Chapter Text
The nightmares still came, just like Kate knew they would, but for the first time in a long time, someone was there . Someone was gently tracing patterns along her skin, talking softly, giving her something to focus on. Something other than the incessant roaring of the storm—other than the feeling of being ripped away from everything.
“You’re ‘kay, baby,” Tyler murmured half asleep, running a hand over her hair as she settled back against him.
“You’re here,” she whispered, tightening her hold on his shirt as if he was still in danger of being ripped away from her.
“M here,” he repeated, blinking his eyes open. “M not goin’ ‘nywhere—”
“Okay,” she nodded, somewhat to herself, listening to her heart slowly start to slow to more normal rates.
Tyler seemed to take a deeper breath, rubbing a hand over his face as he squinted at the bedside clock. “S’only 4:15, Sapulpa—we gettin’ up or tryin’ to sleep some more?”
“You wouldn’t have to—”
“M not leavin’ ya to stay awake all by your lonesome, Kate. ‘m not that big of an asshole—”
“Not really an asshole—”
He chuckled softly. “Nah, I can be—but your call. What are we doin’?”
She was going to give it consideration, she really was, but then she suddenly yawned and found herself unconsciously snuggling closer to his warmth.
He let out another soft snort and held her close. “Alright, sleep it is—”
**********************************************************************************
“Good mornin’ sleepyheads,” Dani greeted warmly, holding out two styrofoam cups. “T, we got you your usual—KitKat we didn’t know what you’d like so this is black but Boonie’s got sugar and creamer packets and shit that he’s smuggled over there. And Ben’s got some tea that apparently is not up to standards but if you’d rather have that —-”
“Coffee is great,” she smiled, taking the cup from the wrangler. “Thank you—”
“Course!”
“There’s no way you take it black,” Tyler teased, nudging her. “Go see Boone for somethin’.”
“I’m a coldhearted City Girl from New York,” she shot back. “Why wouldn’t I take it black?”
“Nah—no hiding now, Sapulpa . You’re a southern country girl. Definitely don’t drink coffee like this black.”
Kate stuck her tongue out at him before she headed towards Boone and Dexter. Tyler watched her go, frowning a bit when he saw the slight limp she had. She looked a bit funny, wearing his too big sweatpants and one of Lilly’s bright tie dye tees—but she looked—
“She seems better,” Dani read his mind.
“Yeah, I think she is,” he agreed. “Talked a lot about—well, what happened to her with the other storm. Talked about wanting to try and get back in the saddle so to speak.”
“Alright!” Lilly grinned, joining them. “So are we takin’ her chasin’ or what?”
“Actually, she wanted to take us somewhere today,” he moved towards his truck, tossing his bag in the back seat.
“Oh yeah?”
“Hey Kate—where are we goin’?”
“We’re goin’ somewhere?” Boone grinned. “What’re we doin’ City Girl? Wanna shoot those fireworks? Or chase some of these western cells? Dex thought they might be lookin’ promising this afternoon—-”
“Boone?” she interrupted with a small smile. “Didya know I’m not really a city girl? ‘M from Sapulpa—s’just a little town a few hours from here but—thought maybe you guys wouldn’t mind us stopping by. I’ve got a—I’ve got a project an’ I think—I think I need some fresh eyes lookin’ at it.”
“Shoot we’d love to, wouldn’t we? Dex’s been talkin’ up a storm ‘bout how damn smartcha are—”
Kate flushed as the man in question shrugged. “You know your storms.”
“Kate here thinks she may be the OG wrangler,” Tyler goaded playfully.
“Ohhhhhhhh!”
“No way!”
“Katie’s comin’ for your title, T man!”
“Well now we have to see this so called project!”
Tyler grinned as the blonde offered a genuine smile in the wake of the crew’s excitement. This was the girl he kept getting glimpses of as she stared at the Oklahoma sky.
There was something wild about Kate Carter.
**************************************************************************************
/Are you sure we can just show up at your mom’s place like this?/ Lilly radioed.
/We’re sort of a lot/ Dexter agreed.
“She’ll love you,” Kate promised.
/Maybe we should grab some pizza or somethin’?/ Dani suggested.
/Not show up empty handed, I like the play/ Boone agreed. /So what? Send our blondies to meet Kate’s mama and we bring the grub when the coast is clear?/
/Sounds good to us/ Dexter shot back.
Tyler exchanged an amused look with Kate before he grabbed the radio. “So, do we get a say in any of this or—-”
/No/
/Nah/
/S’already decided, brotha—/
/Text us when we’re good to go/
Kate laughed softly, fidgeting with the hem of the tshirt. “You—you were serious when you said they might decide to just not follow you, huh? Not that much of a leader , are you Cowboy?”
