back

Title: The One With The Blatant Olympics Tie In
Author:
Pairing: Kind of TimberNick
Part: 1/1
Series: "The One" Series
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Fiction for entertainment purposes, not to be taken as truth.
Warnings: Again None. A bit of a smutless streak! AU warning!
Notes: I'm a whore for the Olympics. I admit. This story is for Rhonda because she understands my 'sickness'. I had to make some adjustments, but because it's an AU, I'm allowed!! Oooh, and yeah. Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps. I couldn't NOT include them. As I write this, I'm watching beach volleyball and one of the Brazilian players is Kevin's twin. I swear! *makes me wonder if this shouldn't have been a beach volleyball fic* lol. There wasn't supposed to be a TimberNick element here, but I couldn't help it. *sighs dreamily* Oh yeah, and shameless Canada pimping! I'm allowed LOL! Go Canada!

~*~*~*~*~

He loved the smell of chlorine. It was in his blood, in his system and sometimes he felt as if his blood was actually chlorinated water rather than blood. It would make more sense that way. Some of his first memories were in a pool and since then he had always known his true destiny, a world class swimmer. Perhaps, an Olympic medalist. He'd yet to achieve that status, but after a promising showing in Sydney 2000 and win after win since, Olympic gold, or even silver or bronze, was forecast for him. As the words echoed in his mind, Nick couldn't help but fight off the shiver of excitement. He opened his eyes and looked around the empty arena where in just twenty four hours, he would be swimming for gold. His whole body trembled and he felt a jolt of adrenaline pump through his body.

"You should be at the village, resting." A voice called out from behind him, startling Nick slightly. He smiled before turning around to greet the owner of the voice.

"Shouldn't you be resting too Kevin?" Nick asked the other man. Yes, he should be back and preparing for the finals the next day, but so should his team mate. They were both slated to win medals the next day, it was just a matter of whether Nick would be placing gold and Kevin silver, or Kevin gold and Nick silver. Either way, Nick would be happy, as long as it was their national anthem playing as the flags were raised.

"I was, until someone disappeared and had everyone freaking out." Kevin approached his blonde teammate and rested his arm comfortably on his shoulder. He knew that Nick was nervous, hell, he himself was nervous and it was only natural. Not only did they have their own individual races to swim the next day, a total of three, but there was also the 4 x 100 team medley to swim, as the day's finale, a race that they were slated to win, but only barely with the Canadian's hot on their backs. It was going to be a tight race and the American team had been preparing continuously since Sydney four years prior. It was supposed to be the race to watch and their whole team had been feeling the pressure.

"I just needed to clear my head. I understand the pressure we're under. I know everyone thinks I don't, but I do. I just can't sit around and stew over it like everyone else. It's going to be close tomorrow, I can feel it." Nick was by nature, a very confident man in everything he did. He'd been training since he was six and realized what his Olympic dreams were. At one point, he expected to wake up one morning with fins and gills, he spent that much time in the water, and despite how hard he worked to get where he was, he knew that there were others out there just as fast, if not faster. That knowledge only made Nick train harder, fighting to be the best, not only in the States, but the world.

Kevin nodded. He too felt how Nick felt. The rest of their team had been pouring over tapes and tapes of other races, trying to strategize on the best way to beat the other qualifying teams. What they didn't realize was that the race wasn't against them, it was against themselves. The only thing they should be worrying about was themselves and the time, everything else was just a distraction. Their eyes met and both men gave small smiles. It was just as Nick was about to continue that they heard a door open at the far end of the pool.

"I just can't..." The two individuals walking through the vast open space stopped upon seeing Nick and Kevin standing there. The four men stared at each other, frozen in spot.

Nick felt his pulse race as he recognized the two men standing before them. The Canadian swimmers. Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass. The two men who were said to be a threat to the American's sweeping the medals. Well, two of the men that were to be a threat, but Nick didn't spend a lot of time listening to hear say.

"Gentlemen," Kevin spoke up, smiling politely at the swimmers. He'd never met the Canadian men personally, but had been briefed time and time again about them, especially every time they were to compete against one another.

"Nick Carter. Kevin Richardson," Justin said with a slight tone of awe in his voice, crossing the distance and holding his hand out to shake. "We've never formally met."

Nick nodded, taking the other man's extended hand. "Justin, right?"

