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“Javi, it was my idea, I want to go,” Kate huffs, trying to push past him into Tyler’s truck. Both Javi and Tyler’s arms shoot out to stop her, Kate glaring at them.
“You can come next time, darling,” Tyler assures. “Maybe when your leg isn’t still healing from being cut up by a piece of flying scrap metal? What do you say?”
Kate’s glare answers that question, and Javi sighs. “Kate. You want the data as badly as I do, you said it yourself this storm looks perfect for it. Let me go just this once, and I promise you have first dibs after that. Dorothy just needs to be placed to see if it’ll even work, anyways.”
She crosses her arms and looks away, pouting. Tyler huffs a laugh, wrapping her up in his arms and kissing the top of her head. “If something happens out there, you won’t be able to get away as fast as we can usually account for. Not on foot. We don’t wanna risk it.”
After a few more moments, she sighs, dropping the act and hugging Tyler back. “Fine, fine. But stay on radio, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tyler smiles, Javi nodding in agreement.
***
The crew loads the empty Dorothys into the back of Tyler’s truck, while the sensors equipped with the small aluminum fans, that’ll act the same as a pinwheel catching wind, are still being made in the RV. Kate’s idea. Kate herself is stuck in the RV in Javi’s usual spot, though she’s less upset about it now, excitement building as the promise of new data starts to take over again.
Tyler tears down the road, his truck swallowing asphalt as he and Javi both duck down to look at the storm they’re chasing.
More than a storm, at this point. The black funnel swirling violently is wide across, with dark clouds billowing out above like an angry chimney stack. Javi shakes his head, leaning back, and picks up the radio.
“Kate, you ready for us?”
In the RV, jittery excitement nearly makes Kate drop the radio as she quickly responds, “Yeah, yeah we’re good.” She turns and eagerly checks that the crew is finished with the sensors, and they all respond in the affirmative, as she expected. The crew chuckles a little as she giggles into the radio, “Very good.”
Tyler pulls over a little past a small bridge, getting out and hopping into the bed to unlatch the Dorothys right as the crew pulls up next to them.
“C’mon, y’all, let’s do this!” Tyler whoops, the crew whooping back like a pack of monkeys as they jump out and rush over to Tyler, completed sensors getting passed to Tyler.
“You get ‘em all done?” Javi asks, reaching his hands out as Kate passes him a box full.
“Yup!” Kate replies confidently, beaming at him. The crew forms a line, passing boxes down it for Tyler to dump the sensors inside the Dorothys and return the empty containers. Boone hops up with Tyler and helps him relatch the second Dorothy while Tyler does the first, all of them knowing time is of the essence.
“Great job, y’all. To your battle stations,” Tyler calls as he hops back down and is about to climb into the truck. He stops and turns, running up the RV stairs enough to pull Kate into a quick kiss, making her laugh and shove him back out.
“Get outta here. Go!” she encourages, shooing him. Tyler tips his hat theatrically and darts back out.
Javi bounds up next, kissing her too before pulling away and doing their handshake. “Be safe.”
“No, you be safe,” Kate teases, shoving him back out. “Go get my data!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Javi shouts as he hurries to jump into the passenger seat, Tyler smacking the side of his truck with a shouted “C’mon, darling!”
***
Roaring down the highway, Javi glances at the tornado, then back to the Doppler. “Half a mile more?” he asks, letting Tyler’s, maybe-sometimes-good, instincts call the shots.
“Sounds right,” Tyler agrees distractedly, eyes on the funnel as it tears across the landscape. “I figure we put it right in the middle of the road.”
Javi flashes back to a piece of debris the size of his truck flying at him and Scott, thinking it’s about to kill him only for it to ironically save his life. “Don’t you think somebody will hit it?”
Tyler’s eyes never stray from the tornado, shaking his head minutely. “Nobody’ll be there.”
Javi looks back at the storm. He knows Tyler’s right.
Tyler slams on the brakes and curves the wheel, skidding the truck around so the back is pointed towards the storm. He and Javi jump out quickly, though Javi is so telling on him to Kate about that maneuver.
“Let’s go, darling!” Tyler shouts over the wind, Javi with him swiftly as they unbuckle Dorothy and start to slide her out. The storm roars behind their backs, and Javi forces himself not to look, focusing on helping Tyler.
“Okay, that’s good!” Javi doesn’t need to be told twice, shoving the tailgate back up as they race back to their seats.
