Chapter Text
Regulus Black stood in front of the camera, fully intent on making history in his small town. There was a bright smile on his face, the kind of smile that Regulus wasn’t sure he could muster anymore.
Regulus stood next to Barty Crouch. Regulus used to call him ‘Bee’ because he knew it annoyed Barty. The slight twitch from Barty’s lips at the nickname always made Regulus smile. Regulus knew that somewhere in an old scrapbook there were probably sticky notes with hearts and kisses that they passed back and forth during lecture hall as if they were juvenile highschoolers instead of undergrad students. Regulus had never claimed to be a romantic, and as a kid he swore that love was disgusting and that he would never marry. But that was all long before he met his Bee. The gentle touches and the late night phone calls turned Regulus into a far mushier version of the stubborn jackass that most people thought of when they heard Regulus’ name. Barty traced hearts and stars on nearly every piece of paper Regulus used. Regulus had found it annoying, but once it stopped he found that he thought his paper was eerily empty. After the accident Regulus got that heart tattooed on his hip, in Barty’s writing. He thought it would help, to be reminded of Barty, but each time Regulus looked at it in the mirror he felt like shit for surviving.
Evan Rosier was on the other side of Regulus, proudly holding sensors that he’d coded himself. From the outside they just looked like small balls of metal. Not even nice metal, they looked completely janky and crooked. But they were invaluable to the mission. When Pandora and Evan used to argue, she would threaten to throw the sensors at the wall, purely to rile her brother up.
Dorcas was off to the side in the picture, she had sworn that they didn’t have the time to stop and have a photoshoot. She wanted them to keep moving. Regulus could practically hear her yelling through the photograph, “The storm is going to hit a mile south in roughly half an hour guys, let’s move!” She called, tracking the clouds on her crappy laptop.
Pandora was the one taking the picture, there were roughly a dozen selfies taken next to it on the disposable camera. But she was insistent that everyone stand close and smile to remember the moment. The only trace of her in the group photo was the corner of her thumb covering the lens, blocking off the top of the satellite.
Regulus was determined to track the tornado, lower the destruction in it’s path. If his calculations were correct, with the amount of absorbancy in his polymers, they could stop the tornado before it even had a chance to really form.
“Come on guys, we’ve got to go!” Dorcas called for the dozenth time and they still weren’t listening to her. Regulus saw the clouds rolling though, it was an almost imperceptible shift in the air.
“She’s right!” Regulus sighed, “We should roll out!”
They got in the van. It was Evan’s mom’s white mini-van with a trailer poorly attached to it. The plan was simple in theory, to go and dispose of the trailer in the eye of the tornado. It should cause the tornado to take in the polymer and then die out before it could cause any damage.
Regulus took the passenger seat of the van, Barty drove. He always insisted on driving, while the rest of them tracked storm conditions on their various computers and machines.
Pandora was staying put, watching and monitoring the drones and things from a distance. She stayed on the line over a system of various headsets. The system was crackly at best with a constant sort of static running across the line. “The clouds are moving, do you guys have eyes on the storm?”
Regulus kept his eyes trained on the sky as Barty drove. The road was dirt and to say it was bumpy would be an understatement. The road seemed to rattle the car as it drove across it. Regulus held onto the handle on the roof of the car to try and steady himself. “God, Barty.” Regulus sighs.
“I didn’t make the road.” Barty huffs out in his own defense.
The clouds were beginning to swirl, as they made their way closer to the spot where the storm was supposed to form. “Are we sure we’re close enough? It’s only a category one.” Dorcas asked, ever the skeptic.
“We’re right in it’s path.” Regulus insisted. “It’ll take in the polymers and disperse before it’s even a real tornado.”
“If it goes according to plan.” Evan mumbled.
Regulus bit his lip at that, it had to go according to plan. “It will.” He swore, “It will all go according to plan.”
They hopped out of the car as they pulled to a stop. Evan hurriedly laid out his sensors. Regulus and Dorcas uncapped the barrels full of the absorbent polymers. That’s when the air shifted. Dorcas unhitched the trailer from the van as fast as she could.
“In the van! Everyone in the van!” Evan called and they started running, the air was swirling around. The clouds seemed almost violent as the dust on the ground started to kick up with the wind.
Regulus pulled himself in the van and before he could even shut the door, Barty started to drive. The drive was rougher than the last as Barty sped away as fast as he could. But they were right in the storm’s path. Regulus looked out the rearview window.
For a moment, he had hope, he was excited. The clouds formed in the familiar circular formation, intent on sucking up the polymer. The white powder lifted in the air, swirling with the clouds. The sensors followed with it.
But then nothing happened.
“It didn’t work.” Regulus mumbled. He was horrified. “It didn’t work, it should have worked.”
