Twister of Fate
God, this took forever! Hope you guys like it. Dedicated to _dangerzone911 for kicking my ass into doing this and giving me ideas, and for letscall_l, because I said I would update your ParisJazzBand!fic plz
There are clouds on the horizon, dark and briused, blotting out the sun. The wind is fierce, whipping the corn stalks almost flat through sheer force as David drives them past fields and closer to the heart of the storm, the swirling core sucking them in like a black hole.
"Ominous" he laughs, speeding up to pass Greg and Ethan in the motorhome. It's a large 20 foot long RV that holds their beds and clothes and fridges and a single television. It's also the only vehicle in their convoy not strictly related to data collection. It's their home on the road, for the times when they're not throwing themselves in harm's way.
In front of the motorhome is Jennifer, driving a huge hardsided aliminium bodied truck-camper they've nicknamed Headquarters. It has, over the months, been modified with the thousands of dollars of equipment they need to track the storms they chase, all of it donated on grants from the National Severe Storms Labratory. It houses the details, the technical information that pushes Selena from storm to storm, wind calculations and weather patterns, GPS systems and acoustic couplers, hook-ups to Doppler dishes and information hook-ups to meteorological offices that aren't exactly legal.
David flips the bird as they pass, both of them laughing when Jennifer reciprocates. Selena can't see them, but she's sure Bridget and Lorenzo are both doing the same as they monitor the storm in the back of Headquarters.
"You jackasses finally decided to show?" Jen laughs over the CB radio, "I thought I'd have to find this one all on my lonesome."
"Pfft you wish Stone," David says, laughing childishly "you know these babies only show for me."
"Ha, like they'd put out for a man-whore like you." Selena can practically hear Jen's smirk.
"That's my brother you're talking about," Lorenzo pipes up, sounding amused.
"Thanks man." David grins.
"What for? I was just about to agree with her" Lorenzo says, and then the radio is filled with the sound of everyone else laughing, rushes of static crackling through the air.
"You suck," David pouts, a look of fake outrage contradicting the smile in his eyes.
"Cut the radio chatter and give me info, people," Selena finally chimes in, snatching the radio from David, serious sounding, tapping on the buttons welded to the dashboard, all linked to the equipment in the truck bed. "The flow asymmetry is...well we're gonna get lucky."
"Selena, it's Bridget," her voice comes over the radio, sounding serious. "Doppler says we've got serious wind changes happening, uh, 15 miles east. Rotation, we got lots of rotation."
"You heard her," Selena says to David, sharing a smile as he guns the engine. God this is her favourite part, the reason she does this. Throwing themselves at the dark spot on the horizon, she feels David squeeze her hand, like yeah it's insane, it's stupid, but it's the fucking life. It's the only time she feels truly alive, under the bruised sky and whipped wind of the storm.
"Turn northwest in three miles, everybody ready for this?" David questions, still smiling.
"Roger" Jen says, flashing her lights.
"You know it," Greg says "We got a storm?"
"Two, actually," Lorenzo confirms, "it's gonna be a long, crazy summer."
"When isn't it?" David laughs, wild and carefree.
David pushes a CD into the player, a mix he made himself so 'he could feel kickass whilst chasing storms' as he put it. The opening to Refused's New Noise starts to play and Selena feels herself start to get giddy as adrenaline kicks in.
"We got major motion," Lorenzo butts in, "towers going up 30 miles off the dryline."
"It's going green" Selena murmurs, pointing out of the windshield, "the horizon, the clouds are going green."
"We've got greenage. Sel are you seeing this?" Bridget questions.
"I see it. Wind speed?"
"150- no 160- shit Sel it's getting crazy big!" Lorenzo exclaims, sounding as excited as Selena feels, adrenaline thrumming like lightning under her skin, in her bones.
Selena bites her lip, "towards or away from us, Bridget?" 211478
"Towards, fuck it's headed straight for you guys."
"Be careful, I don't like the look of that rotation," Greg adds.
Selena simply looked at David. "Get me under that storm."
David grins, wide and giddy, gunning the engine as rain started to fall in sheets around them. The wipers weren't moving fast enough to clear the windshield of the almost constant downpour. Lightning flashed, burning white hot and skittering across the clouds like cracks in an eggshell. Promising battles to come. David starts humming Ride of the Valkyries under his breath while he drives, straight into the storm as the others drop back.
"You sure it won't drop on us?" he questions quietly, seriously, no longer smiling.
"Yeah, I'm sure, trust me. I know storms." Selena says back, just as quietly. It's true, she's always been able to read the clouds, better than the other scientists, better than the professors that tried to teach them. Ever since a science project when she was 13, Selena's had an almost child prodigy knowledge of storms.
"I just don't like the look of those formations," David murmers. The rain is almost horizontal now, clouds swirling darker, tell-tale signs of imminent touch down.
“Trust me” Selena says again, and David can hear the crazy need in her voice, the one that comes when a storm is about to touch down, and he knows exactly what it stems from. The past Selena refuses to talk about.
Hail starts to smash down around them, golf ball sized pieces of ice shattering on the road and bouncing off of the truck. One hits the windshield, cracks like spiderwebs spreading out from the point of impact. David glances at Selena, but keeps going.
“Wind speed nearing 215... Jesus it’s almost an F5“ Bridget sound breathless over the radio, the electricity in the air causing interference and static.
It’s then that David makes his decision, stopping the truck and reversing, swinging them into a J-turn and driving back the way they came.
“David! What are you doing! We didn’t get the sensor packet out!” Selena twists in her seat, looking back at the storm.
“Sorry Sel, but I’m not putting you under an F5, we’ll get another chance,” he says, firmly, still driving away from the storm. He can see the reckless spark in her eyes, the one that always threaten to become a flame that’ll one day consume her, send her too far into the storm. Then he sees her relent.
Selena sighed. “Right, you’re right, tell the others to meet at Bear Lake Rendevous, 56 miles southwest.”
The rest of the journey was in silence.
*****
It was Greg who got the call. He had been in HQ looking for a storm to chase when the phone rang. Apparently the NSSL had gotten some Disney kids to agree to do a concert to raise money and awareness for tornado research, but they wanted the kids to see what stormchasers did and since they were the youngest team, they were the ones that had to play babysitter. The stars were already on their way and would be there in the morning. He wasn’t looking forward to telling the others, especially when he saw the last name on the list.