“Kate?” Javi radios. “You in position?”
“We’re primed! Ready for contact!” she calls back loudly, hearing the wind feedback on Javi’s end.
Tyler peels out immediately, the both of them watching the path of the tornado as it keeps steady towards Dorothy.
Javi reaches out and shakes Tyler’s shoulder, grin on his face. “This is it.”
Tyler yanks him in for a brief kiss to his temple with a matching grin. “It’s gonna work.”
Javi beams at him, picking up the radio again as he looks at Dorothy in the side mirror. “Just another minute, Kate.”
“We’re ready for it!”
Once they’re far enough away, Javi quickly pulls out his phone and pulls himself out of the window to sit on the car door, pointing his recording towards the storm as Tyler stops the car to mirror him, sans camera.
They watch as Dorothy skids back and forth across the road, being yanked by the winds, but not sucked in.
“C’mon, take her!” Tyler shouts, slamming his hand down on the top of the truck.
“It’s too light,” Javi says almost to himself.
“No, it’s not!” Tyler protests.
“Cowboy, we’re losing it!” Javi argues back as they watch stripped tree trunks fly out of the funnel with barely any force, sliding pathetically along the road next to Dorothy, the winds weaker than they anticipated.
“No, we’re not, she can still fly!” Tyler insists. Javi knows this means as much to him as it does Kate, always so quick to try and get her ideas off the ground, her and Javi her biggest fans. Javi just tends to be more of a realist.
All of Tyler’s hopes are crushed as another trunk flies out and smashes into Dorothy, scattering the sensors all over the road. Javi winces, slumping in defeat and lowering his camera, looking over at Tyler to be sure he’s not too upset. He’s staring wide-eyed at Dorothy, and Javi is about to open his mouth to reassure him when Tyler smacks the top of the truck.
“Javi, get in. Get in!”
Without hesitation, Javi obeys, ducking back into the car right as a loud scratching of wood is heard before another tree trunk flies right underneath the truck, throwing them around in the cabin hard. The velocity is enough to keep the trunk skidding along even as it contends with the ground and the weight of the truck. Tyler’s truck swivels around to face the tornado, the two of them farther away now. Dorothy’s gone.
“Oh my god,” Javi breathes, realizing it’s coming right at them. “Ty, get us off this thing. Go, go!”
Tyler struggles with the gear for a moment before he slams his foot down on the gas pedal, the tires screeching as the truck tries to get over the trunk now lodged under it. It doesn’t have enough leverage or power to drive over it, sticking them fast in their spot like a mouse in a glue trap.
“What is that?” Javi shouts, leaning forward to look into the black funnel. Tyler follows his gaze, eye catching a flash of silver right as the sound of squealing metal rings out down the road to them.
“What is that?” Tyler repeats, realization sinking in at the same time as Javi.
“Ty, hurry,” Javi breathes, smacking his arm, eyes glued to the silver dipping in and out of the funnel. “Hurry!”
A large oil tanker truck slams down hard onto the highway, metal screaming against asphalt as the momentum and winds push it straight at them, tipped onto its side. The horrible smell of burnt rubber scorches their nostrils as Tyler tries and tries to get them off the trunk.
It’s too late, they can tell. The radio crackles to life, Kate asking what’s happening, right as Tyler grabs Javi and covers him with a “Hold on!”
The tanker slams into the truck hard, shoving them off the tree trunk. Tyler recovers fast, swerving to avoid the rest of the bumper as the tanker sails over them, looking as light as a paper napkin.
“Go!” Javi shouts, Tyler instantly gunning it.
They’re shocked almost immediately as the tanker slams down barely twenty feet in front of them, exploding on contact in a blazing fireball. Tyler pulls to the side as much as he can without running them off the road, squinting against the fire and smoke as he tears through the inferno and they come out the other side.
The tanker continues exploding behind them, Tyler swerving a little as the shockwave reaches them, before he evens the truck out with a “Son of a bitch.”
“Javi! Tyler!” Kate screams into the radio, pure panic in her voice. Javi grapples with the radio for a second, hands shaking. “Can you hear me? Please tell me you’re okay.”
“We’re okay,” Javi assures, glancing behind them.
“Did you see that explosion?!” Boone’s voice suddenly shouts from somewhere in the background.