He shook his head with a grin. “Nah, they’re—I mean you’ve met them, right? Who the hell do you think is really tellin’ Lilly what to do? Or Dani? And Boonie—I mean the guy’s my best friend but he is the definition of ‘goes wherever the wind blows’. Dex is smarter than all of us, and Ben—well Ben seems to be rather intrigued by the story he’s chasin’. Most of the time we’re a happy go lucky sorta crew, just following the weather and helpin’ where we can. But when they want to? They turn on me, sure. Usually when they think I should eat somethin’ or get my head checked or when they wanna visit some roadside attraction—but—”
Kate smiled as she turned to look out the window at the familiar streets. “That’s—that’s pretty great, Ty. You’re lucky, ya know? To have that?”
“I know,” he agrees softly. “We’re family. Absolutely batshit crazy at times and loud and a bit over the top but—”
He trails off with a shrug as she directs him to turn on the road that will lead them to his mom’s place.
They ride in contented silence for the final few minutes, Tyler watching out of the corner of his eye as Kate seemed to tense the closer they got to the farm.
“You okay?”
“Yeah I just—I haven’t really been back since everything—I mean—I still had stitches when I left. S’been a long time, that’s all—-”
He put the truck in park in front of the farmhouse, nodding. “Well—we’ve got two options here. A) We get outta the truck and you keep moving forward or B) We drive like hell and try this again when you’re ready….”
“Yeah?”
“Yep—but you might wanna make that choice, darlin’ ‘cause I’m pretty sure that is your mama makin’ her way over here and I think she may think I’ve abducted you—”
Kate looked out the window suddenly, her shoulders slumping as she spotted her mom walking towards them with a shovel. She climbed out of the truck, distantly hearing Tyler climb out as well. “Hi Mama—”
“Kate?” her mom tossed the shovel aside and pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh Katie—are you okay?”
Tyler leaned on the hood of his truck, watching as she sank into her mom’s embrace with a small smile.
“I’m alright—-”
“What’re you doing here?” her mom pulled back from the hug, holding her daughter by the shoulders. “What are you wearing? What happened?”
“It’s—it’s sort of a long story, mama—”
Cathy Carter looked up then, meeting Tyler’s gaze over her daughter’s shoulder. “Are you sticking around, son?”
“If that’s acceptable, yes ma’am.”
“And if I say it’s not?”
“I’ll be in town in case Kate decides she needs anything,” Tyler offered with a shrug.
“Hmm, good answer—” her mom decided with a nod. “Do you know how to feed cows Mr. Stickin’ Around?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Think you can go finish up for me then while I talk to my daughter?”
“I can do that,” Tyler conceded, moving to pick up the shovel and heading in the direction Kate pointed.
“Mama—-” Kate sighed.
“Don’t ‘mama’ me, Kathryn— you show up after 5 years in a truck rigged for chasin’ wearin’ what I hope to be that man’s clothes without so much as a word?” she framed her daughter’s face as she looked over her with concern. “I mean God, baby— look at you —When was the last time you slept?”
“Last night, believe it or not,” Kate shrugged. “Better than I have in a long time—I—I know I haven’t been good ‘bout callin’ mama and I’m—I’m sorry. I just—I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to— how to face everythin’ I guess. I was lost.”
Cathy seemed to sigh before she brushed some of Kate’s hair back, leading her towards the porch. “So what happened? When did you get back?”
“Javi brought me back a few days ago,” she sat on the swing with her mom. “I was supposed to—I was supposed to be helping him intercept tornados for this new data collection project he had.”
“Right—” Cathy nodded sharply. “That seems like a normal thing to do.”
“I—it wasn’t easy. I don’t know if I was really ready to be back out there, to be facing storms like that again. Part of me wanted to be. I’d see the wind move through the wheat and I’d feel this zap of excitement like I used to, but then I’d see the swirling debris and hear the winds and I was back clinging to that overpass.”
Her mom froze, looking closely at her daughter. She’d never really talked to her about what all had happened five years ago. She knew details from the articles and the reports, but not from Kate. She’d clammed up almost as soon as she’d been found. She grabbed Kate’s hand.
Kate smiled a bit wetly. “I—we saw a town get some major damage yesterday. Wasn’t good—we were trying to help out, help people find their belongings, that sort of thing. Tyler and his crew were there too. They—they’re the most hilarious sort of team, but they’re—they’re so similar to us—to Addy and Praveen and it just—- it’s like seeing them woke me up. There’s this one guy, Boone—you’re gonna love him, mama—and he shot fireworks up into the tornado!”