Justin smiled. "Yes. Justin Timberlake. This is Lance Bass." He shook Kevin's hand while Lance followed suit. "I've watched you guys swim, you're fucking amazing."

"Phenomenal," Lance added. "Tomorrow should be a great swim."

"I can't wait," Nick admitted. He looked down at the pool and for a moment, contemplated jumping in. He always felt so calm, so confident while in the pool and often used it as a means of relaxing and soothing frayed nerves. He was anxious to swim and win a medal or four, but at the same time, was just excited to compete, no matter what the level of competition. Olympics, World Championships or even just regional qualifiers, Nick simply loved the thrill of the race. His heart beat to swim.

"Well, just a word to the wise," Justin offered. "Keep an eye out for Mexico and Italy. Everyone has been underestimating them, but I've been watching them. Their main swimmers, both good. Could possibly surprise us."

Nick nodded, face serious. Justin had, in that one observation, summed up his thoughts exactly about their competitors. Everyone in the world was so focused on him and Justin, a supposed long lasting North American battle in the pool, that they were underestimating the other swimmers, who were, in Nick's opinion, viable competitors. It really would be a fight to the wall. "I agree."

"Well," Lance said as he cleared his throat. "We should be going, eh Justin! We've got to get back to the village. They're waiting for us." Justin nodded to his teammate, knowing that they were already on borrowed time.

"Right. Well, I guess we'll see you here tomorrow then." Justin eyes' lingered on Nick's, a slight pink tingeing his cheeks. His lips curled into a smile which was returned by the blonde American.

"Definitely. Good luck."

The Canadians were leaving the pool when Nick suddenly called out. "Justin, Lance?" The two men stopped walking and turned around.

"Yes?"

"Seeing that tomorrow's our last day of competition here, we're having a bit of a party after the medal ceremony. No matter what happens. In the 'American Village'." It was pretty cool how each country was put up in a different part of the 'Olympic Village', sort of like little countries but all in one general area. "Tell your team to come over, if you want. No matter what happens," Nick wanted to repeat the last part again, just to let the Canadians know that no matter the outcome, they were invited.

Justin and Lance exchanged glances, Lance able to see a spark of something in the other man's eye. He snickered and nodded his head, turning to face Kevin and Nick. "Will do. Thanks. We've got a little party of our own in 'Mini Canada', but we'll be sure to stop by. At least for a little bit."

Moments later, it was just Kevin and Nick once more in the pool, the two men exchanging knowing glances. "Come on," Nick said, nodding towards the door. "I'm tired and we've got a big day tomorrow."

~*~*~*~

Nick's strongest race was the freestyle. He swam pretty much everything, but his main focus was freestyle, where Kevin was strongest on both the backstroke and the freestyle. The difference between Nick and most other swimmers though, was the more he swam in a day, the faster he got. Which was a good thing because Nick had a hell of a lot of swimming to do that day. His individual races for the day were the 400m freestyle, the 400m medley, 200m freestyle and to top it off, the 4 x 100m team medley, all which were slated to be highly watched, all around the world. It was going to be a trying day for him, but Nick wouldn't have it any other way. This was what he breathed for, what he lived to do and it was in that moment, as he looked at the thousands of people in the stands, the hundreds of officials milling around and the scent of Olympic gold in the air, he felt as if he were on top of the world.

"So we meet again." Justin's voice was soft and startled Nick slightly. He turned around to find the Canadian about two feet away, towel around his neck, clad in wind pants and wind breaker. Nick looked down to find that Justin was in bare feet, the sight captivating him for some reason.

"So we do." Besides the team race, the only other race Justin was swimming against Nick for was the 400m medley. Before they could continue their conversation, Kevin approached with their team coach trailing close behind.

"Carter, we have a few things to go over before the race." Ted Walker was a man that Nick greatly respected, and when he'd taken over full time coaching for the team after Sydney, Nick had been ecstatic. He was strict but fair, never holding back but knowing what was required and when. Ted nodded politely at Justin, smiling at the young swimmer. "Timberlake, I hear you're gonna give my boys a run for their money."

"I'm going to try, Sir." Justin smiled, nodding.

Ted inhaled deeply before laughing. "Good. These kids have it too easy. Don't you dare beat them, but make it close." He winked as he ushered Nick and Kevin away. Nick had ten minutes before he had to be ready to take position.

Those ten minutes passed by in the blink of an eye.