Demi Lovato
Fuck, Selena was gonna go apeshit.
*****
They reacted exactly as expected, pissed off at being babysitters but unable to do anything about it. It got worse when David asked who was coming. The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato. After hearing that last name, Selena simply left the RV and refused to come back inside, understandable considering their history, but it left everyone else sitting there worried that she’d end up doing something stupid. David finally convinced her to come back inside when he waved his home made pasta sauce in her direction, grinning smugly when she entered the RV.
“Knew my famous pasta sauce would get you back,” he smirked in her direction.
“Whatever, it was raining anyway,” she said grumpily, but readily tasting the sauce when he held the spoon to her lips. She gave a ‘Hmmmm’ of satisfaction at the taste.
“Are you gonna be okay? With her coming tomorrow?” He questions gently, looking concerned. David was the only one who knew the full story, who knew how much it had hurt, what had happened between her and Demi. Well, Lorenzo probably knew too, David couldn’t keep a secret from him if he tried. All the others knew was that Demi and Selena had been best friends for about 7 years before Demi got famous and forgot about her. David was the only one who knew Selena had been in love with Demi, and probably still was.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she doesn’t feel nearly as confident as she sounds, but she figures it’s been three years. She should be over it by now. Or at least be able to act normal around Demi.
“I got your back, you know that right?” David says, touching a hand to the back of her neck.
“I know.”
*****
The entire gang groups around her that night, pressing close and comforting her with their familiar touch and scent. They live together in this crappy RV almost every day of every month, the seven of them on the road through the tornado belt, forecasting every morning where the storm will hit, chasing them by day, laughing and playing cards through the night. They live out of gas station bathrooms and on fast food, and they’ve become almost family, completely comfortable, even enough to walk around in only their underwear (which has happened more than once when they ran out of clean clothes.) Facing life-threatening situations every day will do that to you, Selena supposes.
They let her pick a movie to watch, and for a few hours she forgets all about tomorrow and what it brings. They then drag all their matresses, pillows and blankets together into one big bed (along with an exuberant shout of “blanket fort!” from Lorenzo), curling and twisting together, piled like puppies, Selena in the middle, covered by a tangle of familiar limbs and hair.
And she sleeps.
*****
They wake up the next morning, still tangled up, pupils wide-blown in the harsh sunlight. They laugh with sweat slick on their necks as they pull away from each other, yawning and stretching, fighting over the shower and coffee. It’s an hour later when they’re finally ready for the day, having returned the bunks to normal and meandering over to HQ to see what their day is going to be like.
David whistles as he looks at the readout on the screen, pressed up against Selena and sharing her coffee mug.
“Look at that, we’ve got crazy cloud cover, up to forty thousand feet. Supercells all over the joint. Wind speed 65 on the ground, 205 in the air.” He exclaims, all giddyness and childlike excitement.
“Sweet,” Selena murmurs, smiling slightly.
“Only you could call this shit sweet. Any other person would be leaving like a bat outta hell, not throwing themselves at it,” Jen comments, sprawling herself over Bridget’s back, making Bridget roll her eyes and shrug her off.
“Those Disney kids better get here fast, cos this shit’s gonna blow. Caps are already starting to break,” Lorenzo says, looking at the numbers on the readouts.
“Find me the core,” Selena asks quietly, looking around as Greg and Ethan appear, wrapped together in an old afghan.
“That’s the thing, I’ve got maybe four cores in this area alone, there’s so many cells. Each is as bad as the next,” David explains, looking at Selena as they share a smile.
It’s then that they hear the crunch of gravel under truck wheels as someone pulls into the lot where they’re parked. They glance at each other. Then Greg drags Ethan out of HQ to greet their guests, everyone else following as David glances at Selena.
“You good?” He asks.
“I’m good,” she mutters quietly. They both walk out of HQ, looking at the shiny black truck that’s just rolled to a stop. There’s a pause, then six teenagers all scramble out of the vehicle. All three of the boys have dark curly hair, and Selena guesses that they’re the Jonas Brothers. This is followed by a tall, curly blonde head that Selena knows is Taylor Swift, brown haired Miley Cyrus and a dark raven haired girl, the sight of which makes Selena’s breath catch.
Demi.
*****
“Hey there folks, I’m David, and this is Greg, Ethan, Jennifer, Bridget, my little brother Lorenzo and our fearless leader, Selena.” David introduces, pointing at them one by one as everyone waves and smiles. The Disney kids smile back and introduce themselves, not that they really needed to. Selena spends a lot of the time looking at everyone but Demi, whilst Demi is staring at Selena like she’s the most amazing thing she’s ever seen.
“Right, so, what we’re gonna do is take you out with us chasing tornadoes. You’re in luck, today’s gonna be awesome.” Ethan says. “Unfortunately we can’t fit you all in one truck, so half will go with David and Selena, half with Jen, Bridget and Enzo in HQ, ok?” he asks.
“We bag the chicks!” David shouts, hand shooting up. The stars giggle as Selena rolls her eyes and cuffs him upside the head. Her eyes catch Demi’s for a split second, and it’s enough to make her breath hitch. She quickly looks away, turning around and jumping into Headquarters. It only takes a quick look at the numbers scrolling across the screen to know that they need to move out now if they want to actually do their jobs. She feels a rush of adrenaline, and decides to just try to do her job and ignore Demi’s presence. Selena quickly jumps back out to the others, who were trying to explain exactly why it is they did what they did.
“Well ladies, if you’re quite finished yapping, I’d like to go chase some tornadoes,” she declares loudly, sparking off a flurry of movement as her team seamlessly changes itself from a bunch of sycophantic slackers to serious, dedicated researchers in the space of a heartbeat. The stars look kind of dazed, and unsure as to what they should be doing, so she wanders over to them.
“Ok, since David has already ‘bagged you’” she used air quotes around those words, “you ladies will be riding in out truck, and the Jonas Brothers will be riding in HQ” she points at the truck camper, and Joe, Nick and Kevin nod and wander over to climb in the back. Demi, Miley and Taylor all clamber in the back of the truck, watching as Selena yells at David to ‘hurry the fuck up’. He scrambles towards them and climbs in as Selena fiddles with the buttons on the dashboard, connected to the equipment welded into the flatbed of their truck. Most of it is Selena’s design, very precise instruments designed to give accurate readings only when put under a tornado.
