed after a long silence. “Aren’t you?”

Aliya looked at Aly’s pitiful face and felt her anger met away. “Not yet, I’m scared to…” Aliya whispered almost inaudibly.

Aly looked at her girlfriend, feeling her heartbreak she pulled the other girl into a tight hug. “Shh it’s ok…. We don’t have to tell her if you aren’t ready,” Aly said rubbing small circles on the other girl’s back.

“Thank you, Aly,” Aliya whispered into the shorter girl’s shoulder.

Aly sighed and laid her head against Aliya’s as they stood for a few minutes bathing in each other’s presence. Aly couldn’t put her finger on it but something was missing. Something small, something that is not usually forgotten.

“OH SHIT!” Aly screamed, running back to their room.

“Aly?!” Aliya shouted after the girl.

“WE FORGOT MICAH!”

__________________________________________________________

Tatiana, Gabby, Kyla, Maria, Mckayla, Jordyn, Viktoria, Nailya, Aly, and Aliya stood in the gym with their babies at their feet waiting for the two other newcomers, Ksenia, Alicia and Nastia to join them. Anastasia and the two Ksenias busted through the door and got in line with the others. Valentina and Marta looked around the gym waiting for the engaged couple to join them.

Alicia held the door open for Nastia as she quickly hobbled in with her wet hair clinging to her warm up jacket and face. They said nothing as they joined at the end of the line, waiting for the tyrants to talk.

“So glad you could join us ladies,” Marta said walking up the line. Nastia kept her eyes down cast as the older lady walked past her. “Try not to be late again my young pupil,” Marta whispered to Nastia.

“Yes ma’am,” Nastia said, keeping her eyes low.

“Wow someone’s a teacher’s pet,” Tatiana joked quietly to Gabby.

“Nabieva ten laps around the gym after the discussion,” Valentina ordered the blonde.

“What?!” Tatiana shouted in disbelief.

“Want to make it twenty?” Valentina threatened getting mere inches away from the gymnast’s face.

“No ma’am,” Tatiana huffed.

“Good, as all of you know we brought you to the camp to train. What you don’t know is why we brought you here,” Valentina began.

“Duh,” Tatiana whispered to herself.

“Fifteen Nabieva,”Valentina called out to the girl.

“Of fucking course she would hear that,” Tatiana thought as she rolled her eyes.

“At the end of the summer you will have a chance to show us what you have learned in an all around or a special event. The winner of each apparatus and the all around will face off in a single event chosen by your coaches. The gymnast with the highest score from each country will have a guaranteed spot for world championships.” Valentina said looking at all the gymnasts wide eyed responses.

“Then why am I still here?” Nastia asked irritably.

“To support me of course,” Alicia said grinning ear to ear.

“And because we don’t feel like paying money for you to go back home,” Valentina chimed in.

“Aww princess is mad because she can’t make her lame comeback,” Ksenia giggled.

“Shut up gold medal wanna be you still don’t stand a chance against Raisman on floor,” Nastia hissed at the Russian.

“Yeah and you wouldn’t had even scored close to Komova or Mustafina,” Ksenia said moving towards the blonde.

Nastia shoved her crutches into Alicia’s arms and jumped over to Ksenia. “You’re just mad because you know you’re gonna fall just like in 2012.”

“At least I made it to a second Olympics instead of face planting at the trials,” Ksenia spat. Nastia narrowed her eyes at the other girl and began to shout insults at the other Russian.

“I bet twenty dollars that Nastia will win,” Mckayla said to Maria.

“You’re on, Maroney,” Maria said shaking the other girl’s hand.

"Is La Boo gonna be there?" Ty asked Aly.

"Yeah Bella Boo should be there," Aly said smiling at her son.

"Do you know what he said earlier?" Aliya asked Aly as her wife turned into Maria's big driveway. She could already see Jordyn's car and Tatiana's car.

"No what did Ty Bug say?" Aly said getting out the car. She went over to Aliya's door, opening it and helping her down. She then opened the sliding door and all four kids dashed out.

"He said the 'd' word because he couldn’t get his sock off," Aliya said in a hush tone, taking Aly's hand as they walked to the front door.

"I wonder where he heard that from," Aly said thinking out loud. Aliya shrugged her shoulders and picked up Taylor who was wanting to be carried inside.

Riley ran ahead and knocked on the door excitedly. Mckayla opened the door and squealed along with Riley. She picked the girl up in her arms and twirled her around.

“Hey Rye how are you?” Mckayla asked the dark haired girl.

