Chapter Text
Kate groaned as her hairbrush caught on another bundle of knots, well groaned might be too kind of a word for the sound she made. Turns out that driving through a tornado, or rather into one wasn’t the best for your hair. Who would’ve thought?
A sharp knock on the door made her flinch, Tyler’s voice was muffled but at this point, she’d know him anywhere, “Kate, you alright in there?”
She took a shaky breath, staring at her reflection in the mirror - the scrapes and steadily forming bruises from being tossed around like a ragdoll, the wreckage of her hair, the half-hollow look in her eyes from the remnants of shock. Fuck it, it’s not like he hasn't seen worse.
Kate threw open the door, and Tyler stared at her, not expecting the sudden movement, or the way she pulled him into the bathroom. He stumbled a little, quickly finding his feet like always, his skin unbearably warm against her own. “Not that I mind a little fun, but maybe we shouldn’t do it in this tiny ass bathroom.”
Despite his first instinct being to flirt, Tyler was staring pointedly at the ceiling. Kate looked down, she was wearing ratty old shorts and a loose tank top, she wasn’t naked. “I’m not flirting, you -” She shoved something into his hand, “Are going to help me chop off my hair.”
That finally got him, Tyler stared at the silver scissors in his hands and then at her like she was something he had never seen before. “Um - You sure about that Kate? I think your mom or hell even Boone would be better at this than me.”
Some part of her felt a spark of warmth at the way he didn’t even question her choice to cut her hair, rather her choice in who she wanted to cut it. Kate was a woman in the science field, she had lost track of the amount of men, more than half without a degree to their name, who had questioned and fought her on everything. But Tyler, he had never done that.
She nodded, “I trust you.” Tyler met her eyes and there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation or doubt in them. She meant what she said. Kate wasn’t in the habit of saying things she didn’t believe in. “Besides, I think I might scream if someone else tries to touch me right now.”
The storm had carved her apart, in more ways than one. She kept seeing it, kept hearing it, the past converging with the present, all the ways she failed hitting all the ways she didn’t. Kate was haunted by what was long gone, like half the tornado touched towns around her.
Nobody else could even think of understanding besides Tyler or Javi, and Javi was with her mother and Dexter figuring out how best to get supplies to the wrecked town. So -
He must have seen it in her eyes, must have seen her like he always did, because Tyler nodded, gently shutting the bathroom door and letting a blissful silence fall over them. “Sit down on the tub ledge.” His voice was gentle, soft in a way it had rarely been these past few days.
Kate sat down, flinching a little at the cold plastic beneath her, and the way even her bones seemed to be bruised. She forced herself to relax, digging her fingers into the ledge, staring at the teal tiles that lined the wall - her grandfather had made them for her grandma decades ago. In and out, she thought, counting every cracking tile, just breathe in and out.
A warm hand brushed against her shoulder, and she couldn’t have stopped the way she leaned against Tyler if she tried. Thankfully, he didn’t mention it, just held her easily. “How short do you want it, city girl?”
Her eyes fluttered shut, a bone-deep exhaustion settling over her, as if her body finally realized that she was okay now that Tyler was here, now that they could hear the low murmur of everyone through the thin walls. “Thought you were gonna stop with the city girl thing?”
She could hear the smile in his voice, “Where’s the fun in that?” After a comfortable pause, he said, “So, how short?”
“Below the ears, the worst of the mess ain’t coming out below that. Inch and a half I think.” His fingertips brushed against her neck as he found the length she wanted. Kate wasn’t sure if she shivered because of that or how badly her hair felt at the ends, fried, tangled, and matted with god knows what.
The second option, definitely the second option she thought, like a lying liar.
“That good?” Kate just nodded, the words choked and dying in her throat. It had been years since she had felt this at ease with another person, since she had felt - whole.
She heard the gentle snip of scissors as she felt the wreckage of her hair fall around her. Before it could get to her, before she could lose herself in her thoughts, she heard a low humming. Kate fought the urge to laugh, “Are you really singing your own theme song?”
“Hey! Do not judge the man cutting your hair, Kate. That’s a dangerous game.”
“I’ve known worse.” Oh, I've loved worse.
Less than twelve hours ago the world had ended, and yet here they all stood.
Kate took a deep breath in, brushing her fingertips against the freshly cut edge of her hair. It fell just below her ears, doing nothing to hide the black-purple bruises that crawled up her shoulder and onto her neck, the various red cuts and scrapes spread across her skin, the nasty cut on her hairline. She looked -
She looked like she had just gone through hell and back.
“If it’s terrible you can tell me, my ego can take it.” Tyler’s face was pinched with worry as he watched her, “Hell, I’ll go get Boone right now, I swear that man could find a way to do his hair in the middle of a tornado. He has before, he can fix it in about -”
He stopped short as she tucked their hands together. They were calloused and larger than hers, warm like the damn furnace he was. It felt fitting, it felt right. Tyler stared down at their hands and her lips twitched, “I love it. You know if tornado wrangling ever fails you could become a hairdresser.”
At that, his usual smile was back, “Really? I knew I was amazing but to hear you say that!”
Kate couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her as Tyler got started on his usual ramble. She was too busy staring at his smile to notice the glint in his eyes, the way they lit up when she laughed. Eh - they’d figure it out soon enough.
Javi stared up at the ceiling, the same wooden, cracking thing he had memorized years ago - all of them crashing at Kate’s place, spending half the night talking about the newest storm and every idea they had only to end up sleeping until twelve, curled up in a puppy pile on the living room floor. He had almost forgotten how comforting it was, he had almost forgotten how warm a home could be.