“What?”
“He did! And you know what? That—that moment, standing there, seeing this storm that I had been so terrified of just minutes before—seeing it lit up like that? Made me sort of remember what it used to be like. What I used to feel when we chased.”
“And—and Tyler is—?” she gestured towards the barn.
“Yeah, that’s him. Tyler Owens—calls himself the ‘Tornado Wrangler’,” Kate snickered. “He’s got a sort of following on youtube and he and his team make videos of the chases they do. Sell tshirts and crap too, you’d find it hilarious!”
“Tshirts?”
“Yeah—he—he seems like a real jackass but it’s all a front. I thought—I thought he was selling his crap to make money for him, ya know? I even yelled at him because I thought he was selling it at a destruction site but he—he and his team they use all of the money from that to provide free food and waters and stuff to the survivors.”
“Well that sounds pretty nice of them,” Cathy agreed, looking in the direction of the barn. “So, uh, are those Tyler’s clothes you’re wearin’?”
Kate flushed. “I mean, sort of? They’re his pants but this is Lilly’s shirt— it’s not what you think, mama! I–we— he took me to a rodeo last night. We were having a nice time, actually, but then this storm hit .”
Cathy frowned, grasping Kate’s hand gently. “Are you both—are you guys okay?”
“We almost weren’t,” the blonde shrugged. “We—it was chaos. There were horses and cows and people runnin’ everywhere and the tornado was right there mama—it was huge! We ended up—we ended up sheltering from it at the bottom of a dried up pool. He—he had me pinned against the pipes we were holding onto. Seemed like it lasted forever, like I was back in that overpass—”
“Oh, Katie, baby—-”
“I’m okay. He is too—but the motel I was stayin’ at was gone. All of my stuff too—so the team lent me some clothes.”
Cathy’s brow furrowed as she watched Kate start to clam up again. “You’re really okay?”
Kate nodded sharply, squeezing her mom’s hand before she met her gaze once more. “You know what? I think I’m actually starting to be, mama—”
“Well—alright then. Guess that’s all I’ve ever wanted, really. So, what now? Still chasin’ with Javi? Or are we all in with the Youtube man now?”
“ Tyler and maybe his team were going to help me take a look at—at the project if that’s okay,” she shrugged. “I–I realized last night that I don’t want to live like this anymore. I want to try to move forward.”
Her mom pulled her into a hug, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’m proud of you, lovebug. You know that? This is—-this is good , Kate. A good step—”
“Would it be okay if the crew came to crash here while we work on it? They didn’t want to overwhelm you so they went into town. Said they were going to pick up pizza for everyone if you’re interested?”
“How big of a crew are we talkin’ about?”
“Well there’s Tyler—”
“Obviously.”
“And Dani and Lilly, then Dex and Boone—oh and Ben. He’s this British journalist who’s writing an article about the team and storm chasing in America.”
“Hmm, I mean there’s your room, the guest room, the couch— and then we still have those air mattresses the boys used to use in the barn?”
“They have an RV too,” Kate explained. “We should be alright—”
“But no Javi?”
Kate stiffened. “No. No Javi.”
“Alright, baby,” Cathy lightly adjusted the blonde hair again. “You can tell your new friends they’re welcome to come on—but then you’d better go check on that cowboy. He’s either being ridiculously unsubtle in his attempts to give us space or he’s overfeedin’ my cows.”
“Mama, he’s not subtle about anything .”
**************************************************************************************
Several hours later found Kate slipping down the stairs as quietly as she could, doing her best to not wake the Wranglers who were scattered around the living room.
She made her way quickly across the yard, slipping into the barn with a frown when she noticed the lights on.
“Hello?”
“Can’t sleep?” Tyler spoke softly, flipping through her notebooks.
“Keep—keep thinking ‘bout it. Think I dreamed about it, but wasn’t really asleep long enough to know,” she shrugged. “Figured I’d come out here and take another look at all of this. See if I could figure out where I went wrong.”
“I’m not sure you did, Miss OG—”
“Ty, obviously I did I mean—”
“You were facing something much larger than you ever thought you’d see,” he countered. “But this—this looks like it has merit, in theory. We should run some models in the morning. Probably have some newer data than you had back then but—”
“You think—you think it might be worth trying?” she said softly.
“I think it’s definitely a try,” he confirmed, setting the notebook to the side. “But I bet I can think of something that might make it work a little better?”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Well you know how your mom was telling us that you used to storm hunt without clothes?”
She gasped, smacking him on the chest. “I did not storm hunt without clothes! I was—I was a kid and I ran out to see a storm—it’s totally different!”
