Chase It

lets choke a tornado

Nellie woke up early the next morning as usual, grabbing her cup of coffee and sitting on the front porch in her chair despite the rain. She loved hearing the storm on the tin roof, and she was glad for her early morning as she watched Tyler exit the house. 

"Morning," she smiled as he jumped at her voice. "You heading out?"

"Yeah, didn't want to wake ya," he blushed. "Left you a note."

"What's the note say?" Nellie stood up and put her cup down. 

"Got my phone number," he said almost nervously. "Asked if I could take you out sometime."

"Want my answer now?" She tilted her head at him.

"Only if I'm gonna like it," he laughed. 

"You will," Nellie said before standing on her tip toes, grasping the back of his neck, and pressing his lips to hers. Tyler was quick to drop his flannel and duffle, wrapping a hand in her hair, and his arm around her waist to pull her body flush against him. The two of them made out like teenagers on the Cooper's front porch, before Tyler's phone buzzing broke them apart. 

"Can I call you later?" Nellie said breathlessly. "Just for the official answer?"

"That'd be fine," Tyler huffed out a laugh, leaning in for one more kiss. "You call me if you end up heading back out this week with Javi. I want to be able to keep track of you if you're out there."

"Yes sir," she said teasingly as she handed him his flannel. She squeezed his hand before he walked down the stairs, through the rain to his truck. She headed inside with a hum, refilling her coffee. 

"Nel!" Kate yelled through the door. "Meet us in the barn." And so with that, came a day of sitting in the barn while Kate and Tyler spoke in science speak about where their research five years ago had gone wrong. Kate and Tyler eventually decided that they would head out and try to find a small cell to trial the theory again. Nellie was thrilled to be sat in the back as the two of them debated the merits of different cells, cracking the window to feel the chase settle into her bones.

"Look at her," Nellie whistled as they hopped out of the car to view the storm in front of them. 

"Look at the updraft! The stirations!" Tyler yelled, Nellie grabbing her camera and taking a photo of him, the look of pure elation on his face. 

"It's perfect," she said softly, turning up to the storm. 

"Gorgeous," Tyler said under his breath as he peered back at a beaming Nellie, ignoring Kate's gagging motion in the background. 

"C'mon, its gonna give us something," Kate yelled, gesturing for them to hop back into the truck. Tyler hopped behind the wheel and headed full speed for the funnel. 

"Time to harness up," he told the girls, grabbing his own straps. 

"We're just gonna drop the trailer in it's path right?" Kate asked in shock while Nellie began to giggle, doing up her own straps. 

"This is really dangerous," Kate squeaked as Tyler drove them straight towards the vortex. 

"Gotta drive into it," he said with a huge grin. "Can't miss from in there!" Kate began cursing as Tyler drove right up to the tornado, putting the truck into the path.

"Don't worry, this thing is rigged for an EF1," Tyler began explaining. "We've got extra weight, anchors. We'll be fine."

"Oh you're an asshole," Nellie cackled as Kate grabbed the 'oh shit' handle, cursing up a storm as Nellie let out a huge sigh and rolled her window back up. The three of them felt the wind whipping the sides of the vehicle as Tyler brought the truck to a halt, dropping the anchors. Tyler and Kate waited till they were in the right position before Tyler released the barells.

As the tornado moved past, the three of them laughed in astonishment as they saw the other side of the storm. Their giggles were interrupted by Kate hopping out to see if the solution had actually worked. "What a feeling," Nellie laughed as she unstrapped and Tyler came around to her door, opening and snatching her out before spinning her around. 

"Did it work?" Nellie asked Kate who was watching the storm continue it's path.

"No," Kate said lowly, crossing her arms.

"Y'all hungry?" Tyler interrupted the silence, wrapping an arm around Nellie's shoulder and leading her back to the truck. The two pulled out the sandwiches they had packed, sitting up on the hood of the truck while Kate paced.

Kate and Tyler began talking through the science of it all, trying to determine what could've been the problem. "We need a better model," Nellie said in between bites of her sandwich, causing the two to look at her. "What?"

"How do we make a better one?" Tyler asked. 

"Bully Javi," Nellie shrugged, leaving the other two in silence as they finished eating. The three made their way back to Kathy's, and by the time they got there, Javi was sat outside with Scott.

"Leave them," Nellie murmured to Tyler on the front porch as Kate walked out to Javi, the man spotting the two over her shoulder. 

"They ever...?" Tyler asked under his breath as he opened the porch door for her, following her inside. 

 "No," Nellie shook her head. "There was another guy. But don't think that stopped Javi from feeling it."

The two made some coffee while waiting for Kate, heading out to the barn once they heard the Storm Par trucks peel off. "Got the data," she said as the two of them joined her in the barn, ignoring their gazes as Nellie walked over and wrapped her in a hug from behind. 

"Let's do this," Tyler said, pulling up the software they needed. Kathy came to join them, her and Nellie watching as Tyler and Kate brainstormed. 

"So we need to make it rain," Tyler deduced.

"They were cloud seeding in Lawton a few years ago," Kathy said. "Silver Iodide."

"We could do that," Tyler grinned. 

"No faster way to choke a tornado," Kate grinned as Nellie and Kathy clinked their beers together.