"In lane three, from Sydney Australia. Ian Thorpe."

"And in lane four, from Marathon Florida, United States of America. Nick Carter." The announcer called over the PA system to loud shouts from the fans. The American contingent in the stands went wild, waving red, white and blue flags for the world to see.

"In lane five, from Venice Italy. Joseph Fatone Jr."

"In lane six, from Cozumel Mexico. Howard Dorough."

Nick shook out the kinks in his muscles, preparing to take his position. When the announcer told them to take position, he did. Everything except the water and his goal were pushed out of his mind. He knew exactly what it was going to take to win, and he had to find it deep down inside of himself.

The second he heard the signal to begin, Nick sprung into action. It was the 200m, so he had four lengths of the pool to swim. He had to pace himself, but at the same time, push hard to not fall too far behind. He could vaguely hear the cheers from the stands, the only thing in his mind was to swim. He held no regard to past records, Olympic or World, held no regard to where anyone else in the pool was. Most swimmers would take a moment or two to gage where everyone else in the pool was in relation to them. That wasted time. Rather than worry about them, Nick worried about himself. And because of that, as he touched the wall to end the race first. Surfacing, he lifted his goggles to squint at the time board, stunned and excited to see WR beside his time.

He'd broken the previous world record. He'd won Olympic Gold.

All with only four tenths of a second to spare, as Ian Thorpe's name was directly below his in the silver position.

Italy had won bronze.

But he'd won gold and as he congratulated the men on either side of him, Nick felt excitement course through his body.

"You've got forty minutes before your next race," Ted announced, congratulating his prodigy. "Go rinse off, dry off and be ready for the medal ceremony."

Nick's smile was permanent as he followed his coach's orders.

It was as the Star Spangled Banner played loudly, the three flags rose to the air and he donned a leaf crown and was awarded a gold medal, a few tears escaped the corner of Nick's eyes and he felt an insurmountable pride overwhelm him.

The second the music stopped, he was back in his game mode. He had three more races to swim, two which he was certain would be close calls. Even closer than this one.

In what felt like only a few moments, he was back at the pool, waiting to be announced. Looking to his left, two lanes over, he saw Justin talking softly to himself, probably giving himself a pep talk. Nick couldn't help but smile. He knew that Justin was going to be a big threat to him in this race. They had 100m of butterfly, 100m of breast stroke, 100m of backstroke to finish it off with 100m of freestyle. He knew that Justin was strong in each of these areas and while Nick was unbeatable in freestyle, the butterfly and backstroke were his slowest legs. He knew those would be his weakest points.

Again, each swimmer was announced, giving the athletes just a few more minutes to mentally prepare. As Nick stepped up to his position, he cleared his mind of everything, once more focusing simply on the race ahead. His game plan clear in his mind, Nick resigned himself to simply do the best he could. At the sound of the signal, the swimmers sprang into motion. In the back of Nick's mind he was aware that Kevin was two lanes to his right in lane one, Nick could mentally hear Kevin's encouragement, which only furthered his desire to win.

At the last 100m of the race, Nick was aware that he was behind. That knowledge didn't bother him in the least. He'd been behind before and as he got into his groove of the freestyle, he knew he was making up valuable time. He gave everything he had in the last ten meters, feeling a surge of adrenaline push him. The crowd was loud in his ears, the sound of water rushing over his head and his arms slicing through the water expertly. He reached out for the wall, looking up for a moment before ducking back under in relief. It was as he resurfaced that he slowly turned around to look at the time clock, unsure of what he would see.

He'd won bronze.

Bronze.

Kevin had won silver, beat out by Justin who'd won the gold for Canada. Looking at Justin's time, Nick was proud he'd won bronze. The kid was faster than fast and Nick was interested in seeing a tape of the race to see exactly how far he'd been behind and what he'd actually been up against. He had been vaguely aware going into this race that Justin's medal count was at least six for this games, four gold and two silver, adding one more gold to that impressive count. Nick swam across his neighboring lane to Kevin's where he hugged his teammate enthusiastically.

"Congrats, bro." Nick grinned against the older man's throat.

"Silver, fucking should have been gold." Kevin's voice was trembling slightly, excitement for having won silver as well as racing a hell of a race still thrumming through his body. Their eyes met and Kevin rolled his. "Damn that kid is fast."

"Still, hell of a race buddy." Nick swam away, heading towards the stairs to lead him out of the pool.