“Good I got a kitten!” Riley exclaimed.

“Oh my goodness what’s her name?” Mckayla said running her hand through Aiden’s hair as he ran through the door.

“It’s a him and his name is Snowball,” Riley answered before jumping out of Mckayla’s arms.

“Ooh that’s a cool name,” Mckayla said to the girl. “Hey guys,” Mckayla said hugging Aly then Aliya. “That’s a gorgeous dress Mustaina,” Mckayla said looking the girl over.

“Thank you Maroney,” Aliya said smiling.

“Oh Aly, Asac said she’ll be here but Nastia and Spencer are dragging tail,” Mckayla said leading the two girls into the familiar living room.

“Auntie Mac where is Lukie?” Taylor asked Mckayla as Aliya put the girl down.

“He’s upstairs with the other kids sweetie,” Mckayla answered the little girl.

“Thank you ma’am,” Taylor said running upstairs with her dark wavy hair bouncing with each step.

“Aw your kids are so polite,” Mckayla said sitting beside Maria who was watching a Christmas Story with Jordyn.

Aliya sat down on the sectional and played with Aly’s hair who was talking to Mckayla about their daughters’ new upgrades. Her thoughts were interrupted by Tatiana and Viktoria speaking loudly as they came inside.

“Hey guys! Hey baby,” Viktoria said leaning down to kiss Jordyn.

“Oh no ma’am,” Jordyn said putting her hand on Viktoria’s lips.

“Why not?” Viktoria asked confused.

“Keep your cold lips off of me,” Jordyn said putting her hand up again as Viktoria tried to kiss her again.

“What? They aren’t even cold!” Viktoria said touching her lips.

“Hey Alka,” Tatiana said putting her hands on the other girl’s neck.

Aliya gasped loudly and back handed Tatiana’s stomach. “You’ve lost your damn mind,” Aliya said putting her warm hands where Tatiana’s cold ones just were.

“Guess we know where Ty found that damn sock,” Aly said laughing at wife. Aliya glared at the American woman causing Aly to kiss her nose. All at once Aliya’s glare turned into a smirk.

“OUCH BELLA!” They heard Ty scream after a series of thuds. Everyone turned their heads to see Bella sitting on top of Ty at the bottom of the stairs. Aly and Mckayla both stood up and hurried over to their youngest children.

“You’re bad at piggy back rides,” Bella said as Mckayla picked her up off of Ty. She looked over the child making sure she didn’t have any bruises. Aly did the same but saw multiple bruises on the blonde boy’s arms and legs.

“Here go sit with Mommy,” Aly said going to get an ice pack for the boy. Mckayla hurried after her with Bella still in her arms.

“I’m so sorry Aly,” Mckayla said getting the truck shaped ice pack out of the freezer.

“Mac, he has fallen in gymnastics, trust me he is fine” Aly said smiling as she took the ice pack. Mckayla shook her head in amusement and placed Bella down. They walked silently back into the living room where Aliya sat with Ty cuddled into her side. Aly smiled sweetly at both of them and placed a kiss to both of their heads.

Mckayla heard another knocking at the door and hurried over to it. She grinned widely when she opened it to reveal Alicia, Nastia and their daughter Spencer. She hugged all three girls and led them inside where Riley was the first one to greet them. She hugged Spencer tightly then led the other girl by the hand up stairs.

“Aliya, your daughter is up to something,” Aly said eyeing the pair suspiciously. She lifted the icepack to examine Ty’s purplish leg.

“I love how they are my kids when they’re plotting something,” Aliya said grinning at her wife.

“Well I was an innocent child before I met you,” Aly said grinning back.

“YEAH RIGHT!” All the American gymnasts said at once.

“We all know your stories Party Raisman,” Jordyn said without taking her eyes off the tv. Viktoria touched her lips again to see if they were warm. She smirked and kissed Jordyn’s cheek quickly and sat back down. Jordyn rolled her eyes and kissed her wife properly.

“Ew Vika no one wants to see you and Wieber’s tongue going at it,” Tatiana said to the couple. Everyone chuckled as the couple broke apart smiling to each other. Mckayla sat down with her and Maria’s dog, Copper, after Alicia had sat down with Nastia in her lap.

They had been talking casually for about three hours when they heard a loud STOP from the top floor. They all shifted their heads to see a now very sparkly Aiden and Luke followed by Riley and Spencer. Mckayla quickly let go of Copper to catch her son who was jumping in her lap along with Aiden. Copper wasted no time to jump onto the unexpected Ty who was barely bigger than the dog itself.