He stilled as he heard soft footsteps, barely breathing as someone hopped over Lily and Boone, tangled together and snoring, and folded to the ground beside him. Javi couldn’t stop his smile as he turned his head to the side, “Hi, Kat. It’s been a while.”
Her hair was shorter now, barely falling beneath her ears as she shoved her way under the blankets, their legs brushing as the two of them fell into place together. It was almost like nothing had changed, it was almost like, if Javi squinted, they were barely twenty and surrounded by their best friends thinking they had the whole world waiting for them.
But, he was reminded as he caught sight of the nasty cut on Kate’s head, they weren’t kids anymore. They were survivors, storm chasers, the few people in the world who still carried the weight of their memories and grief, who mourned for their best friends.
Javi could feel her breathing, the soft whoosh of air brushing against his skin, but he couldn’t shake the horrible sinking feeling in his gut. The dread and utter terror he had felt when he saw her, charging into the tornado, her life for all of theirs. It had been a long time since he had felt the world end.
Before he could stop himself, he reached out, grabbing her arm and tucking his fingers against the curve of her wrist, just below her thumb. Bum-bum-bum-bum. It might have been the most beautiful thing he’d ever felt.
“We’re alive.” Her voice was shaky, barely above a whisper and he had a feeling it wasn’t just because of the people asleep around them. It seemed almost blasphemous to say it, like it had all those years ago when the two of them walked out of the storm that killed their people. “We’re alive.”
And then the tears started, slow subtle things carving a path down her bruised face. Kate didn’t sob, in all the years he knew her, he had never seen her sob. Kate cried and she shook and she screamed, but she never wept. She had never felt her grief like that.
He loved her for that, loved her then, loved her now.
Javi nodded, still feeling the slow beat of her heart beneath his fingertips, “We’re alive.” And he let Kate cry, and he held her, and the two of them breathed in and out, in and out in the dark of her house. They were alive. They were alive and that would be enough for now.
Tyler always liked mornings after storms, the way the sky was always a bright shade of gray, the way the air smelled like new beginnings. He always preferred the few moments he could admire it, before he had to look at the damage the storm had brought and figure out who he was going to bury today. He shut the front door quietly behind him, he always was the first to wake up, and God forbid you try and wake up Dani before ten on a regular day.
Javi and Kate were sitting on the front porch, shoulder to shoulder and just looking out at the world. Without a word he slid into place beside Kate, wincing as he stretched out his leg, it wasn’t broken but it still hurt like a bitch. He looked over the two of them, checking for any injuries that made themselves noticeable at some point during the night before.
Kate looked like hell, but that was to be expected, he’d make sure to keep an eye on her head though. Javi looked far better, but still, like he had been thrown around a few times, bruises on the side of his face, and he was holding himself tensely like his ribs were sore. Okay, Tyler thought, they were alive and not too badly damaged. He could work with that.
“So, what’s next?” Javi’s voice was quiet, an echo of who he was a week ago. That’s what losing your faith in something can do to you, he guessed.
“Storm Par gonna be busy trying to buy up the town?” His voice wasn’t as harsh as it would have been a few days ago, but there was still an edge to it. Kate didn’t say anything, just leaned back, her shoulders pressed against both of theirs, watching the two of them go back and forth.
Javi smiled, “I wouldn’t know. I kinda -” He looked away, and if Tyler didn’t know better he’d say he was embarrassed, “Scott wanted to map the storm when I told him we needed to go help the people in town, he wouldn’t budge. So I stopped the car, and when he got out I hit the gas pedal and left him there.”
He shrugged, “I assume I’m out of a job, so I can’t tell you what they’ll do.”
Tyler stared at him, okay, he could work with this, “Didn’t think you had it in you.” Javi should bristle at that, but it wasn’t an insult, it might actually be a compliment. “Now, now we help people. Try and organize some sort of system to pull people from the wreckage, get food, water, medicine.”
He sighed, leaning forward and running a hand through his hair. Tyler had been here a dozen times before but it never got any easier, watching the wreckage, seeing the devastation that followed the storms he loved with everything he had. “I got folks with cash to spare who watch my videos, I’ll reach out, see if they can send some supplies, some help.”
Kate’s voice was hoarse and scratchy, “It won’t be as bad as it coulda been. Saved a lot of people by heading back when we did.”
“And,” Javi said, “Driving the truck into the storm saved all our asses.” Kate just shrugged like it was nothing, like it was something she did every Tuesday. This girl was batshit crazy, and Tyler was already halfway in love with her. Javi carefully wrapped an arm over her shoulder, giving her a place to rest her head. He traced circles into her arm, a pattern that seemed to soothe both of them. Okay, he thought, at least this one was a touch more sane.
If all three of them were the same level of crazy they wouldn’t last the year. But this - this could be something. He had no clue what, but it could be something. Tyler drove into tornados for fun, this, this was nothing. Or rather this could be everything.
Kate nudged him lightly with her elbow, “What’s going on in your head?”
Tyler just smiled, “Just thinking that I never would've guessed we’d end up here.” And he meant alive, and he meant together and he meant with the potential to end tornados as they formed. He meant the three of them standing in the wreckage of what should have been the end of the world but wasn’t. “It’s a beautiful morning.”
And it was, despite everything it was. Sunlight finally broke through the sheet of gray, drifting across the green grass and still-standing trees, illuminating the world in shades of gold. The three of them, pressed shoulder to shoulder, tucked against each other on Kate’s porch, took a breath in and out, in and out. They were alive, they had survived, and now they could crawl their way to living.
Ain’t that one hell of a miracle?