"I know.." They hauled themselves out of the pool, heading towards the showers to rinse themselves off. It was there they found Justin, being interviewed by CBC news.

"I'm so thankful to be here. I knew coming into the race it was going to be a hard fought one and I wasn't disappointed. Both of the American swimmers were favoured to win this and I knew that I was going to have to really focus to pull it out. And if you see the times, I just barely snuck in there."

Kevin and Nick paused for a moment so they didn't walk through the shot. It was as Justin thanked the crews and turned to head for the showers that they continued.

"Good race, Kid." Kevin congratulated him, pulling the Canadian in for a brief hug.

Justin smiled, still beaming from the win. "Thanks. You too." He turned to Nick, nodding in his direction. They both smiled politely at one another. "Does the invitation still stand? For tonight?"

Nick thought about it, a smile tugging at his lips. "Nah. Not now that you've won. I invited you thinking WE'D have won. Consider yourself uninvited."

Justin narrowed his eyes slightly, unsure if Nick was joking or not. It was as he saw the blonde try not to smile and the twinkle in his eye that he knew he was. Justin shrugged non commitally. "That's okay. I'm not really up for partying with second and third place swimmers." After a moment of awkward silence, all three men burst into laughter.

"Of course you're still invited. Bring all of Canada if you'd like."

"All of Canada?" Lance said, joining the three swimmers. "I don't know about that. J, you have to hurry up. There's like ten minutes before the presentation and Coach Williamson wants to talk to you. Not to mention your mother who's on the phone. Waiting. Long distance. From Ottawa."

Justin blushed and nodded, bidding the other two men good-bye. They'd see each other in a matter of a few hours for the team relay.

The step onto the lowest platform was bittersweet for Nick. He wasn't one to begrudge any type of medal, but at the same time had hoped to be hearing his national anthem played in the arena. The medals were distributed, camera flashes were going off left right and centre, and as O Canada began to play, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the American Flags on either side of the Canadian one.

Twenty minutes later he found himself in a comfortable room, relaxing on a couch.

"You've got about three and a half hours before the next race Nick," Ted announced, beaming at his star swimmer, one of them anyways. He was proud of his whole team this year.

Nick knew that he would have a considerable amount of time between the first two and the last two. The team relays, both men and women's, were later in the evening as it was one of the main spectator sports and best for people watching around the world. Not to mention they had other finals to race, and hence the scheduling was done with as much detail and consideration as possible. He knew he should probably rest, go over the tapes, but he had plenty of time to do that afterwards.

"What are you going to do?"

"Watch the races. Kevin's got a few, and I want to scope out the competition." Really, what Nick wanted to do was sit with the other athletes up in the stands and cheer on his country.

"Fine, but be back an hour before your race."

Nick nodded. He slipped into his warm up clothes, slid a ball cap over his still damp hair and headed out into the stands, hoping to slip in unnoticed. He found the American athletes with no trouble, securing a spot in the middle of the crowd. After much congratulations and praise, he sat down to keep an eye on the competition.

"You should be getting back Carter," a blonde said to Nick, nudging him softly. "Ted's gonna kill you if you're late."

Nick grinned, winking at her. "Nah. He can't kill me until after the race Brit. He needs me too much." Britney was a good friend of Nick's, as well as one of the US star gymnasts. Having the day off from competition, she was showing her support for the swimmers by being at the pool all day, cheering them onto countless medals.

"Well, you should get going anyways. Get ready for your final two races of Athens, Baby." Nick nodded, hugging the girl tightly. "Good luck."

"Thanks Brit."

And as if no time had passed, Nick found himself mentally preparing himself for his next race, the 400m freestyle. He heard his name being announced and waved at the people in the crowd, just wanting to be in the pool, swimming his way to another medal. Minutes later he was.

It was around the 250m mark that his mind started to work, pushing him further and faster. He thought about who he was up against, knowing that he had to save his reserve for the final 50m and not burn himself out too fast. He thought about Justin's smile, how beautiful he had been up on the podium accepting his medal, but mostly the expanse of golden skin, slick with chlorinated water, completely exposed except for where his minuscule shorts covered him teasingly. The next thing Nick knew, he was reaching for the wall, feeling the rough concrete against his hand. Rising out of the water, he immediately turned to the time clock, once again amazed at his time.

He'd won gold again. Broke another World Record. Nick was breathless.

