Chapter Text
Oklahoma, June 1996.
…still looks like a stormy weekend ahead, folks, with local meteorologists predicting a sizable band of severe weather moving across the state of Oklahoma. Right now, it’s a sunny 75 degrees…”
The radio was abruptly cut off as Rey cut the ignition, retrieving her bag from the passenger seat before stepping out into, yep, 75 degrees. It didn’t matter that she’d miss the rest of the weather report. Just inside the building ahead, Rey had access to some of the best weather prediction equipment anywhere, and she also had a PhD in meteorology.
A blast of cool air hit her as she stepped through the doors - Oklahomans took their air-conditioning seriously-, nodding to a few familiar faces as she made her way through the halls. Rey had been at the National Severe Storms Laboratory for just over nine months, and she was only just beginning to feel like she knew who people were. Beyond her immediate team, that was. Stopping by the kitchen for a cup of admittedly terrible tea, Rey found someone she did know - Rose - frowning at the coffeemaker.
“Problem?”
“Oh! Hi Rey,” Rose said cheerfully, before turning her attention back to the appliance. “This thing’s acting up again.”
“I don’t know, Rose,” Rey said seriously, retrieving a cup and a tea bag from a nearby shelf. “You’re a genius with Doppler, but you can’t handle the coffeemaker?” She ducked out of the way of the coffee filter flung at her head and approached her colleague - friend - with a sympathetic grin. “Can I help?”
Rose waved her off, laughing now, too. “Nah, I’ve got it. You should get down to the lab. All kinds of commotion.” She shot Rey a conspiratorial look. “Big storms this weekend.”
“We’re going in the field?”
Rose shrugged. “No official word yet. But I’ve been here since four, and Poe hasn’t sat down once, so…”
“And that’s different from normal how?” Rey quipped, glancing at her watch. Seven-thirty.
Rose shook her head, a smirk playing around her mouth. “You two. Seriously.”
“Us two what?”
But Rose just waved her off. “I’ll see you down there.” And so Rey made her tea and went.
She didn’t go directly to the lab Rose had mentioned, but rather the one next door, which was technically her home during her time at NSSL. It was just getting going for the day, a couple of still yawning doctoral students booting up their laptops. Near the far wall, studying a radar display, was Leia.
She spotted Rey immediately.
“What are you doing here?” She called out, raising an eyebrow at the younger woman. “I thought you’d be next door already.”
“Well, I did think I ought to check in with you first,” Rey returned, depositing her bag and her tea in her usual workspace. Well, until lately, anyway.
Leia waved a hand, crossing the room. “Don’t be ridiculous. We both know he’s going to need you today.”
Leia Organa was the reason Rey had pursued a fellowship at NSSL; well, that, and the fact that it was the best place in the world to study tornadoes. But even that was a reputation that Leia had played a considerable part in establishing. She was one of the most preeminent scientists in the field of tornado research, holding long-running posts both at NSSL and on the teaching faculty of the nearby University of Oklahoma. Rey had nearly keeled over with excitement when she’d been granted the opportunity to join Leia’s lab as a postdoc.
Which made her feel moderately guilty about having spent so much time out of it, of late. Specifically, in the lab down the hall, headed by Leia’s former doctoral student Poe Dameron. Not that Leia minded; in fact, it had been her idea.
“Just stop by later, when you have a moment,” Leia went on. “I have something I want to ask you about.”
Rey paused in retracing her steps. “What is it?”
But Leia was smiling and shaking her head. “I’ll tell you you later. Nothing to worry about.” She shooed Rey towards the door. “Go! I’ll be here when you get back.”
Rey met the man himself just outside the adjoining lab, he exiting as approached along the corridor. He did, in fact, look like he hadn’t sat down in hours, or, possibly, slept.
“Rey! Good. We need to double-check inventory on all the BB units first thing. And take a look at the radar, I need your eyes on it.” He didn’t wait for her reply, just continued past her down the hall.