He starts the truck and immediately heads towards the ash black clouds on the horizon, like a charcoal smudge in the sky. They talk quietly over the radio with the others, showing restraint considering the guests they have in the back of the truck.
“Enzo, what are my dew points doing?” Selena asks quietly. David is fidgeting beside her, wanting to let loose and get as hyped up as they usually do, hating that he feels they have to make a good impression.
“Dew points up to 75 Sel, it’s going good so far,” Lorenzo’s voice crackles over the radio, starting to sound excited as he looks at the readings in the back of HQ. “Flow asymmetry is good too.”
“Ok, keep looking for a hook forming for me.”
She glances at the sky quickly, staring at the clouds.
“Look at that colouring up there,” David remarks, pointing at the clouds.
“Yeah look at the mammatas, tops have gotta be spiking above 40,000. It’s awesome.”
“Why is that awesome?” It’s Demi, looking straight at her with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Because it means there’s gonna be a tornado for us,” Selena finds herself answering, looking at Demi’s face and starting to smile. Fuck she loved this job sometimes.
“And what are you gonna do when you find this tornado?” Taylor questions, southern accent more apparent. Selena remembers when Demi used to have an accent like that.
“Well,” David butts in “We’re gonna drive in it’s path, drop off the sensor packet then get the hell outta there before we get sucked up.”
“You mean you’re driving us straight at the tornado!” Miley screeches, with Taylor nodding along looking equally as upset. Demi is too busy staring at Selena to care.
“You wanted to see what we do,” Selena says quietly, still looking at Demi. “Well, this is it.”
David smiles at her, looking towards the horizon again as he throws them at the heart of the storm. Selena glances at the speedometer, grimacing as it reads 50.
“50 David, really? Darling you’re killing me here,” she grins as he presses down hard on the pedal, the needle jumping up to 75. They talk numbers with the others on the radio, ignoring their guests for the moment. It’s only when Selena looks at the visible tornado, already touching the ground and destroying the surrounding area, that she tells David to stop the truck quickly.
“What? What are you doing?” He asks frantically, looking at the F-3 swirling in the field next to them.
“Look at the angle of the updraft, it’s going to change track, go to the left. It’s a sidewinder. Take that road there, that’ll put us in front of it.” She explains quickly, frantically, pointing at the storm, the clouds. David takes the road to the left.
“Bridget, give me some numbers, what happening?” Selena demands over the radio.
“We got an F-3 Sel, shifting south, sitting on the ground, there’s very large rope on the ground.”
“Sel, this thing isn’t gonna last long, it’s not gonna last long the atmosphere is unstable,” Lorenzo butts in. “You’re gonna have to be quick guys.”
Rain started to pour over the car as lightning flashed over in the distance. David quickly got on the radio and told the others to stay back as they continued moving towards the storm. Selena got out a camcorder and started to film what was going on.
“Rain bands,” David said quietly, nodding towards the window. “Look at the surf coming off those fields.”
“Shit, horizontal rain. Hold on.” Selena hisses to the girls in the back. They quickly grab onto whatever they can, with Miley in the middle grabbing hold of Taylor.
“Jesus, I’ve never seen clutter like this,” David murmers, staring at the clouds in awe.
“Me either,” Selena mumbles quietly. “Flash frequencies are high, we’re in the core.”
David glanced to the left at the lake next to them, two tornadoes swirling and writhing around each other. “We got sisters.”
Selena nods quickly. “We’re right under the flanking line, we can’t go in from the south, we’ll get rolled.”
David opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was was lost when a cow flew past the windshield.
“That’s a cow,” Demi said faintly, following it’s path through the air before she lost sight.
“Fuck, they’re drunkards, we got no path,” Selena snapped at David. “Get us out of here, we can’t get funding if we kill half the celebrities off. Then we’re just left with a Jonas Brothers concert.”
David grunted, slamming the gas pedal down as the engine roared loudly. It was no use as the two tornadoes veered straight for them. David quickly slammed thebrakes on, the truck jerking to a halt.
“Hang on!” Selena screamed as the two tornadoes engulfed the truck, started to spin it round and round. The noise was deafening, the twister growling, shrieking, snarling at them as rain lashed against the vehicle. All three Disney girls screamed as the car span like some demented rollercoaster. Then suddenly it stopped, falling quiet as the twisters retreated into the sky, the rain petering away into nothing.
Everything was still and silent for a split second, then both Selena and David glanced at each other before scrambling quickly out of the truck. They met at the front, pulling each other into hugs, babbling and laughing and yelling incoherently, pointing at the sky with big grins. They’re only distracted by the panicked breathing of Miley behind them, turning around to see her being pulled out of the car and into a hug by Taylor. David hurries over to check on them whilst Selena rushes over to Demi’s side of the truck. She throws the door open just in time to catch Demi as she throws herself in her arms, sobbing breathlessly.
“It’s ok, I’ve got you, I’ve got you, everything’s ok,” She murmurs into Demi’s ear, holding her tightly and rocking her from side to side, whispering reassurances as she whimpers quietly.
She’s distracted by the arrival of everyone else, the sight of the Jonas Brothers scrambling out of HQ and running towards them, followed swiftly by everyone else. Demi refuses to let go of Selena, even with the arrival of everyone else, crowding around them and asking questions.
“Y’know Selena,” Greg says with a big grin, “I couldn’t help but notice we’re only 70 miles from Grand Prairie. We should make a pit stop.”
“No guys, we’re not invading my mother’s house.” Selena says, laughing, still holding onto Demi.
“C’mon Sel, you know you wanna see her,” Jen wheedles, pouting at her, quickly getting the others to join in with the pouting and the whining. She laughs and refuses, over and over, only relenting when Demi quietly says she’d like to see Mandy again.
*****
Mandy comes rushing out of the house as soon as she hears the familiar rumble of their trucks. She meets Selena half way, crushing her into a giant hug. The rest of the gang follow suit, each receiving hugs and kisses.