“We saw it,” Javi replies tiredly, looking over at Tyler. The man seems shocked but otherwise okay, meeting Javi’s eyes. He slows down and puts the truck in park, grabbing Javi’s face and kissing him hard, Javi hanging on to his forearms and tilting his head to reciprocate. They part after a few seconds, both of them panting. Tyler leans back to look him over.
“You alright, darling?” he asks worriedly, tenderly running his hands over his skin as if he’ll find a gaping wound.
“I’m okay,” Javi nods. “You?”
“In one piece,” Tyler smiles stiffly.
“It’s still moving northeast on 80,” Lily reports. “You copy?”
Javi looks in his rearview at their remaining Dorothy. “This is it.” He looks over at Tyler. “Last one.”
Tyler pauses, then gives a single nod. “Last time.” A promise.
That’s when they spot the flash of white trucks, and both follow the movement. Storm Par. They disappear onto the other side of the funnel, on the parallel road.
“They just had to be here,” Tyler grumbles, Javi shooting him an amused smile. “They have position. They could make it.”
“Not unless they anchor the radar,” Javi points out, thinking of Dorothy. They stare at each other, and Tyler already knows he’s gonna tell Scott.
Javi changes the frequency of his personal walkie. “Scott, can you hear me?”
“Not now, Javi,” Scott’s annoyed voice comes through.
“Scott, listen to me, the radar is too light. The twister’ll toss it before it reaches the core. You have to anchor it.”
“Oh, sharing your valuable information, Javi?” Scott snarks back. “Okay, I’ll consider that, thanks.”
“Scott, listen to me,” Javi snaps. “Don’t be a- what?” He frowns at Tyler when he grabs the walkie from Javi’s hand. “Can you see them?”
“Scott, what’s your position?” Tyler asks, firm.
“Oh, howdy, Owens,” Scott replies with a drawl to mock Tyler’s. “We’re heading northeast, running parallel and about to pull ahead of it on the left.” Javi rolls his eyes at the gloating tone. “Why?”
“Hang back a minute, we got a pretty good view from back here,” Tyler advises. “She could shift, and if she does, she’s gonna come right at you.”
Scott stops responding, and Javi starts to grow nervous. It’s not just Scott who’s at risk, but his entire former crew. Javi pleadingly squeezes Tyler’s arm, and Tyler picks up the walkie again. “Scott, listen to me, this is not a game!”
“Get off this frequency, Owens,” Scott snaps back.
“It’s shifting,” Javi says, hushed. Tyler’s eyes widen.
“Scott, I’m tellin’ you,” Tyler pleads. Javi grabs the walkie back.
“Pete, I know you can hear me,” he yells into it. “Turn around now! Get out of there!”
There’s no response, and feedback is all that greets them when Javi tries again. His breath shudders as he inhales, looking frantically at the funnel. There’s no sign of any of the trucks.
He throws the walkie hard against the window. “Scott, you stupid-!”
Tyler grabs his arm. “We tried, darling. There’s nothing else we could do.”
Javi stares at the dash, not responding.
“Groundspeed is increasing,” Dex reports, voice laced with sympathy. They must’ve spotted Storm Par too. “Get ahead of it as fast as you can.”
“Javi?” Kate’s gentle voice comes over the radio right after. Javi picks it up, waiting. “We didn’t see anything back here, baby. Maybe they’re okay.”
Javi can’t answer. He knows the odds. They all do.
Before he can think up some kind of response, a squealing of metal happens behind them. He and Tyler turn to see the tornado swallow up a farm, tractors sitting outside and disappearing into the funnel. A shadow flies over them and they both turn to the front again.
Javi’s eyes widen, pressing down on the radio. “Debris, Kate, we have debris!”
“Debris?! That’s a whole ass-” Tyler breathes, eyes wide.
“Right!” Javi shouts over Tyler, who swerves obediently. “Left!”
They continue to swerve through several falling pieces of equipment, Tyler narrowly avoiding driving straight into some. Once they’re through, they breathe a sigh of relief before an entire house comes rolling down onto the highway. “Oh, you gotta be fucking-”
Tyler guns it, slamming down on the gas, pedal to the metal, his reinforced truck tearing through the already battered house like tissue paper. They fly through someone’s living room and bedroom before breaking through another window and slamming back down to the ground.
Javi doesn’t even realize he was clinging to the seat and the ceiling until they’re out for a few seconds. He looks over at Tyler, who stares back in shock.