“What the hell are you doing?!?!” Ty said to the energetic puppy that was trying to lick his face.

“Son that is ugly don’t say that!” Aly scolded the tiny boy.

“Well I don’t know what he’s doing,” Ty said innocently. Aly shook her head and Aliya rubbed her temples.

“Devushki! Vy khotite lech' spat' rano?” Maria asked the giggling girls. The girls automatically went silent and stood up straighter.

“Nyet,” They answered in unison, turning to leave the room.

“Babe grab him,” Mckayla said, motioning with her head to the blonde boy who had his head in her side. Maria said nothing as she grabbed the boy and held him upside down.

Luke giggled and squirmed as he tried to free himself. Maria grinned widely showing their matching dimples as she tickled the boy relentlessly. “Settle down ok buddy,” Maria said placing the child down.

“Yes mommy,” Luke said running upstairs. Maria turned to see Mckayla holding Aiden in her arms as the dark haired boy’s eyes got heavy.

“I think these two are ready for bed,” Aly said going to pick up Aiden as Aliya cradled a still traumatized Ty. “Maybe we should go ahead home?” Aly asked her wife.

“Da, I think everyone is getting tired,” Aliya said nodding her head to Nastia who was practically asleep in Alicia’s arms. “You got them?” Aliya asked as she passed Ty to Aly so she could go get the girls. Aly nodded her head and said bye to everyone before going out the door.

She stepped carefully down the steps and over to their car. She had Aiden open the sliding door so she didn’t have to set either boy down. She then placed Aiden in his car seat first before climbing in and over to Ty’s car seat, placing him in carefully. She kissed both of their heads and turned to run to Aliya who was having difficulty getting Riley to come out. She surprised Riley by engulfing the small girl from behind. Riley giggled and hugged Aly’s neck tightly as they walked to the car.

Aly put Riley in her seat first and then took Taylor so Aliya could go ahead and sit down. She kissed all the kids foreheads and whispered, “Good night sweet dreams.”

She then went around to the passenger side and kissed Aliya on the lips quickly before going to the driver’s side. Once she had gotten the car onto the road she grabbed Aliya’s hand up to her lips and kissed it softly.

“I love you,” Aliya whispered to her wife.

Aly looked over to Aliya, her porcelain skin glowing in the moonlight. “I love you too, Alka,” Aly whispered back.

“Shh Alka!” Tanya said clamping her hand around Aliya’s mouth. Aliya gave her a scandalous look and tried to bite the blonde’s hand while Valentina and Marta walked in.

“Take a seat girls,” Valentina said to the members of the fierce five. The girls smiled awkwardly and took a seat in front of the Russian’s desk. They waited in silence as they waited for Nastia and Alicia to come.

“Sorry we’re late!” Alicia apologized as she hurried into the room with Nastia hobbling behind her on her crutches.

“Yeah so sorry,” Nastia said sarcastically.

“Anastasia!” Alicia shouted at her fiancé. “Mind your manners,” Alicia said to the injured girl.

“Yes mistress,” Nastia said rolling her eyes knowing the title would get on the other Olympian’s nerves.

“What was that?” Alicia said whipping her head around.

“Noth-“

“Girls! Focus on the matter on hand,” Marta said hushing both girls. Mckayla and Jordyn snickered in remembrance of hearing those words.

Alicia quietly nodded her head and sat on the last empty chair with her arms outstretched. Nastia smiled and leaned her crutches on the near wall and carefully sat in Alicia’s lap.

“Now the reason we have called you here today,” Marta began as everyone settled down. Alicia leaned her head against Nastia’s back and wrapped her arms around the other girl’s slim waist as she listened to both Marta’s speech and Nastia’s heartbeat.

“That’s not normal for people in America is it?” Ksenia whispered into Masha’s ear.

“From what Mckayla has told me, nyet it is not,” Maria said looking at the pair as well.

“If you two don’t shut up I’m going to shove my foot so far up your ass-“Aliya’s rant was interrupted by Tanya’s hand again and her head being forced down.

Jordyn looked curiously up at the vent, swearing she heard Aliya and Maria’s loud mouths coming from it. She stared at the vent for a long second before tearing her gaze back to Marta.

Tatiana slowly let go of Aliya’s head when she saw Jordyn look away. She quickly motioned for Aliya to keep her anger in as Marta began to speak louder.

“As you can see we have already brought two other Olympians here, we plan to bring two more here today,” Marta paused and went to the door.