“Well you guys always have the best timing, Brian’s just lit the barbeque and put the burgers on. Go get some,” Mandy laughs, waving them away. Selena stays behind to introduce the Disney stars, all of them being recieved warmly by Mandy. However she pauses when she hears Demi’s name.
“Demi? Demi Lovato is that really you?” Demi nods shyly. “Well look at you, all grown up! And beautiful too, darlin’ you look gorgeous!” Mandy gushes, making Demi blush fiercely. “It’s been so long! What are you doing here!”
“I’m part of the group that’s performing the concert to raise money for tornado research. The Disney execs wanted us to see what we’d be rasing money for.”
“Oh right I forgot,” Mandy smirks at her. “You’re a big star now.” Demi blushes again. “Well go get some food whilst it’s there.”
Selena rolls her eyes, but grabs Demi by the hand and drags her around to the back yard. She grins and waves to Brian, who is standing by the grill. They’ll catch up properly later. She turns to talk to Demi, only to find her staring at their joined hands in wonder. She clears her throat, making Demi’s eyes snap back up to hers. She blushes when she realises she’s been caught.
“You go sit down, I’ll go get us some food ok?” Selena tells her. Demi just nods mutely and wander away to a quiet corner.
Selena joins her after picking up a large plate of burgers, sausages, ribs and steak. “Don’t you want to sit with the others?” she asks quietly. Demi just mutely shakes her head. Selena shrugs and sets her plate down between them, with both of them silently eating for the next 10 minutes. It’s not an awkward silence like she expected, but more comfortable, like it used to be when they were friends, back when everything was good.
“Why do you do this?” Demi asks finally, quiet and serious.
“What, eat?” Selena jokes weakly, because she knows exactly what she means and she doesn’t really want to talk about it.
“No, why do you throw yourself at storms? Why do you put yourself in danger?” She looks up at Selena, watery eyed and questioning. Selena just sighs.
“I do this because I want losing you to mean something. When I did that science project, I fell in love with tornadoes. I changed my dream. You didn’t. You still wanted to sing, to be heard, be famous, I just wanted to study storms. Then you left, you got recognised, and we stopped talking, and you forgot about me. So I started to chase these storms because I wanted to make the loss of you significant, important, then I just started to love it the longer I did it.”
“I never forgot you y’know,” Demi says softly, looking Selena right in the eye. “Even when we lost touch. I just... it was all so new, and I made new friends, and they were so persuasive, convincing me that I didn’t need you now that I was a star. But they were wrong. I’ve always needed you, I still do.”
Demi then took a breath, as if she was preparing herself for something. “I promised myself a long time ago that if I did ever find you again, I’d tell you. I’m in love with you Selena, I think I always have been, ever since we were seven.”
Selena found herself speechless, unsure what to say to this sudden confession. It was what she had been wanting to hear from Demi for years, but she was so sure it would never happen that she wasn’t quite certain it was real and not just a dream.
“Are you- are you serious?” She asked, still stunned.
Demi fidgeted wildly, not looking Selena in the eye. A blush was spreading across her face. “Well, yeah, I’ve known for a while now, I think it took losing you for me to see how much you meant to me.”
“Wow,” Selena said finally. “And here I thought it was just me.”
Demi’s head shot up as she stared at Selena. Their eyes locked and a thousand words passed between them in the space of a few seconds. She gasped softly, refusing to break the gaze.
“You mean it?” She asked breathlessly. “You forgive me for leaving, for not calling?”
Selena smiled widely. “I think I forgave you a long time ago, Dems.”
“Can I- I mean just- can I kiss you?” Demi whispered. Selena just nodded, breath hitching as Demi drew closer. Her eyes fluttered shut moments before she felt lips press against her own. They held it, that simple pressure, before pulling away. They looked at each other for only a second before leaning back in, pressing their smiles together. The kiss deepened, both of them slanting their heads and parting their lips, letting the tips of their tongues brush and retreat, over and over.
They were pulled apart by a wolf whistle from David, to find everyone looking at them. They blushed as everyone broke out into applause and catcalls, whooping loudly. Selena then turned back to Demi, finding the smile on her face so enchanting that she had to taste it. They ignored the others around them as they got lost in each other.
*****
They set off again the next morning, ready to go, with Demi riding in the truck with Selena and David. The storm they were chasing today was predicted to be huge, an F4 definately, maybe and F5. It was quiet, Demi and Selena had argued that morning, with Demi not wanting Selena to put herself in danger anymore, not now that she had her like she’d always wanted her. This had lead to Selena saying it was her job that she loved and then both of them saying things they didn’t mean. So they were silent.
They pass information between them and HQ, about wind speed and ground speed, updraft and cloudcover, dew points and hooks and drop zones.
“Guys, you should pull off this one, it’s too unpredictable.” Jen’s voice crackles over the headset. Everyone but Selena, Demi and David are in HQ, with Greg and Ethan driving the motorhome.
“Are we in the path of destruction?” Selena asks, serious and measuring, weighing up whether to go after this storm.
“For now yeah. We don’t know what it’s gonna do, better leave it alone Sel.” Bridget answers.
“Alright everybody stop, Demi’s moving to Headquarters.” Selena says finally, getting an immediate squawk of protest from Demi.
“What? I’m not leaving this truck and you’re not going after this storm, Selena Marie Gomez!” She yells, but David’s already pulled over and Selena is opening Demi’s door. The rest of the convoy pull up behind them.
“Look Demi, I know you don’t understand why I do this, and I know you want me to be safe, but I have to get this sensor packet out. I have to. After that, it’s over, and I’ll give it up and come on tour with you, whatever you want, I promise. But I have to do this.” Selena explains quietly, holding Demi tight to her and looking straight at her.
Demi’s silent for a long moment, staring at Selena intently. “I’m holding you to that promise Selena,” she says finally, before pulling her in for a hard, passionate kiss that leaves Selena breathless. “You fucking better come back to me,” she murmurs against her lips.
“I will, I will.”
*****
They’re moving again, just her and David, barreling straight towards the oncoming storm. Demi was back in HQ, having agreed to stay there after Selena’s promise. Selena thinks she’s seen into her true meaning, how Selena needed to be here, no matter what. Needs to hold the storm to her chest and feel the wind whip her skin until it tingles raw. The storm looms over them like the spirit of God, black oily clouds and torrential rain making it impossible to see.