"What were you thinking about?" Kevin asked once they were off to the sides, watching the next race take place.

"Huh?" Nick's eyes were focused on the pool, his mind on the race ahead.

"That last fifty meters. What were you thinking about? You had an impressive lead at that point, half a body length at least, which is saying a lot regardless. But that last fifty meters you went wild, swimming like a man possessed. I've never seen you switch gears that fast. So, I 'm curious as to what you were thinking about."

Nick turned his head to look deep into Kevin's eyes. If he told the older man what he was thinking about, Kevin would scold him for not keeping his mind on the race. It didn't matter that he'd won, it was where his mind was at, how focused on the race he was. He tore his eyes away from Kevin's, not answering the other man.

A race had just finished and both Kevin and Nick watched as Justin congratulated Lance for winning silver. Nick's gaze lingered on the two Canadians while Kevin focused his attention on Nick. "Never mind."

"What?" Nick shook his head, breaking away from the scene before him. He saw Kevin smiling at him fondly.

"You can not tell me that the reason you motored through that pool was because you were thinking about..." Kevin saw Nick's face blush and he bit back what he was about to say. "Canada."

"Canada is a very beautiful country thank you very much." Nick defended himself. He knew it was pointless to deny anything at this point.

"I'm not doubting that. I mean, if that's the type of traveling you do. I, on the other hand, find Australia a much better vacation spot."

Nick snorted. He knew that quite a few times since arriving in Athens, Kevin had been seen schmoozing with the female Australian athletes, especially the swimmers since they'd been sharing so much pool time. He flicked his eyes to where Ian Thorpe was seated, watching the races with interest and nodded. "I'll admit, Australia is very attractive as well."

Kevin turned to see where Nick was looking and rolled his eyes. "You really do enjoy traveling. Don't you!"

Nick grinned. "I like to sample the fruits of many countries." He took a deep breath and let his eyes move back to where Justin was standing, talking excitedly with his coaches. "But I have to admit, Canada seems to have caught my full, undivided attention."

"It is a rather skilled country," Kevin agreed.

"A skilled country that's gonna kick our asses if you don't focus on the race." Nick blushed as one of their other star swimmers sat down beside them, giving them a suspicious glare. Michael Phelps was the equivalent of Nick in the butterfly and one of their relay teammates. He'd won nearly every race he'd swam in and with the way their day had been thus far, Nick was certain they'd have gold for sure. "Now, get your head out of your ass..." Michael paused for a moment before amending his statement, "or get your head out of HIS ass and concentrate." His tone was friendly but Nick knew he was serious. Nick respected that because if he blew an individual race, that was one thing, but letting the whole team down was something entirely different.

"You have nothing to worry about, I know where my game is."

Michael smiled, nodding. "That's what I like to hear. We're gonna have enough trouble with Thorpe and those damn Australians, not to mention your Canadian pals.. who I hear have been invited to our bash tonight."

Nick's blush said it all. His two teammates could only snicker.

"Save it for tonight Romeo," Kevin said, standing up. "We've got to be downstairs in a few. Less than an hour before the race."

The line up was brilliant, finalized only that morning with the whole team in a meeting with the coaches. Nick would be the first out of the gate, to give them the lead they desperately needed. He was the second fastest on the team and so it made sense to guarantee them some extra time and put them at an advantage. They'd chosen for Kevin to swim third, and Michael to swim last, bringing them up in the final leg. They had thought long and hard about how to arrange the line up, this combination proving to be the fastest and most productive.

"Ten minutes boys, let's get going down to the pool."

Nick felt familiar butterflies in his stomach and adrenaline pumping into his veins. They took their spot in the line up to head down to the deck, Nick focusing on the race ahead of them. It was as they reached the third lane that the reality of the situation hit him. This was his final race of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After that night, his athletic obligations in Greece were finished. This was the last chance in four years that he would be able to stand on that podium, accepting a medal, a gold medal. He turned to his three teammates and grinned. "Lets blow these guys out of the water."

Michael shook his head. "I told you to focus on the race, not on.."

Nick's eyes widened and he growled. "I'm talking about the race." He blushed as the other three burst into laughter. It was loud enough to garner the attention of the team next to them.

"Something funny?" Justin asked, a smile on his face.

"Nothing," Nick blushed, giving Kevin and Michael a dirty look. "You guys ready?"

"As ready as we're going to be."