“Don’t tell Kate I did that,” he says quickly, Javi letting out a bark of slightly hysterical laughter.
“Javi, Tyler! Are you alright?” her voice comes through.
‘We’re okay,” Javi says quickly into the radio. “You guys set up?”
“We’re set. Going in?”
“Going in,” Javi confirms.
“Ready?” Tyler asks, nervously looking over at him.
“I’m on it,” Javi says distractedly, pulling himself out of his seat.
“Be careful,” Tyler says in a softer tone. Javi pauses as he’s getting up, knowing he’s not just talking about right now. He leans over and kisses Tyler briefly.
“You too,” he smiles, before sliding the bed window open and pushing himself through.
He preps Dorothy while Tyler continues driving, watching carefully for any more debris. After the lights start going, Javi slides back in.
“She’s up,” he reports, Tyler just nodding.
They cut through the grass and then into a field of corn, both of them staring entranced at the black wall in front of them.
“You ready?” Javi asks, reaching over and grabbing his wrist.
“Yeah,” Tyler breathes, gently patting his truck. “Let me set the cruise control.”
“On 3?”
“On 3.”
They both push out their respective doors, the truck continuing to roll forward as they do.
“Ready, darling?” Tyler calls over the roof as they stand on the footstep.
“Ready!”
“One!” Javi looks away, heart pounding as they both face away from the funnel.
“Two!” They brace themselves to jump.
“Three!”
They launch themselves into the surrounding corn field, scrambling up quickly to find each other. Tyler grabs onto Javi as they reunite, the both of them watching in breathless anticipation.
“Go. Go. Go!” Tyler shouts.
With another rattle and shake, Dorothy’s sensors lift and take off into the funnel, disappearing into the tornado with a soft tinkling sound, the truck vanishing with them. Javi laughs, Tyler whooping as he scoops him up and spins him, kissing him hard once he sets him down.
“Yes!” Tyler cheers, hanging onto Javi’s waist as they stare at the twister, watching the sensors glint every now and again.
Suddenly, the wind shifts and Tyler feels it immediately, smile dropping. “Oh no.” He pushes Javi hard. “Run!”
They take off for a barn they had both seen on their way here, but Javi has a horrible sinking feeling that they’re trying to outrun something they just can’t. Tyler drags him along beside him, never breaking pace as they try to run along the length of the fence to the barn. Some planks fly off, giving them a gap to duck into.
“Ty, in here!” Javi calls, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards it. They both pass through and make a mad dash for the barn. Objects are flying around, passing dangerously close.
“Stay down!” Tyler warns as they duck inside.
They get to the wall of the barn and look up at the metal clanking above their heads. Their eyes widen at the truly disturbing amount of blades and metal tools hanging from the ceiling.
“Who are these people?” Javi frowns, brow furrowing as he looks around.
Tyler shakes his head, already looking for somewhere else to go. “Oh, absolutely not.”
Debris starts shooting in through the windows, and Tyler quickly pushes Javi in front of him as they duck to stay out of the way, crossing the barn quickly. Javi kicks open the door on the other side, the both of them stumbling out. The air pressure makes their ears pop and they look up, eyes widening as the barn starts to be swallowed, the funnel right in front of them.
“Oh my god,” Tyler gasps. “Come on!” He grabs Javi’s hand and yanks him away, both of them making a run for it. They keep having to look behind them for debris, and Tyler sucks in a harsh breath. “Duck!”
Javi yells as Tyler pushes his head down, right as the barn wall comes flying over them. They have to continue dodging and weaving before finally reaching a small shed, struggling against the strong winds to open then close the door. Once inside, they scramble to find something to help, Javi nearly running into the pipes in the center of the room.
“Here, these pipes go down at least 30 feet!” Javi calls, remembering Kate saying something similar once while they were at the Carter farm.
Tyler nods. “We anchor to ‘em, we might have a chance.” He looks around, trying to pull a thick cord off the wall.
“Ty!” Javi calls, pulling a horse’s rein off a hook on the wall. Tyler quickly comes over and grabs a sturdier one.
“No, this one!” he shouts as the wind gets louder, tying it around the pipe and leaving a gap for Javi. “C’mon, get in!”
Javi does and Tyler rigs another up for himself, both of them as anchored as they can be right as the roof gets torn off.