Selena knows she’s made a mistake when the hail starts, hammering against the truck and road like a shower of brimstone. But she doesn’t tell David to stop because there’s Demi’s future, her future, clutched in the back of her mind. She can’t have her future unless she finishes this, until she reaches that black core and sucks the marrow from these storms.
“Stop here,” she commands, climbing into the back of the truck as it halts, wincing as the hail strikes her skin like hammer-blows. She releases the sensor equipment, little metal spheres made to be swallowed by the storm. David flicks the appropriate switches on the dashboard, panel lighting up with endless scrolls of information.
It starts as a roar, first distant then frighteningly close. Then Selena looks up and sees it, the tornado snaking down and touching down with the scream of some mythical beast, a many headed hydra shrieking into the false night of the clouds. Huge, dark. Alive.
Selena panics, working faster with frozen fingers as she hurries to set up all the equipment as David screams at her to hurry it up. Almost there, almost... There! Work done, she looks again at the tornado. No more than half a mile away, ready to suck her up into oblivion. Fuck that, she has a future with Demi to get to, and no tornado was going to make her break her promise.
She can feel the wind now, pulling them in like gravity towards a black hole, before she smashes her fist into the sensor packet, the top popping open, sensors twinkling there like Christmas ornaments. She jumps out of the truck and runs with David to the dense cover of the woods. The wind screams, tears at them like a horrific monster, the trees bending and creaking, beginning to crack with a gunfire spatter of noise.
Some fifteen feet ahead is a small cavern, made up mostly of two boulders at an angle to each other. They head towards it, cramming themselves into the space and praying it will be enough. They hold each other tight as the tornado passes by, wind whipped rocks and branches tearing their skin in sharp glances, leaving them cut-deep and bloodied. Mud splashes against their clothes and coats them slickly as they become drenched and heavy with dirt, until their blood mixes with the rain and the earth and the sullen throb of their bruises.
After what seems an age of pain and terror, the storm passes, the wind relenting. They crawl out of their shelter, bodies sharp with pain and triumph and trembling from adrenaline. They wander back out onto the road, in awe of the destruction wreaked by the storm. Their truck is gone. So is the sensor packet.
Horns blare further down the road, HQ and the motorhome speeding into view. They screech to a stop a few meters away, Lorenzo and Demi stumbling out before they fully stop moving, racing towards those they loved.
Selena catches Demi in her arms, laughing against her mouth as she kisses her, over and over again. The others catch up, screaming nonsense and praise and “You did it!” in a jumbled mess of sound.
“How was it?!” Jen asks excitedly, hopping up and down on the spot.
Selena grinned widely. “Windy.”
This brings a round of laughs and hugs and back-slapping. They all start talking excitedly, about figures and numbers and data that the sensors have fed them from inside the tornado, voices overlapping giddily.
“Looks like we have a lot of data to go through,” Greg remarks, looking at the others.
“You guys do, I have a tour to go on,” Selena replies happily. She feels drunk, skin glowing like some deep alcoholic flush, pressed against Demi’s body, nerves tingling. But she also feels relieved, like it really is over. She has Demi, and- she thinks as Demi kisses her- that’s all she’ll ever really need.
There are clouds on the horizon, dark and briused, blotting out the sun. The wind is fierce, whipping the corn stalks almost flat through sheer force as David drives them past fields and closer to the heart of the storm, the swirling core sucking them in like a black hole.
"Ominous" he laughs, speeding up to pass Greg and Ethan in the motorhome. It's a large 20 foot long RV that holds their beds and clothes and fridges and a single television. It's also the only vehicle in their convoy not strictly related to data collection. It's their home on the road, for the times when they're not throwing themselves in harm's way.
In front of the motorhome is Jennifer, driving a huge hardsided aliminium bodied truck-camper they've nicknamed Headquarters. It has, over the months, been modified with the thousands of dollars of equipment they need to track the storms they chase, all of it donated on grants from the National Severe Storms Labratory. It houses the details, the technical information that pushes Selena from storm to storm, wind calculations and weather patterns, GPS systems and acoustic couplers, hook-ups to Doppler dishes and information hook-ups to meteorological offices that aren't exactly legal.
David flips the bird as they pass, both of them laughing when Jennifer reciprocates. Selena can't see them, but she's sure Bridget and Lorenzo are both doing the same as they monitor the storm in the back of Headquarters.
"You jackasses finally decided to show?" Jen laughs over the CB radio, "I thought I'd have to find this one all on my lonesome."
"Pfft you wish Stone," David says, laughing childishly "you know these babies only show for me."
"Ha, like they'd put out for a man-whore like you." Selena can practically hear Jen's smirk.
"That's my brother you're talking about," Lorenzo pipes up, sounding amused.
"Thanks man." David grins.
"What for? I was just about to agree with her" Lorenzo says, and then the radio is filled with the sound of everyone else laughing, rushes of static crackling through the air.
"You suck," David pouts, a look of fake outrage contradicting the smile in his eyes.
"Cut the radio chatter and give me info, people," Selena finally chimes in, snatching the radio from David, serious sounding, tapping on the buttons welded to the dashboard, all linked to the equipment in the truck bed. "The flow asymmetry is...well we're gonna get lucky."
"Selena, it's Bridget," her voice comes over the radio, sounding serious. "Doppler says we've got serious wind changes happening, uh, 15 miles east. Rotation, we got lots of rotation."
"You heard her," Selena says to David, sharing a smile as he guns the engine. God this is her favourite part, the reason she does this. Throwing themselves at the dark spot on the horizon, she feels David squeeze her hand, like yeah it's insane, it's stupid, but it's the fucking life. It's the only time she feels truly alive, under the bruised sky and whipped wind of the storm.
"Turn northwest in three miles, everybody ready for this?" David questions, still smiling.
"Roger" Jen says, flashing her lights.
"You know it," Greg says "We got a storm?"
"Two, actually," Lorenzo confirms, "it's gonna be a long, crazy summer."
"When isn't it?" David laughs, wild and carefree.
David pushes a CD into the player, a mix he made himself so 'he could feel kickass whilst chasing storms' as he put it. The opening to Refused's New Noise starts to play and Selena feels herself start to get giddy as adrenaline kicks in.