Nick was relieved that he wasn't directly racing Justin. Justin was anchoring the Canadian team, just like Thorpe was for the Australians, both of them going last. It would have been a thrill to be in that final leg of the race, but in the end, Nick knew their line up was better this way. And for that reason, he stripped out of his warm up suit and got ready, continuing to warm up his muscles. He could see the surprise in the other swimmers' faces as he took his place and grinned. They'd managed to succeed in throwing them off.

After the first 100 meters, the States were half a body length in the lead. Nick was only two tenths of a second over the world record time, and he felt exhilarated as he pulled himself out of the pool, both congratulated by Kevin who was in place to make his entrance and Michael who was esthetic at their lead.

"You are fucking amazing Carter."

Nick only beamed as he laboured in catching his breath. He saw Justin's eyes rake over his slick body and he grinned as he turned to focus on Kevin who had just dove into the pool. It was then he realized that although they were in the lead, it wasn't as big as they'd hoped. Both Australia and Canada were hot on their trail, mere tenths of seconds separating them.

The final 100 meters were painfully exciting. Michael hit the water just a fraction of a second before both Justin and Ian Thorpe dove in behind them. It was going to be the race for the finish that everyone expected. They knew who the medal winners were going to be, it was just a matter of in what order. For the time being, the US was in first, Canada second and Australia third. But every stroke put that order in jeopardy.

Nick and Kevin held their breath before starting to scream, cheering on their teammate. It came down to the final ten meters, the time between the gold and the silver one one hundredth of a second. It was a race that athletes would be talking about for years, that all those just associated with the race were just grateful to be a part of it and those who were in attendance could brag about forever. Everyone would be able to say that they were there the day that Canada beat the US by one one hundredth of a second, both teams breaking the long standing World Record, only Canada doing it just that much faster.

A loud cry erupted from the lane beside them, the Canadians not only screaming in excitement, but all three teammates standing on the deck flinging themselves into the pool. Nick felt a rush of disappointment coarse through his body, which was quickly replaced by that of pride. Pride to have swam under his personal best, to have been part of this truly phenomenal team of athletes, but to have represented his country so successfully. Yes, they had won silver when gold had been right in their reach, but they had lost to a team that was equally as qualified and talented as they were, and he felt the win more sharply than he had the loss.

"I'm sorry guys, that should have been us," Michael apologized as they watched the Canadians get out of the pool. They wrapping large flags over their shoulders, waving and cheering to the crowds in victory. "I almost had it."

"You can't be serious," Nick said in disbelief. "We just swam the meet of our lives, won silver and you think we lost?"

"Uh, we did lose." Kevin pointed out as the Canadians were still celebrating.

"Technically we did, but we lost by a hundredth of a second. Seriously, we just swam the fucking best race any other American team before us ever could have and probably ever will."

His team was silent and Nick refused to budge. "Think what you want, I'm proud of what we've done."

They were heading towards the showers when stopped by NBC who was asking for an interview.

"So, that was a mind blowing race gentlemen, what is going through your mind right now?"

Nick looked at his teammates who were smiling for the camera. When no one else spoke, he opened his mouth. "I think it was one of our best races ever. Never have we ever been that fast, not in practice, and definitely not in competition. We didn't win the gold but I think we should be more than proud of ourselves."

"Oh definitely. I've still got goose bumps," the man interviewing them said, showing them his arm. "That is not a time or a race to be ashamed of, I'm sure I can speak for all of the USA when I say you four men have swam a race that the whole country can be proud of."

It was Kevin who spoke up next. "Thank you. I know there was a lot of pressure for us to win the gold in this race, and we gave it everything we had. It was a solid performance, from start to finish and I for one am proud to have been able to swim with these men."

All four athletes were asked specific questions until they had run out of time. They were given just enough time to get back to the locker room, change into drier clothes and ready for the medal presentation. As Nick slipped his tee shirt over his head, he was startled to find Kevin immediately in front of him.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Nick asked, grabbing for his wind breaker. He zipped it up and slipped into his flip flops.

"For making us realize that we were being stupid. For being upset about something that we had no right to be upset about."

Nick gave a hint of a smile. "I didn't say you shouldn't be upset. I'm disappointed that we didn't win gold, I just think you were disappointed about the wrong thing. You were disappointed in our performance when that wasn't the issue. The issue was that Justin hit the wall that breath of a second before Mike. That's what we should be disappointed in, not ourselves."

