Chapter Text
They had—it had been right there .
The tornado was right there and they were—why the hell were they driving to get in front of it? To let it get so close that it was pulling them in, whipping everything around them up into its powerful inflow—allowing themselves to be fed to the monster?
Her hands were shaking as she trembled and gripped the steering wheel, repeatedly gripping and releasing the car as something started pounding. Time seemed to slow down—was it her heart beating so loudly? The racing thumps sounded so similar to the ‘thunk’ of debris on the car—to pounding footsteps as they ran frantically towards shelter—was that what the thumping was?
She could hear Javi yelling—was he yelling at her? What was he saying?
Was he in trouble? Did he hear the thumping? The way everything was slowing down—
Kate could hear the slowing drag of the windshield wipers, the thud of debris pounding against the vehicle, the roar of the engine as they raced down the road—
Or was that roaring sound she was hearing the winds again?
It was —something sounded like it was rushing past her, and if she closed her eyes, she knew she was right back in that overpass. She could hear the winds roaring past her, feel the rain, the heavy air as it was building. It made it hard to breathe—-
God, she couldn’t breathe —
She couldn’t breath, she—
This was it. This was finally it. The storm was going to—the winds were going to take her—she was going to be sucked up and suffocated and–and—
A strange gasping sort of noise joined the roaring in her ears as her world started to turn grey.
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“Hey Javi!” Tyler teased, pulling up next to their truck with a smirk. “What’re you doin’ all the way out here? Tornado’s that way!”
The Storm Par chaser rolled his eyes at them, frustration clear. Boone held the camera out the window towards the tornado, joy loud and obvious. Tyler grinned, stooping a little to try and catch a glimpse of the blonde now in the driver’s seat.
He’d intended to smirk at the city girl, tease her a little before they continued on their path to intercept the twisters tearing through the field. He’d intended to keep on with his trademark ‘Owens’ sort of act and to give the Live fans something to giggle about. Maybe a flirty little quip, maybe a tease–something to get the chat going.
But then he’d seen Kate.
He saw her ashen face and wide eyes as she sat gasping in the driver seat. He saw her hands grasping reflexively on the steering wheel like maybe it would grasp back.
“ Shit— Javy,” he muttered, throwing the truck in park and unbuckling his seatbelt as he opened the door. “Boone, kill the feed.”
Boone, to his credit, did exactly what Tyler asked, knowing from experience that his friend wasn’t messing around with that tone of voice.
“What the hell are you doing, Owens?” Javi growled as Tyler moved quickly to the other side of the Storm Par truck.
“What you should be doing, asshole! Your rookie’s having a panic attack—” Tyler shot back, opening the door to the truck.
“ Shit —Kate?” Javi spun around to see what he was talking about, frustration evaporating.
“Hey, City Girl,” Tyler said firmly, catching her attention.
She was practically vibrating, she was trembling so hard, hands clasping again on the steering wheel.
“C-c-can’t—I c-c-can’t—” she inhaled sharply.
“You can breathe,” Tyler countered gently. He reached up to her hands, taking them in his and coaxing her to turn to face him. “You can — here, squeeze my hands—there we go—try to take a breath in—”
“I—I the w-w-w-winds—-”
“Storm’s gone, Kate,” the wrangler argued firmly. “No more winds, promise. You’re just having a tiny bit of a panic attack, but that’s okay—let’s try again, alright? Breathe in—- there you go, darlin’, hold it for a second, now breathe out— slowly —not tryin’ to blow anythin’ up—-alright, now again—-”
Tyler repeated the process for another minute, gently running his thumb over the back of the blonde’s hands as he held them, helping to ground her to the current situation the best he could.
Her ragged, hitching breathing started to slow under his ministrations, and she began to become more aware. The roaring in her ears was dissipating, and the rational part of her brain was starting to realize it hadn’t been the wind, not really. She was left feeling wrung out and tired, a few tears burning the corners of her eyes as she slowly focused on what was in front of her.
“Hey, you back with me, Kate?” Tyler’s voice was steady, his hands gently squeezing hers as she met his gaze finally.
“I—um, thank you,” she cleared her throat, squeezing his hands back reflexively.
“S’no problem,” he dismissed, though his green eyes seemed to linger on her face as his brow furrowed. “You feelin’ okay? Shaky?”
“Here,” Boone suddenly interjected, tossing a chocolate bar over the truck. “Sugar helps.”
“Thanks, Boonie,” Tyler grinned as he caught the candy, and Kate spun to offer her own halfhearted smile.
“Y’alright?” Javy asked a bit sharply from where he stood by the passenger window, concern evident.
“Ye—” Kate’s voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “Y-y-yeah, I—I guess I just—I forgot what that was like. I—I’m sorry, I’m fine. Probably just—s’been a long day of—of traveling and I—”
Javy nodded. “Yeah, I—I should’ve let you have a day to adjust. That’s on me—we’ll call it an early night, yeah? Fresh start tomorrow?”
“Yeah—yeah, of course,” Kate agreed, offering her friend a small smile.
“Here, Kate—take a bite, okay?” Tyler drew her attention back to him, handing her a segment of chocolate. “Hold it on your tongue and let it melt. Helps—”
She did as he directed, her face flushing as she realized she’d let things get so out of control. She had a—-she’d had a panic attack over a tiny EF1—
“ Hey ,” Tyler said a bit softer, and she looked up at him. “You’re okay, City Girl— it happens.”
She nodded tightly, offering him a smile and swiping at the tear on her face. “Yeah—yeah it’s all— I’m good, thank you—”
“No problem,” the wrangler nodded, holding out the rest of the chocolate. “Finish this and get some rest. Gonna be another day of systems tomorrow. Not that you’ll choose the right one, of course, but—”
Kate offered him a slight snort of laughter at his teasing, taking the chocolate. “I mean, technically I did choose the right one—I just didn’t tell you —”
“Yeah? Well maybe tomorrow you will? Payback for this little rescue moment.”
“ Rescue— ”
“I mean, I had to stop filming and everything,” he goaded.
“How will your fans make it?” she shot back, a little spark reappearing.
“You know, it’s kind of you to ask? We had somethin’ real special planned too— fireworks —”
“Fireworks?” her eyes widened as she took in his cocky grin. “You’re insane!”
“No ma’am,” he tipped a nonexistent hat to her. “I’m one of a kind!”