"We got major motion," Lorenzo butts in, "towers going up 30 miles off the dryline."
"It's going green" Selena murmurs, pointing out of the windshield, "the horizon, the clouds are going green."
"We've got greenage. Sel are you seeing this?" Bridget questions.
"I see it. Wind speed?"
"150- no 160- shit Sel it's getting crazy big!" Lorenzo exclaims, sounding as excited as Selena feels, adrenaline thrumming like lightning under her skin, in her bones.
Selena bites her lip, "towards or away from us, Bridget?" 211478
"Towards, fuck it's headed straight for you guys."
"Be careful, I don't like the look of that rotation," Greg adds.
Selena simply looked at David. "Get me under that storm."
David grins, wide and giddy, gunning the engine as rain started to fall in sheets around them. The wipers weren't moving fast enough to clear the windshield of the almost constant downpour. Lightning flashed, burning white hot and skittering across the clouds like cracks in an eggshell. Promising battles to come. David starts humming Ride of the Valkyries under his breath while he drives, straight into the storm as the others drop back.
"You sure it won't drop on us?" he questions quietly, seriously, no longer smiling.
"Yeah, I'm sure, trust me. I know storms." Selena says back, just as quietly. It's true, she's always been able to read the clouds, better than the other scientists, better than the professors that tried to teach them. Ever since a science project when she was 13, Selena's had an almost child prodigy knowledge of storms.
"I just don't like the look of those formations," David murmers. The rain is almost horizontal now, clouds swirling darker, tell-tale signs of imminent touch down.
“Trust me” Selena says again, and David can hear the crazy need in her voice, the one that comes when a storm is about to touch down, and he knows exactly what it stems from. The past Selena refuses to talk about.
Hail starts to smash down around them, golf ball sized pieces of ice shattering on the road and bouncing off of the truck. One hits the windshield, cracks like spiderwebs spreading out from the point of impact. David glances at Selena, but keeps going.
“Wind speed nearing 215... Jesus it’s almost an F5“ Bridget sound breathless over the radio, the electricity in the air causing interference and static.
It’s then that David makes his decision, stopping the truck and reversing, swinging them into a J-turn and driving back the way they came.
“David! What are you doing! We didn’t get the sensor packet out!” Selena twists in her seat, looking back at the storm.
“Sorry Sel, but I’m not putting you under an F5, we’ll get another chance,” he says, firmly, still driving away from the storm. He can see the reckless spark in her eyes, the one that always threaten to become a flame that’ll one day consume her, send her too far into the storm. Then he sees her relent.
Selena sighed. “Right, you’re right, tell the others to meet at Bear Lake Rendevous, 56 miles southwest.”
The rest of the journey was in silence.
*****
It was Greg who got the call. He had been in HQ looking for a storm to chase when the phone rang. Apparently the NSSL had gotten some Disney kids to agree to do a concert to raise money and awareness for tornado research, but they wanted the kids to see what stormchasers did and since they were the youngest team, they were the ones that had to play babysitter. The stars were already on their way and would be there in the morning. He wasn’t looking forward to telling the others, especially when he saw the last name on the list.
Demi Lovato
Fuck, Selena was gonna go apeshit.
*****
They reacted exactly as expected, pissed off at being babysitters but unable to do anything about it. It got worse when David asked who was coming. The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato. After hearing that last name, Selena simply left the RV and refused to come back inside, understandable considering their history, but it left everyone else sitting there worried that she’d end up doing something stupid. David finally convinced her to come back inside when he waved his home made pasta sauce in her direction, grinning smugly when she entered the RV.
“Knew my famous pasta sauce would get you back,” he smirked in her direction.
“Whatever, it was raining anyway,” she said grumpily, but readily tasting the sauce when he held the spoon to her lips. She gave a ‘Hmmmm’ of satisfaction at the taste.
“Are you gonna be okay? With her coming tomorrow?” He questions gently, looking concerned. David was the only one who knew the full story, who knew how much it had hurt, what had happened between her and Demi. Well, Lorenzo probably knew too, David couldn’t keep a secret from him if he tried. All the others knew was that Demi and Selena had been best friends for about 7 years before Demi got famous and forgot about her. David was the only one who knew Selena had been in love with Demi, and probably still was.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she doesn’t feel nearly as confident as she sounds, but she figures it’s been three years. She should be over it by now. Or at least be able to act normal around Demi.
“I got your back, you know that right?” David says, touching a hand to the back of her neck.
“I know.”
*****
The entire gang groups around her that night, pressing close and comforting her with their familiar touch and scent. They live together in this crappy RV almost every day of every month, the seven of them on the road through the tornado belt, forecasting every morning where the storm will hit, chasing them by day, laughing and playing cards through the night. They live out of gas station bathrooms and on fast food, and they’ve become almost family, completely comfortable, even enough to walk around in only their underwear (which has happened more than once when they ran out of clean clothes.) Facing life-threatening situations every day will do that to you, Selena supposes.
They let her pick a movie to watch, and for a few hours she forgets all about tomorrow and what it brings. They then drag all their matresses, pillows and blankets together into one big bed (along with an exuberant shout of “blanket fort!” from Lorenzo), curling and twisting together, piled like puppies, Selena in the middle, covered by a tangle of familiar limbs and hair.
And she sleeps.
*****
They wake up the next morning, still tangled up, pupils wide-blown in the harsh sunlight. They laugh with sweat slick on their necks as they pull away from each other, yawning and stretching, fighting over the shower and coffee. It’s an hour later when they’re finally ready for the day, having returned the bunks to normal and meandering over to HQ to see what their day is going to be like.
David whistles as he looks at the readout on the screen, pressed up against Selena and sharing her coffee mug.
“Look at that, we’ve got crazy cloud cover, up to forty thousand feet. Supercells all over the joint. Wind speed 65 on the ground, 205 in the air.” He exclaims, all giddyness and childlike excitement.
“Sweet,” Selena murmurs, smiling slightly.
“Only you could call this shit sweet. Any other person would be leaving like a bat outta hell, not throwing themselves at it,” Jen comments, sprawling herself over Bridget’s back, making Bridget roll her eyes and shrug her off.
“Those Disney kids better get here fast, cos this shit’s gonna blow. Caps are already starting to break,” Lorenzo says, looking at the numbers on the readouts.