"I agree. And thank you. Like I said, you opened my eyes."

Nick nodded, winking at his team mate. "We'll go over the tapes when we get back to the compound tonight. I know Ted's not going to let it go right away. Strike while the iron's hot and all. Which I agree. Plus I want to see the tape from earlier today, when you won silver and I won bronze. Might open my eyes, show me where I'd gone wrong. Not to mention I'd like to see my third race where thoughts of Canada brought me another gold medal and world record. So we'll discuss it with Ted later. But don't doubt your performance tonight Kev. I watched you, you swam a hell of a leg."

Nick saw Kevin blush and look down. As confident as the older man was, as much training and experience as he had in the sport, Kevin was also a perfectionist. The smallest mistakes were obsessed over, picked apart and worked on. Nick had no doubt Kevin would be in a pool somewhere in Athens tomorrow, working for his next meet. Whenever that might be.

"Lets go ladies, you've got a silver medal to accept."

They walked, heads high, towards the podium, in a single line between the Canadians and the Australians. It was as they moved to step up to their platform that Nick caught Lance's eye first, smiling at the athlete, then Justin's. He could feel the excitement, the pride coming from the other man, mirrored in his own heart. For a moment, while the officials got their bearings together he held his breath and moved so that he was at the end of his row, right next to where Justin was standing.

"Congratulations," Nick whispered, his pulse racing mostly due to the amount of people watching him, but enough due to the man standing at his side.

"Thank you. You too. It was a close one, eh!" Justin blushed under Nick's scrutinizing eyes. It was as if they were the only ones in the room, everything around them forgotten.

Nick nodded, fidgeting nervously. "You still coming over tonight?" this time both men blushed.

"I'm gonna try. We'll be having a party too. But you know... I've been partying with these guys all week."

The grin spread across Nick's face, lighting his features up. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Well, you're invited to come hang with us.."

Their conversation was cut short due to the presentation starting. Nick's heart raced as they were given their medals, the crowds giving all the athletes thunderous applause. They posed for photos until the Canadian national anthem started to play, the whole arena giving their silent respects. The last notes of the song played and all athletes stepped up onto the same level, posing for more photos, arms outstretched, all forming one large group.

Nick hung around the athlete's area for a few moments, hoping to talk to Justin before they headed back to the Village. Finally, he saw the familiar man, Lance at his side.

"As I was saying," Justin continued. "You're more than welcome to come and hang with us. We're gonna be having a big barbecue at some restaurant that the team found and then from there... I have no idea."

Nick grinned in delight. "I'm going to be about an hour or so. Gonna check out tapes and stuff, team meeting. But after that, yeah, I'm free. And we're pretty close to where you guys are staying so hitting both parties would be possible..."

Justin nodded, writing down an address. "That's where I'll be for a bit. I have a few phone calls to make, some things to do and then I'll be heading down for the dinner. I can't ever eat right after a meet or I feel sick. Have to let the adrenaline cool down a bit before I'm good to go."

"Oh.. you don't have to wait if you don't want..." Nick started to say, wanting him to do just that. He hadn't felt this nervous in a long time and with the added emotions from the games, he was a nervous wreck. He saw Justin blush and smiled.

"I don't mind. Unless you weren't serious about..."

"Oh no. I'm serious. We'll be there.. or at least I will. Depends on if Kevin can find his Australian swimmers he's been ogling all week." Nick nodded towards Kevin who was on the phone, probably with his family back in Kentucky. "So I'll be by in about an hour and a half?"

Justin nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be waiting."

In a bold move, Nick stepped in and gave Justin a half hug. He wanted to convey to the other man that he was interested in him on more than a professional level. "Me too. And congratulations again."

The two men lingered in the hug for a second longer than was polite, Nick's message was received loud and clear. Justin squeezed Nick's arm just to put forth a message of his own. He was as interested as Nick was.

Nick felt an arm cover his shoulder and he turned around to see Kevin smiling at him. Blushing, he rolled his eyes. "Fuck off. Before you even say anything, fuck right off."

"I didn't say a word."

Nick cocked his eyebrow.

"Yet."

"And?"

"Looks like you're still going for gold, junior."

Nick grinned as he wiggled his eyebrows. "And?"

"I have no doubt that you'll blow him out of the water! Literally speaking this time!"

Finis


back