Tyler laughed, moving out of the chair and moving backwards as she chased after him. “I dunno, you saw a storm right? Seems like results to me!”
Kate picked up one of her model houses, tossing it in his direction. She laughed as he dodged the small building. “That is not what I was talking about—”
“Come on, Kate, we heard all about your success… and I mean, think about it, Boone doesn’t like pants already—seems like the team’s on board!”
“ Tyler !” she ran after him.
He laughed loudly, zigzagging through the barn as she followed closely. “I’m just sayin’ no wonder you’re the OG wrangler, I mean— oomph !”
He let out a small noise as she launched herself onto his back in a makeshift piggyback ride. Tyler quickly descended into laughter, slipping a hand beneath her knee and hiking her up into a proper hold.
“Oh so now you’re wrangling me, huh?”
“What?” Kate felt her ears warm. “No—I just—I was just—”
“We were havin’ fun, darlin’. No harm done,” he interrupted, starting to carry her back towards the house. “Think you’re gonna be able to get some sleep now?”
A sudden yawn answered him, earning a chuckle from the cowboy that seemed to rumble beneath her. “Uh–yeah, I guess I will—”
“Then let’s get you some sleep. Big day tomorrow—I hear we’re gonna try ‘nd tame a tornado!”
************************************************************************************
It ended up taking a few days of going over the science and equipment before Tyler was able to make good on his promise to take her to find a tornado. But they had a trailer with several barrels of her polymer hooked up to his truck and they set out to try and find a cell that would suit their purpose.
The rest of the wranglers were gonna head east to try and get footage and data of a bigger group of cells building, but Tyler had figured Kate may not be quite ready for something that involved yet. Not to mention the experiment they were carting was definitely not sized to a scale that would match more than an EF1.
It amused him to see the slight changes that had started to take place in the blonde riding shotgun. Over the last few days, she’d really started opening up around the others; smiling more, teasing with those dark, playful eyes. She’d worn shorts the other morning, almost like she was testing the others for a reaction, wondering if anyone would make a big deal about the scar on her thigh. And then today, she’d climbed into shotgun with a huge grin, a camera, and a little gold necklace that looked suspiciously like the very twisters they were chasing.
This looked like the girl that he imagined when he heard her mom talk about all of her young storm chasing. This Kate was seemingly excited to be heading out to search for weather formations. She was bent forward in her seat, staring out the windshield eagerly, watching the horizon as he directed the truck towards the cell they’d selected.
Hilariously, about half an hour into their journey, Kate appeared to get anxious and tried channeling that energy by seemingly exploring his truck.
“What’s all of this back here?” she asked, leaning partially in the back seat, grabbing his hat and digging around in their bags of flares.
“Hey—be careful, what are you doin’ back there?” he reached back to intercept her arm as she moved past him, opening the glove compartment.
“What are— oh — wow —” she snickered slightly at the autographed photos before slamming them back in the compartment.
“Hey! Jesus— Kate— ” he laughed as she flipped the visor down next. “That’s a mirror—-what? Have you never been in a car before?”
“What’re these? Oh are these like the fireworks or—”
“ Don’t —those have guards for a reason!-- Kate—- ” he cut himself off with a sigh as she sent the flares flying up into the air with loud squeals.
“Oh. Sorry—-” she said sheepishly, folding her hands in her lap and trying to make herself smaller.
He let out a breath between his teeth before he quickly glanced at her. “You okay, Sapulpa?”
“Um—yeah, I think I might be a little nervous. I’m sorry—-”
“It’s all good,” Tyler dismissed. “Take a look at the doppler, Kate. See where we should go—”
It took only a few minutes for Kate to direct them to a field where they could see the storm forming what looked like it could be a decent tornado. Tyler put the truck in park and stepped out of the truck just as the system put down an absolutely beautiful funnel. He felt the same primal sort of excitement and awe that he did every time he saw a storm and he crowed in excitement, pumping his fist as he moved closer to it.
“Look at that! She’s perfect!” he spun back to check on Kate, worried she might not share his enthusiasm.
But he didn’t have a damn thing to worry about.
Kate was standing just behind him, camera pressed to her face as she snapped photos, a grin splitting her face. She pulled the camera back a moment later, meeting his gaze. “She’s gorgeous!”
Tyler couldn’t contain the grin he sent back at her. At this gorgeous, incredible woman who looked every bit as enthralled and invigorated by the storm as he was. In this moment, Kate Carter looked just as in love with it as he was—and something in his chest clicked.
“Are you ready, Kate?”
“Let’s tame a tornado!”