They both fall to the floor, clinging to the pipes, and Tyler clutches Javi to him as their feet start to get dragged out from under them. They lift into the air, barely hanging on to the reins as they stare up into the funnel, just hoping the other doesn’t slip free or get hit with debris.
A splash of sunlight hits Tyler in the eye and he looks up, eyes going wide as he sees… the sky. A beautiful clear sky, right above their heads. The eye of the storm. He wants to shout to Javi, but he can’t even turn his head to look at him, much less yell loud enough for him to hear. He wishes Kate could see this. Without the danger, of course. He tries to capture every last detail in his memory to draw for her later.
After what feels like an entire lifetime, the storm slowly dissipates, the funnel disappearing in a wisp of black dirt as if it was never there. They drop back down to the ground, panting as they’re able to catch their breath again. Tyler grabs for Javi even with his arms still around him, running his hands along him as he sits up, Javi meeting his equally stunned look.
“You alright, darling?”
“Are you alright?”
Tyler laughs, hugging Javi to him as they’re soaked further from the pipe that burst. He can’t find it in himself to care.
Honking draws their attention, and they turn to see the crew speeding towards them. Javi laughs, drawing Tyler’s gaze back to him.
“We did it,” Javi beams.
“Yeah, we did,” Tyler chuckles, pressing their foreheads together. “Dorothy really flew.”
“Kate’s full of great ideas,” Javi giggles.
“Yeah, she is,” Tyler smiles warmly. Javi gasps, pulling away.
“We gotta get a new grant proposal drafted, a new early warning system. Oh my god, we need an actual lab. You two have to start sorting through all that data-”
“Us two?” Tyler repeats incredulously. “You’re the numbers man, you’re doing the data. I’ll run the lab.”
“I’m running the lab, you guys couldn’t even sign for a car loan-”
“Oh, I don’t think so, Rivera-”
“Don’t Rivera me, Tyler Owens-”
“You…” Tyler sighs, smiling fondly at him. “You and Kate are so damn stubborn.”
Javi grins and leans in, meeting Tyler in a kiss right as the van and RV pull up, doors slamming as the team whoops and cheers, rushing over to them and scooping them up in a hug, uncaring that they’re soaking wet.
“We got data coming out of our ears!” Boone yells, shaking Tyler aggressively.
“Biggest twister on record, man!” Dani shouts, whooping and double high-fiving Lily.
“Check out that sky,” Dex laughs, squinting up at the now clear day.
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Javi laughs tiredly. He frowns slightly, looking past the crew. “Where’s-?”
The van door slides shut with a hard slam, and Javi and Tyler instantly tense up. A furious Kate storms over to them, the crew backing away swiftly.
“You two,” she growls, the both of them shrinking. “Are in so much fucking trouble.”
“Kate, we-” Javi tries.
“You drove your truck into a storm, with no regard for if you could get away. Didn’t warn us, didn’t tell us where-”
“We said ‘going in’!” Javi protests, cowering immediately at her look.
“I thought you meant going in as in dropping Dorothy. Not going into the fucking tornado,” Kate snaps. “We’ll be lucky to get any of Ty’s truck back intact, and-”
“The truck don’t matter, darling. You were right!” Tyler grins. “Your sensor idea, you were right!”
Kate glares at him, but he doesn’t falter. After a few tense moments, she sighs out harshly.
“You’re both still in so much trouble,” she huffs, the both of them perking up. She shakes her head with a tired laugh. “But damn right I was right.”
The crew cheers, and Javi and Tyler push themselves up to crush her in a hug, Kate laughing and hugging them back as they kiss her cheeks.
“Get off me. You’re both soaked,” she complains, pushing them away. “C’mon, let’s get you out of those before you catch your death.”
The stifled laugh Javi tries to hold in earns him a scathing look from her that he sends a sheepish one back to. Tyler takes his hand with a deeply amused smile, kissing the back of it as they follow Kate to the RV, the three already talking over plans for the new grant proposal as the crew notices the family the barn belonged to climbing out a storm shelter, heading over to help.
Right as Javi’s about to climb up the steps after his spouses, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. His eyes widen, surprised it’s even still there after all that.
Scott: Tell Owens thanks, I guess.
Scott: And thanks, Javi.
Javi smiles wide, hopping up into the RV and gleefully calling out Tyler’s name. He’s gonna have a field day next time they see Storm Par.