“Find me the core,” Selena asks quietly, looking around as Greg and Ethan appear, wrapped together in an old afghan.
“That’s the thing, I’ve got maybe four cores in this area alone, there’s so many cells. Each is as bad as the next,” David explains, looking at Selena as they share a smile.
It’s then that they hear the crunch of gravel under truck wheels as someone pulls into the lot where they’re parked. They glance at each other. Then Greg drags Ethan out of HQ to greet their guests, everyone else following as David glances at Selena.
“You good?” He asks.
“I’m good,” she mutters quietly. They both walk out of HQ, looking at the shiny black truck that’s just rolled to a stop. There’s a pause, then six teenagers all scramble out of the vehicle. All three of the boys have dark curly hair, and Selena guesses that they’re the Jonas Brothers. This is followed by a tall, curly blonde head that Selena knows is Taylor Swift, brown haired Miley Cyrus and a dark raven haired girl, the sight of which makes Selena’s breath catch.
Demi.
*****
“Hey there folks, I’m David, and this is Greg, Ethan, Jennifer, Bridget, my little brother Lorenzo and our fearless leader, Selena.” David introduces, pointing at them one by one as everyone waves and smiles. The Disney kids smile back and introduce themselves, not that they really needed to. Selena spends a lot of the time looking at everyone but Demi, whilst Demi is staring at Selena like she’s the most amazing thing she’s ever seen.
“Right, so, what we’re gonna do is take you out with us chasing tornadoes. You’re in luck, today’s gonna be awesome.” Ethan says. “Unfortunately we can’t fit you all in one truck, so half will go with David and Selena, half with Jen, Bridget and Enzo in HQ, ok?” he asks.
“We bag the chicks!” David shouts, hand shooting up. The stars giggle as Selena rolls her eyes and cuffs him upside the head. Her eyes catch Demi’s for a split second, and it’s enough to make her breath hitch. She quickly looks away, turning around and jumping into Headquarters. It only takes a quick look at the numbers scrolling across the screen to know that they need to move out now if they want to actually do their jobs. She feels a rush of adrenaline, and decides to just try to do her job and ignore Demi’s presence. Selena quickly jumps back out to the others, who were trying to explain exactly why it is they did what they did.
“Well ladies, if you’re quite finished yapping, I’d like to go chase some tornadoes,” she declares loudly, sparking off a flurry of movement as her team seamlessly changes itself from a bunch of sycophantic slackers to serious, dedicated researchers in the space of a heartbeat. The stars look kind of dazed, and unsure as to what they should be doing, so she wanders over to them.
“Ok, since David has already ‘bagged you’” she used air quotes around those words, “you ladies will be riding in out truck, and the Jonas Brothers will be riding in HQ” she points at the truck camper, and Joe, Nick and Kevin nod and wander over to climb in the back. Demi, Miley and Taylor all clamber in the back of the truck, watching as Selena yells at David to ‘hurry the fuck up’. He scrambles towards them and climbs in as Selena fiddles with the buttons on the dashboard, connected to the equipment welded into the flatbed of their truck. Most of it is Selena’s design, very precise instruments designed to give accurate readings only when put under a tornado.
He starts the truck and immediately heads towards the ash black clouds on the horizon, like a charcoal smudge in the sky. They talk quietly over the radio with the others, showing restraint considering the guests they have in the back of the truck.
“Enzo, what are my dew points doing?” Selena asks quietly. David is fidgeting beside her, wanting to let loose and get as hyped up as they usually do, hating that he feels they have to make a good impression.
“Dew points up to 75 Sel, it’s going good so far,” Lorenzo’s voice crackles over the radio, starting to sound excited as he looks at the readings in the back of HQ. “Flow asymmetry is good too.”
“Ok, keep looking for a hook forming for me.”
She glances at the sky quickly, staring at the clouds.
“Look at that colouring up there,” David remarks, pointing at the clouds.
“Yeah look at the mammatas, tops have gotta be spiking above 40,000. It’s awesome.”
“Why is that awesome?” It’s Demi, looking straight at her with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Because it means there’s gonna be a tornado for us,” Selena finds herself answering, looking at Demi’s face and starting to smile. Fuck she loved this job sometimes.
“And what are you gonna do when you find this tornado?” Taylor questions, southern accent more apparent. Selena remembers when Demi used to have an accent like that.
“Well,” David butts in “We’re gonna drive in it’s path, drop off the sensor packet then get the hell outta there before we get sucked up.”
“You mean you’re driving us straight at the tornado!” Miley screeches, with Taylor nodding along looking equally as upset. Demi is too busy staring at Selena to care.
“You wanted to see what we do,” Selena says quietly, still looking at Demi. “Well, this is it.”
David smiles at her, looking towards the horizon again as he throws them at the heart of the storm. Selena glances at the speedometer, grimacing as it reads 50.
“50 David, really? Darling you’re killing me here,” she grins as he presses down hard on the pedal, the needle jumping up to 75. They talk numbers with the others on the radio, ignoring their guests for the moment. It’s only when Selena looks at the visible tornado, already touching the ground and destroying the surrounding area, that she tells David to stop the truck quickly.
“What? What are you doing?” He asks frantically, looking at the F-3 swirling in the field next to them.
“Look at the angle of the updraft, it’s going to change track, go to the left. It’s a sidewinder. Take that road there, that’ll put us in front of it.” She explains quickly, frantically, pointing at the storm, the clouds. David takes the road to the left.
“Bridget, give me some numbers, what happening?” Selena demands over the radio.
“We got an F-3 Sel, shifting south, sitting on the ground, there’s very large rope on the ground.”
“Sel, this thing isn’t gonna last long, it’s not gonna last long the atmosphere is unstable,” Lorenzo butts in. “You’re gonna have to be quick guys.”
Rain started to pour over the car as lightning flashed over in the distance. David quickly got on the radio and told the others to stay back as they continued moving towards the storm. Selena got out a camcorder and started to film what was going on.
“Rain bands,” David said quietly, nodding towards the window. “Look at the surf coming off those fields.”
“Shit, horizontal rain. Hold on.” Selena hisses to the girls in the back. They quickly grab onto whatever they can, with Miley in the middle grabbing hold of Taylor.