“C’mon,” he beamed, climbing back in the truck. Kate followed him eagerly, buckling her seat belt and watching the funnel out the window.
“Alrighty, Sapulpa, harness up—this is gonna get a little bumpy,” he directed, pulling on his own harness as he guided the truck closer to the tornado.
“What? Aren’t we just dropping it in the path?” her voice was a little squeaky and Tyler hoped he was making the right call.
“Best way to make sure the tornado sucks it up is to get it into the tornado,” he argued. “Relax, I do this all the time—I’m an expert—”
“You’re an asshole,” she bit back, earning a laugh from him.
“Sometimes—do you trust me, Kate?”
“Yes—”
“Then just hang on. This thing is fully rated for EF1s. Extra weight on the chassis, augers, frame support—we’re gonna be just fine—”
“Tyler—-”
“We’re okay—”
“This is—no, no, no—”
“We’re good,” he soothed as he slowed the truck, the wind starting to roar around them as the storm drew closer. He grabbed the trigger and thumbed the switch, sending the augers deep into the ground, holding the truck low as the wind picked up.
“Ty—”
“We’re good, Kate—ready for the barrels?”
She turned her head to look out the window, suddenly realizing they were in the storm. “Ready—”
Tyler pressed the button they’d rigged for deploying the barrels, grinning when they got sucked skyward just as they’d planned. He turned to look at Kate to see her reaction and watched in awe as the blonde stared directly up into the storm, completely enthralled. She was grinning, watching the storm for the entire minute they were inside the funnel, seemingly excited .
“Mission accomplished—” he muttered to himself.
“That—that was incredible! ” she yelled, turning towards him with a huge grin.
“It was! Now—did it work?” Tyler reminded her gently.
“Oh!”
He watched in amusement as she struggled to unfasten all of her various buckles, muttering about the belts in frustration.
But then she was out of the truck, staring back at the tornado as it trailed behind them. He followed her, just as curious.
“Hmm— it’s not working,” she frowned, almost pouting.
“Well—guess we go back to the drawing board.”
**************************************************************************************
It took the crew another week to arrange everything.
They’d rerun the models thanks to some data they’d begrudgingly received from Javi and armed with their new hypothesis, they’d gotten to work. A new trailer was purchased, new mixtures of barrels were made, and Boone was eagerly helping them to create new rockets to increase the moisture content of the storm they hoped to tame.
Just like that, they were on the road again, all three vehicles equipped with new ways to try and tame the monstrosities they hunted.
But that was where their good fortune ended.
“We’re not leavin’ them but we can’t stay here—-” Tyler yelled, turned to look behind them as he frantically started reversing back down the road, trailer and all. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kate’s pale face as she watched the fiery horror of a tornado barrelling towards them. He could see behind him his crew scrambling to drive backwards in their own vehicles, the horrible seriousness of the situation sinking in.
“Tyler!” Kate suddenly yelled, pointing to a road they’d just pulled past. He turned to see Javi’s beat up truck roaring down it and quickly changed gears.
“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” he urged as he drove the truck hurtling down the road after the ‘Lion’.
Adrenaline was pulsing through his veins as they started pulling into what could be remotely referred to as clear. He shakily grabbed the radio. “Everyone okay?”
/We’re alright/
/All good—/
“Chase is over,” he announced as Kate pointed to a town in the distance. “Get into town and see who you can help get to cover.”
/Where am I goin’ Dani?/ Boone asked.
/Kids’ park off of main—we need to get everyone to shelter. Indoors, low or underground, away from windows—/
/Everyone stay safe/ Lilly directed.
Tyler set the radio back on the dash and reached for Kate’s hand, intertwining the shaking fingers in his. “You okay, Sapulpa?”
“Mhmm,” she said tightly, though she felt the familiar sensation of blood rushing in her ears.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he promised.
He really hoped he wasn’t lying.
********************************************************************************
“Where’s Kate?” Javi roared over the swirling winds as the theater started to quite literally fall apart around them.
But Tyler heard him.
“Kate!”
The second he heard the words ice flooded his veins and he turned towards where he’d last seen her—where they’d stood facing the swirling debris of the oncoming storms. And suddenly, he knew .
“Kate!”
Tyler rushed back to the doorway, ignoring the throb of his leg as the bruising and aching made itself known. It didn’t matter; none of it mattered if he was right—if Kate had really—
He stood in the doorway getting pelted by rain as it swirled closer with the impending tornado, watching in disbelief as he saw his red truck barreling towards the funnel, straight towards it.
“No, no, no, no—” he muttered, terror filling him. “Kate!”