Barty slowed for a second to look back, and that was the first mistake. “We’re in the path, aren’t we?”
“Drive!” Evan yelled.
Over the slight static of the radio, Pandora could be heard, trying to understand the situation, but they were all so much more focused on the tornado approaching the van at rapid speeds.
The car started to rattle again, but this time it wasn’t from the road, it was from the wind. The wind was threatening to knock the car on it’s side. If they weren’t lucky, the tornado would sweep them up entirely. “That’s not a category one.” Regulus tried to remember how to breathe, but some part of him knew that he was probably going to die. He was struggling not to hyperventilate.
The back of the car began lifting off the ground, and Barty footed the breaks, trying to outrun it.
It was hopeless though, there was no outrunning this storm. Not like this.
Regulus opened his window, deciding to take his chances. He jumped out of the vehicle and started running. He was looking for somewhere to hide. He was looking for something low to the ground. Anything. He kept running. The mud was slippery, and it splashed across his legs. He had to dodge pieces of metal and trash as they flew through the air with enough force to kill him if it hit his head.
Eventually his friends werre running on foot not far behind him. Regulus knew the car had been lost to the storm. Barty had caught up to him in seconds, but Regulus couldn’t afford to look behind. Not even when he could hear Dorcas scream.
The screams went silent and Regulus knew she was dead.
Regulus struggled not to freeze, but he had to keep going. Regulus did not plan to die. He kept going, running as fast as he physically could manage towards the bridge. He was pushing himself as far as he could. Regulus thought that if he wasn’t caught into the storm that perhaps his own exhaustion might kill him.
“Keep going, Reg. Keep going.” Barty called to him, and that gave Regulus enough energy to push a little harder. He ran a little faster.
They were at the bridge. It was a little safer, the wind died a little in the tunnel like structure. But they could still feel it, and it was inching closer.
There was a metal beam, a small cranny where someone could fit. Where someone could survive the storm. But the slope towards it was slippery and steep. Regulus tried to climb up to it, he slipped. He cut himself on a jagged piece of metal, he let out a hissing sound at the pain. Regulus couldn’t tell if it was mud or blood that was trickling down his leg.
Barty saw the same spot as Regulus, he managed to climb up to it. It was easier with how much taller Barty was. Barty reached for Regulus, offering out his hand. Regulus kept trying to reach it, missing it by inches.
Evan was beside Regulus, panting. Hardly recognizable with the mud on his face and the large cuts across his arm.
If Regulus was a better person, he would have helped Evan get up, before getting up himself. Perhaps offered to boost him upwards. But Regulus didn’t. Instead, Regulus kept climbing the treacherous slope until he grabbed Barty’s hand and was able to pull himself up into the alcove.
Barty held on tight to Regulus, as they watched Evan be pulled away. There was no doubt in Regulus mind that Evan was dead now. Evan wouldn’t be able to survive the injuries he’d already suffered, much less whatever he was facing in the storm. Regulus hoped Evan’s death would be quick and painless.
Regulus curled up, hugging onto the steal beam of the bridge as he felt the storm try and pull him. Barty was acting as a blanket of sorts, sheltering Regulus from the worst of it.
It was loud under the bridge. Scrap metal seemed to ricochet off of the walls like small bullets as they were sucked towards the storm. Regulus had to pray he wasn’t cut too badly. He had to hope nothing would catch on Barty’s skin or hit in a too sensitive spot. Regulus was being shielded by Barty, he had to hope they’d both survive.
That was the moment that Regulus understood how much Barty truly loved him. Barty was willing to risk his life for Regulus in the most literal way.
“Thank you, Barty.” Regulus panted as he struggled not to cry. In the stillness his emotions were finally present. He could feel them. He could understand the deaths that he had caused and that there really was no one else to blame.
Barty didn’t answer.
“Bee?” Regulus asked.
But there was no response.
That’s when Regulus realized that Barty had stopped breathing.
Regulus could feel the limp body, as it was pulled off of him and into the storm. Regulus sobbed. He let himself cry. He could do nothing more but wait for the storm to pass.
…
Regulus didn’t remember much between then and when the storm had finally ended. He could barely recall himself sliding out from under Barty’s body and walking through the torn up field.
He aimlessly searched for something, for someone. Regulus felt somewhat lost, and he wandered around like a zombie more than a human. He didn’t recognize the paramedic that came and picked him up, Regulus wasn’t even sure when he had collapsed on the ground.
When he tried to remember the trip to the hospital, it was all a blur. Regulus woke up to the fluorescent lights and tried to blink his way into consciousness. Something about trauma, or blood loss. Regulus didn’t quite comprehend what the doctors were trying to say to him.
Regulus just laid on the bed, entirely unresponsive. It was days before he so much as made a sound. It was long before Regulus could comprehend what happened as anything more than an awful nightmare.