Rey rolled her eyes. Typical. “We going in the field, Dameron?” Oh, how she hoped. She hadn’t seen many tornadoes since her arrival in Oklahoma at the end of the previous summer. Hardly any, in fact. It had been a quiet year thus far.
Poe didn’t respond, just waved a hand without turning around. He disappeared around the corner, and Rey sighed, heading into the lab. It was smaller than Leia’s and not as well outfitted, not atypical for a relatively new lab still proving itself. And what they didn’t have in resources, the team made up for with creativity and enthusiasm. She brightened immediately at the sight of Finn, poring over some printouts at a table. He looked up and grinned.
“Bad mood?” She asked.
His brow furrowed. “Me?”
“No, him.” Rey jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the way she’d come.
“Always.” Finn over-exaggerated the word, and Rey laughed, dropping into the seat beside him. “You Brits and your tea,” he teased, eyeing the cup in her hands.
“Hey.” Rey gave him a look and took a long sip. “Don’t knock the tea.”
Finn chuckled. “How’re you, peanut?”
Finn had been her first friend at NSSL and was still easily her closest. He’d cheerfully accosted her on her first day, dragging her on a tour of the facility, introducing her to everyone they encountered, and telling her all the best places to go nearby for lunch. Rey had been initially alarmed, and then delighted, even more so when it had become clear they’d be working together.
The easy camaraderie they’d instantly shared was a definite contrast to her relationship with Poe. Rey honestly wasn’t sure exactly what it was. She liked Poe, respected him. He was smart, hard-working, and kind. This was his lab, his project, the BB units they’d developed based on his design. But something about the man got under her skin, and she knew he felt the same way about her. They worked well enough together for the most part, if you discounted the bickering. And since he was the principal investigator, she couldn’t exactly avoid him, unless she wanted off the project. And as much as she would have been thrilled to spend the rest of her days back in Leia’s lab, walking away from the BB project was decidedly not an option.
In literally any other circumstance, the fact that she was essentially being loaned out to the lab next door, instead of working full time with her dream professional mentor, would be extremely upsetting. Except. Except Poe, who had himself started out in Leia’s lab, whose research the older woman championed as passionately as she did her own, just so happened to be heading a project that was, in Rey’s opinion, just about the most exciting thing currently happening in the field. And Leia thought so, too, which is why she’d offered up her own postdoc to support it, knowing Rey and Poe were an academic match made in heaven. Just not a personal one, apparently.
She nudged Finn’s shoulder. “Pretty good. Better if we get in the field.”
“What do you think?”
She eyed the radar displays along the far wall, tracking the familiar colors and patterns with a practiced eye. Rey smiled. “I think it’s going to be a stormy weekend.”
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“Oh, good, Rey. There you are!”
At Leia’s warm greeting, Rey stepped fully into the office, closing the door behind her before taking the offered chair. A tiny space off the lab, Leia’s office reflected what Rey liked to think of as a glimpse into the woman’s mind: a bit cluttered, with more accumulated information than it sometimes knew what to do with, but always ready to offer a bit of knowledge or wisdom pertinent to the situation at hand.
“Sorry it’s taken so long,” Rey apologized. Somehow, it was already nearly noon.
Leia smiled. “No need to apologize, and I won’t keep you long, I know there’s a lot going on, what with the weather forecast for the weekend.”
It was all anyone had talked about all day. The approaching series of storms, the nearest still the better part of a day away, looked to be the biggest the state of Oklahoma had seen in more than a decade.
“It looks like it’s going to be pretty extraordinary,” Rey agreed. And they likely wouldn’t get a better chance to deploy BB, the instrument they’d all worked so hard on developing, but Dameron still hadn’t confirmed they’d be heading into the field. Of course they’d be heading into the field, it’d be crazy not to-
“You’ll be in the field, no doubt,” Leia said, clearly following the line of Rey’s thoughts. At Rey’s raised eyebrow, she chuckled. “Poe’s never been a planner, but he wouldn’t miss this opportunity. I just hope you hadn’t counted on a relaxing weekend.”