What the hell was she thinking? This would never—She was going to get sucked up —she—-
“Where is she?!” Javi yelled, he and Boone joining Tyler in the door.
“Awww shit— no, no, no Katie—” Boone cursed as he spotted the truck, just as it was encapsulated in the swirling dark, covering it entirely.
“KATE!!” Tyler roared, something in his chest viscerally aching as he lunged forward, wishing more than anything he was in that truck. That he’d stopped her—”KATE!!!”
“T—”
“Tyler c’mon—”
“ KATE!! ” he cried, not even realizing Boone or Javi were dragging him forcibly into the theater.
He found himself propped up against a shelf and he gasped hoarsely, tears burning his eyes as he tried to process the face that that had just happened. That Kate was—-
No .
She wasn’t—she couldn’t be gone—-she—
“T! C’mon we’ve gotta get these people moved back,” Boone urged, grabbing his shoulders. “C’mon, T!”
**********************************************************************************
Kate didn’t understand.
She hurt .
All over her body, she could feel sharp aches and pains lighting up as she slowly shifted and moved. But that didn’t make sense.
Pain meant that she was alive —
She was alive!
She sluggishly blinked her eyes open, groaning as light assaulted her vision, making the already blurry edges grey as she tried to focus. She was still in the truck, she realized, but she appeared to be upside down, hanging in the harness. Maybe that was what was hurting her chest? If she just unclasped—
With trembling fingers she worked to get the harness to release, only realizing after she was slumping into the roof of the truck that she’d forgotten about gravity .
“ Shit —” she gasped, coughing hoarsely as her inhale caught .
Still coughing, she reached up above her head to the broken window, reaching the mud. She dug her fingers into the mud, clawing part of the way out of the truck. Turning to slump facedown on the ground, coughing and breathing heavily as her chest burned and her head rang.
“ Kate !”
**********************************************************************************
Tyler’s arms burned and his leg ached as the wind finally died down, Lilly slamming none too gently onto the theater floor as he finally let her wrists go.
“Thank you, Tyler,” Lilly gasped.
He nodded distractedly, his brain realizing the tornado hadn’t moved past them. It had stopped . As quickly as he could with the throb in his thigh, he clambered to his feet, hopping up onto the theater stage and looking out onto the field of destruction.
There, in the middle of the chaos, upside down and crumpled , was his truck. Was Kate —
He started running before he even realized he was moving. Adrenaline was flooding his system, numbing the throb in his thigh, numbing the ache in his shoulders, fueling his feet as he pumped his arms, running faster.
His heart clenched as he saw all of the debris and shattered glass around the truck, but then there was a hand, a pale, beautiful hand clawing its way out of the truck. Kate was dragging herself out of the truck.
“ Kate! ”
He fell to his knees next to her as Javi came up to her other side.
“Kate— shit —easy—be careful—” Tyler kept a hand on her back and another on her arm as he and Javi supported her. They gently pulled her the rest of the way out of the truck and lifted her to lean against the truck.
“Is everyone–okay?” She coughed harshly, gasping a little as she rasped. “Did it help?
Tyler used one hand to brace the back of her neck, brushing her bangs out of the laceration on her temple the best he could. “You did it, Kate—it worked—you did it–”
Javi grinned, repeating the message. “Kate—you did it!”
“Are you okay?” Tyler asked with a pinched sort of look on his face. “Kate?”
She looked over at him with a bit of a goofy grin on her bloody face, swirling her fingers in his signature salute.
Before he could check her out further, the other Wranglers ran up to join them, all of them yelling over one another as they all seemed to celebrate being alive . They were celebrating and recounting the events that happened in a loud, colorful sort of blur in front of her. She couldn’t really seem to focus on any one of them, but it felt nice. It felt like she had a team again.
Kate smiled a bit sluggishly, blood dripping from a split in her lip as she did. She met Tyler’s gaze and frowned when she saw his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. He didn’t usually look so upset. Dread started to pool in her gut—
“Kate?” Tyler frowned as he noted her mood change.
“I—I’m sorry ‘bout your truck—”
“My truck —I don’t give a damn about my truck, Kate—-”
“But you—you l’k upset—” she tried to explain, squeezing one eye shut as a stab of pain rocketed through her head.
A wave of dizziness overcame her and she groaned a little as the noise of the wranglers became too much. She brought one shaky hand up to her head, pressing it against her ear.
“Kate?” Tyler said sharply before he turned towards the others. “ Hey —that’s enough, give us some space— someone get something dry we can wrap her up in. Think she’s going into shock—-”
The others quickly jumped into action, quietly organizing themselves.
“I’ll check the other side of the truck,” Boone offered.