“One competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I think you may know her Alicia and Anastasia,” Valentina said as Marta came and sat back down. “We also brought the fifth team member of team Russia in the 2012 London Olympics and a very talented young gymnast who we hope will compete in Rio.”

Alicia and Aly were the first to look back and see Ksenia Semenova, Anastasia Grishina, and Nailya Mustafina enter through the door. Aly’s jaw dropped when she saw how much Aliya and Nailya resembled.

Aliya’s eyes grew with worry as she saw her younger sister enter the small office. Ksenia almost jumped out of the vent to engulf her former team mate in a hug, and Viktoria smiled sweetly seeing her fellow pixie gymnast enter nervously. Maria tore her eyes away from the new Russians and looked down at the vent. She heard a low creaking sound and could see the metal start to bend.

“Uh guys,” Maria said tapping Ksenia’s shoulder, “we need to get out of here.”

“Why?” Ksenia asked looking worryingly at the vaulter. Maria said nothing as she pointed at the metal beneath them. Ksenia’s eyes grew in fear as she realized what Maria was talking about. She turned quickly to Viktoria and started to tap the smaller girl’s shoulder repeatedly.

“What?!” Viktoria asked irritably. Ksenia pointed to the metal and started to move back deeper into the vent. Viktoria grabbed Aliya’s shoulder and began to frantically shake her once she realized what was wrong.  Aliya shrugged the blonde’s hand off and strained her ears to hear what Valentina was saying to Nailya. Viktoria’s shaking did not seize with the shrug and she was soon tugging on the girl’s arm.

“WHAT?!?!” Aliya screamed at Viktoria. Before anyone could respond or look at the vent, the metal gave way and all the gymnasts came crashing down.

The entire room erupted into screams of terror as Viktoria landed by Jordyn’s feet causing Jordyn to flip the chair over, Ksenia landed on the fold out table full of refreshments causing it to break and the drinks to spill everywhere, Tatiana landed on top of Aly’s lap causing the champion to look at her with wide eyes, Maria grabbed the edge of the vent and held on to it for dear life hoping not to fall, and finally, Aliya landed on top of Valentina causing the older woman to crash to the floor.

***

Alicia stood holding her girlfriend to her body protecting her from any of the falling gymnasts. Nastia untucked her head from the crook of Alicia’s neck and looked at the aftermath. Every gymnast that had fallen was groaning in pain and the new comers stared in shock.

“What did we just get ourselves into?” Semy asked no one in particular.

Viktoria rolled off her stomach and gazed up at Jordyn who was peering at her over the chair. “Hey babe,” Viktoria breathed out.

Jordyn narrowed her eyes at the smaller girls, “I knew you were up to trouble.”

***

Mckayla looked frantically at the gymnasts strewn around the floor looking for the blue eyed girl.

“I’m up here,” Maria called out to the other vaulter.

Mckayla looked up at the vent to see her girlfriend dangling like a ragdoll. “Hold on baby I’m coming,” she said stepping over Viktoria.

Maria grinned mischievously, “That’s what you were saying last night.”

 Mckayla stopped dead in her tracks and glared at the girl, “You know I could just leave you here.”

“NO!  I’m sorry please get me down,” Maria begged.

***

Semy walked over to Ksenia careful not to step on the other girls. She watched as Ksenia flicked her arms trying to get the liquids off of her. “Hey stranger,” Semy said extending her hand.

Ksenia flushed bright red as water ran down her face. She took her old teammate’s hand and pulled herself up from the broken table. “This is not how I imagined seeing you again,” Ksenia said ringing her hair out. Semy giggled and took some napkins off the broken table and dapped her friend’s face off.

***

“Well hello Raisman,” Tatiana said flipping her hair.

“Uh hi?” Aly said to the blonde.

“Tanya I would appreciate it if you get the fuck off my girlfriend,” Aliya hissed from on top of Valentina.

“And I would appreciate it if you get off me, Mustafina,” Valentina said pushing Aliya off of her.

Aliya glared at the woman as Valentina stood up dusting herself off. Aliya stood up as soon as Valentina had moved out of her way. She hurried to Aly’s side and jerked Tatiana out of her girlfriend’s arms and threw her to the floor.

“Thanks Alka,” Tatiana grumbled as she got off the floor.

Nailya moved over to her sister and tapped her gently on the arm. Aliya whipped around to see her little sister standing with a small amused smile on her face. “Hey mini me,” Aliya said to her sister.

Nailya smiled widely and brought her sister into her arms. “Hey Alka,” she breathed against her sisters chest.