Rey laughed. “I’d rather be storm chasing.”
Leia smiled conspiratorially. “So would I.” She folded her hands, resting them on top of her desk. “Now. I wanted to talk to you about your plans for next year.”
Rey sat up straighter. Her postdoctoral fellowship was up for renewal in September, less than three months away. She hadn’t yet finalized what she’d be doing next, although she hoped-
“I think you know that I’ve been thrilled to have you in the lab and with the research you’ve contributed thus far. Poe has also spoken very highly of your work on the BB project-“ Really? Poe had said that? Leia was still talking. “-and, if all goes well and he gets additional funding to support his lab, I might just have some competition in keeping you. But putting that aside for now, would you be interested in staying on with me?”
“Yes!” Rey nearly shouted, before reining herself in. “I mean, yes. Of course I would.”
Leia smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Of course, you don’t need to decide right now, and we’ll talk further in the next couple of weeks. I didn’t know if you’d envisioned returning to Jakku, or to the UK, and I wanted to give you some time to think it over.”
Jakku, in Arizona, where she’d done her PhD. At twenty-one, she’d been the youngest doctoral candidate in the program, and the only woman, when she’d arrived nearly six years earlier. She’d given some thought to going back - the university was pursuing all kinds of fascinating meteorology research. Or England, where Rey had spent nine long years with her wealthy, disinterested, and unfeeling grandfather, followed by three much more enjoyable ones at university. Even so, returning to the US for graduate school had definitely not been a mistake. And as much as she loved Arizona, the flat farmland of Oklahoma reminded her of her early childhood in the Texas Panhandle; she’d been surprised by how quickly she’d felt at home. Besides, in Leia’s lab or Poe’s, the opportunity to participate in such ground-breaking research was exactly what she’d always hoped for.
Rey shook her head. “I don’t need to think about it. I’d love to stay, if you’ll have me.”
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She had to resist the urge to literally skip back down the hall, buoyant with excitement. She couldn’t wait to tell Finn. And she’d have to thank Poe. Rey suspected that Leia would have wanted to keep her on regardless, but she knew the older woman held Poe’s opinion in high regard. And, after all, it certainly couldn’t hurt to have two principal investigators at NSSL interested in her working in their labs.
The lab was buzzing with activity when she came through the door. Across the room, Snap and Jess were packing spare parts into crates. Rose and Iolo were deep in discussion in front of a radar screen, Finn was hunched over a separate laptop, and Poe was looking over a map on one of the center tables, Karé leaning over his shoulder.
“Oh, you’re back,” he said, spotting Rey. He got up and approached her, Karé sliding into his vacated seat. “We’re going out tomorrow.”
Rey couldn’t stop the smile. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for you to tell us all day.”
Poe shrugged. “Needed to make sure the storms were tracking as predicted before I hauled the whole lab into the field.” He couldn’t quite keep himself from smiling, though, and Rey knew he was pleased. “We’ll have to start early. Can you be here at five?”
“Sure,” Rey agreed. She’d do just about anything to get out there, but maybe Poe didn’t need to know that. “No problem.”
“And pack for overnight, we might be out there all weekend.”
Rey nodded. “Yup.”
“You have chased storms before, haven’t you?”
Rey raised an eyebrow. Was that a serious question? “Hard to do a PhD in tornadogenesis without, isn’t it?”
Poe inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I suppose so. I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”
“I do,” she assured him, trying not to feel annoyed by the insinuation otherwise. “I promise.”
“Okay. Good.” He turned to head back towards Karé and the map, waving a hand in her general direction. “Just make sure to wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.”
Now Rey did roll her eyes at his retreating back, before glancing down at her blouse and skirt. Did he really think she’d wear this out storm chasing? Just because he hardly ever bothered to put on a tie didn’t mean that she didn’t dress up for the office. Well, he’d certainly be seeing dressed-down Rey over the weekend. Honestly.