“We’ll go grab some water and the first aid kit from the van—see it the other vehicles made it out—”
“I’ll see if there are any medical personnel inbound or maybe we can get her in one of the vehicles if they survived—” Javi jumped to his feet. “Maybe I can get one of my guys if I can find my truck—”
One by one the wranglers scattered, some to look for supplies to help Kate, others to try and help the other people in town.
“Kate? Darlin’ I’m gonna need you to talk to me, okay?” Tyler ordered softly, bracing her head with both of his hands. “You with me?”
“Mhmm—” she agreed. She forced her eye back open, wincing as pain lanced through her head once more.
Tyler started systematically feeling along her frame, starting with her head and neck, talking through it as he went. “Got a cut on your head here, probable concussion, split lip—how’s your head feelin’?”
“Hurts—”
“I bet,” he agreed, running his hands over her shoulders and down both arms, noting dark bruising from what he could only guess was the harness she’d been strapped in. “What else hurts, baby?”
Kate tried to think about that, now that the adrenaline was fading away, but honestly thinking was proving to be pretty difficult. “—th’nk somethin’ in my chest—”
The wrangler cursed as he moved to be a bit more in front of her, running careful hands over her torso. He hissed sympathetically as something on her left side gave under his touch, earning a gasping yelp from Kate.
“I’m sorry— shit —I’m sorry, baby, hold on—” he muttered, lifting up the bottom of her shirt until he got to the ribs he’d felt.
“T?” Boone said softly, more serious than Tyler had ever heard him.
“She broke ribs,” he explained, gently feeling along the rest of her torso, looking for bruising. “Don’t see signs of internal bleeding but gonna have to keep checking….Kate? Does breathing hurt?”
“N-n-not really,” she shook her head.
“If that changes, let me know, okay?”
“I found this jacket,” Boone offered, holding out a thick green something from the truck debris.
Tyler took it and wrapped it carefully around her shoulders, tucking her arms into it as she shivered. “Easy, Kate—there we go—-”
“Ty?”
“Mhmm?”
“M sl’py—”
“I’m sure, but we can’t have you sleepin’ on us, okay? Gotta stay awake darlin’---” he coached, bending to lift her up into his arms.
He winced as she gasped, grabbing onto his shirt with a tight fist as her ribs shifted. Boone helped tuck the jacket around her and kept a steadying hand on Tyler’s back as he let Kate adjust.
“I’m sorry—’m sorry, baby,” Tyler swore, starting to pick his way across the debris-covered field. “Still breathin’ okay?”
“Mhmm—” she said tightly, tucking her face into his neck.
“Good,” he nodded sharply. “Boone? We’re gonna need to get her outta here—”
“I’m on it, T,” the wrangler squeezed his shoulder before he took off across the field.
“Ty?”
“What’s wrong, Kate?”
“Why–why d’ya look so upset? ‘S it ‘cause I crashed the truck or—or are you mad at me or—you don’t—-you don’t usually look like this —”
He laughed a bit at that but it was too sharp, too hollow. “I’m not upset with you, Kate, not really. And I truly do not give a damn about my truck. I’m upset because this crazy woman that I know drove herself into the largest tornado I’ve ever seen and I’m freaking out a little bit about how hurt she is.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh —see I really care about this crazy girl and I hate that I know how she’s feelin’ right now. You look a bit like how I did after I got jumped on by this bear of a bull named parcheesi of all things—”
Kate, the batshit girl, giggled at that. “That poor cow—-”
“S’bull, darlin’.”
“But b’lls are cows?”
Tyler chuckled, pressing a kiss to her hair and then keeping his cheek pressed against her. “You’re not ready for this sort of conversation, Kate—”
“Ty?”
“Mhmm—”
“D’n’t leave me?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “Someone’s gonna have to look after you, crazy girl— you drive into tornados—”
She snorted, wincing as it jarred her ribs. “Ow— shit— don’t m’ke me laugh—”
“I’m sorry,” he smiled. “I’ll be more careful—”
“G’nna look after me?”
“I’m gonna look after you,” he swore. “S’long as you let me.”
In the distance, he could see his crew working to move debris out of the way of Javi’s pickup. With a little luck, they’d be driving towards a hospital soon.
“Oh yeah? You g’nna chase me, cowboy?”
“Well you know what they say, baby—-if you feel it—-”
**************************************************************************************
Kate sat up in bed gasping, a keening whine tearing from her throat as her side pulled.
“Oh shit —Kate—” Tyler was suddenly leaning over her, one hand on her side and the other bracing the side of her face as he gently eased her back down onto the bed. “Take it easy there, Sapulpa—-are you okay?”
“What—what happened?” she squinted up at him, her hand covering his where it was still bracing her side.
“You’re in a hospital in Oklahoma City. Everything’s okay—you’ve got a decent concussion, some stitches in your head, and broke 3 ribs on your left side. That’s why you pulled when you jack knifed up like that—-luckily, they hadn’t shifted too much, so they’re just wrapped but you’re gonna have to be careful, darlin’. I was tryin’ to make sure you didn’t do that but I must’ve dozed off, sorry—”
She took a second to look at him, noticing that he was wearing the jacket she’d been wrapped in earlier and a pair of what looked like scrub pants. He looked tired and his hair was sticking up oddly like he’d been running his hands through it. “Are you okay, Ty?”
“Am I okay?” he laughed a bit bitterly, dragging the chair closer and settling down in it with a grimace.
Kate tried to remember what had happened. She remembered him carrying her out of the field, crawling out of the truck, driving the truck into the tornado, Tyler being—she startled again, struggling back upright. “Ty!”
“Damnit, Kate, stop —” he grabbed her again, laying her back onto the pillows. “Baby, stop doing that—-you’re gonna hurt yourself—what’s wrong?”
“Ty, your leg —you were— are you okay? What happened?”
He sighed as he realized she wasn’t upset because she was in pain. “ I am okay, I promise. Bull rider, remember?”
“But you were—you had that structure and—wait, you carried me?”
He rolled his eyes, settling back in his chair and leaning closer. He brushed her hair out of her face, offering her a soft smile. “Yes, I carried you. Wasn’t like I was gonna leave you there, Crazy Girl—and my leg is sore as hell but gonna be fine. Bone bruising, got a few stitches here and there, nothing big. Not gettin’ rid of me that easily.”
“Everybody else is okay?”
“They’re alright. Little sore, little shaken—they’re helping out in town and trying to see what was salvageable of our gear and vehicles. Javi went to get your mom to bring her here. They shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“You’re gonna stay, right?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Kate. Not until you tell me to go, and even then I’ll probably stick around a bit—”
“If you feel it—” she teased lightly, sitting up a little.
“ Kate —” he warned.
“Then c’mere, Cowboy—” she directed, reaching out to fist her hand in the collar of his shirt.
“Yes ma’am,” he smirked before he let her tug him close.
He followed her lead, finally leaning in to kiss her as she hummed happily beneath his touch. She kissed back eagerly for a moment before the need for air became too great and she pulled back slowly.
Dark brown eyes slowly met green as he gently ran his thumb over her cheek.
“Worth the chase?”
“Kate Carter, you are undoubtedly the only storm truly worth chasing.”
She grinned up at him before she tugged him back into another kiss.
When they separated this time, Tyler turned slightly to the side as he stifled a yawn.
“You need a nap,” Kate said softly, running her hand through his hair.
“‘M okay—-not my first rodeo either. Besides, the l’st time I dozed off, you tried to split yourself in half again so—”
“Well—the bed’s big enough to share?” she offered, echoing her offer of that night that now felt like a lifetime ago. “And that way you could keep an eye on me—”
“Kate—”
“C’mon,” She decided, slowly working on scooting herself further to the left side of the bed.
“Hey, be careful—” he sighed, reaching out to help her shift since she was clearly moving anyway.
“See? Now there’s plenty of room, c’mon, Ty—” she pat the bed next to her until the wrangler begrudgingly toed his boots off, and sat himself on the edge of the bed.
Kate tugged him fully onto the bed, arranging them until he was lying against the pillows and she was lying against his chest listening to his heartbeat softly thump beneath her ear. Tyler seemed to relax all at once, one of his arms coming up to softly run his hand through her hair.
“See? This is much better,” Kate argued.
“‘M learnin’ not to argue with you, darlin’,” he conceded, pressing a kiss to her head as his breathing started evening out.
“‘M gonna remind you of that,” she teased.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he offered sleepily. “You c’n remind me not to argue with you ‘s much as you like—b’t you c’n never drive into a t’rnado without me ‘gain. Deal?”
“Deal cowboy. I’m only ever gonna chase storms with you anyway,” Kate promised easily, tracing slow patterns on his chest as she felt him relax further.
“Not chasin’, baby—we’re tamin ’ tornados now—-”
She offered a halfhearted attempt at his wrangling salute, flicking her wrist with two fingers and giggling as she felt his laughter rumble beneath her.
“S’right,” Tyler mimicked the motion.
“Sleep time, Cowboy,” she pat his chest lightly before settling into his embrace.
“Ma’am, yes ma’am.”