“Jesus, I’ve never seen clutter like this,” David murmers, staring at the clouds in awe.
“Me either,” Selena mumbles quietly. “Flash frequencies are high, we’re in the core.”
David glanced to the left at the lake next to them, two tornadoes swirling and writhing around each other. “We got sisters.”
Selena nods quickly. “We’re right under the flanking line, we can’t go in from the south, we’ll get rolled.”
David opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was was lost when a cow flew past the windshield.
“That’s a cow,” Demi said faintly, following it’s path through the air before she lost sight.
“Fuck, they’re drunkards, we got no path,” Selena snapped at David. “Get us out of here, we can’t get funding if we kill half the celebrities off. Then we’re just left with a Jonas Brothers concert.”
David grunted, slamming the gas pedal down as the engine roared loudly. It was no use as the two tornadoes veered straight for them. David quickly slammed thebrakes on, the truck jerking to a halt.
“Hang on!” Selena screamed as the two tornadoes engulfed the truck, started to spin it round and round. The noise was deafening, the twister growling, shrieking, snarling at them as rain lashed against the vehicle. All three Disney girls screamed as the car span like some demented rollercoaster. Then suddenly it stopped, falling quiet as the twisters retreated into the sky, the rain petering away into nothing.
Everything was still and silent for a split second, then both Selena and David glanced at each other before scrambling quickly out of the truck. They met at the front, pulling each other into hugs, babbling and laughing and yelling incoherently, pointing at the sky with big grins. They’re only distracted by the panicked breathing of Miley behind them, turning around to see her being pulled out of the car and into a hug by Taylor. David hurries over to check on them whilst Selena rushes over to Demi’s side of the truck. She throws the door open just in time to catch Demi as she throws herself in her arms, sobbing breathlessly.
“It’s ok, I’ve got you, I’ve got you, everything’s ok,” She murmurs into Demi’s ear, holding her tightly and rocking her from side to side, whispering reassurances as she whimpers quietly.
She’s distracted by the arrival of everyone else, the sight of the Jonas Brothers scrambling out of HQ and running towards them, followed swiftly by everyone else. Demi refuses to let go of Selena, even with the arrival of everyone else, crowding around them and asking questions.
“Y’know Selena,” Greg says with a big grin, “I couldn’t help but notice we’re only 70 miles from Grand Prairie. We should make a pit stop.”
“No guys, we’re not invading my mother’s house.” Selena says, laughing, still holding onto Demi.
“C’mon Sel, you know you wanna see her,” Jen wheedles, pouting at her, quickly getting the others to join in with the pouting and the whining. She laughs and refuses, over and over, only relenting when Demi quietly says she’d like to see Mandy again.
*****
Mandy comes rushing out of the house as soon as she hears the familiar rumble of their trucks. She meets Selena half way, crushing her into a giant hug. The rest of the gang follow suit, each receiving hugs and kisses.
“Well you guys always have the best timing, Brian’s just lit the barbeque and put the burgers on. Go get some,” Mandy laughs, waving them away. Selena stays behind to introduce the Disney stars, all of them being recieved warmly by Mandy. However she pauses when she hears Demi’s name.
“Demi? Demi Lovato is that really you?” Demi nods shyly. “Well look at you, all grown up! And beautiful too, darlin’ you look gorgeous!” Mandy gushes, making Demi blush fiercely. “It’s been so long! What are you doing here!”
“I’m part of the group that’s performing the concert to raise money for tornado research. The Disney execs wanted us to see what we’d be rasing money for.”
“Oh right I forgot,” Mandy smirks at her. “You’re a big star now.” Demi blushes again. “Well go get some food whilst it’s there.”
Selena rolls her eyes, but grabs Demi by the hand and drags her around to the back yard. She grins and waves to Brian, who is standing by the grill. They’ll catch up properly later. She turns to talk to Demi, only to find her staring at their joined hands in wonder. She clears her throat, making Demi’s eyes snap back up to hers. She blushes when she realises she’s been caught.
“You go sit down, I’ll go get us some food ok?” Selena tells her. Demi just nods mutely and wander away to a quiet corner.
Selena joins her after picking up a large plate of burgers, sausages, ribs and steak. “Don’t you want to sit with the others?” she asks quietly. Demi just mutely shakes her head. Selena shrugs and sets her plate down between them, with both of them silently eating for the next 10 minutes. It’s not an awkward silence like she expected, but more comfortable, like it used to be when they were friends, back when everything was good.
“Why do you do this?” Demi asks finally, quiet and serious.
“What, eat?” Selena jokes weakly, because she knows exactly what she means and she doesn’t really want to talk about it.
“No, why do you throw yourself at storms? Why do you put yourself in danger?” She looks up at Selena, watery eyed and questioning. Selena just sighs.
“I do this because I want losing you to mean something. When I did that science project, I fell in love with tornadoes. I changed my dream. You didn’t. You still wanted to sing, to be heard, be famous, I just wanted to study storms. Then you left, you got recognised, and we stopped talking, and you forgot about me. So I started to chase these storms because I wanted to make the loss of you significant, important, then I just started to love it the longer I did it.”
“I never forgot you y’know,” Demi says softly, looking Selena right in the eye. “Even when we lost touch. I just... it was all so new, and I made new friends, and they were so persuasive, convincing me that I didn’t need you now that I was a star. But they were wrong. I’ve always needed you, I still do.”
Demi then took a breath, as if she was preparing herself for something. “I promised myself a long time ago that if I did ever find you again, I’d tell you. I’m in love with you Selena, I think I always have been, ever since we were seven.”
Selena found herself speechless, unsure what to say to this sudden confession. It was what she had been wanting to hear from Demi for years, but she was so sure it would never happen that she wasn’t quite certain it was real and not just a dream.
“Are you- are you serious?” She asked, still stunned.
Demi fidgeted wildly, not looking Selena in the eye. A blush was spreading across her face. “Well, yeah, I’ve known for a while now, I think it took losing you for me to see how much you meant to me.”
“Wow,” Selena said finally. “And here I thought it was just me.”
Demi’s head shot up as she stared at Selena. Their eyes locked and a thousand words passed between them in the space of a few seconds. She gasped softly, refusing to break the gaze.
“You mean it?” She asked breathlessly. “You forgive me for leaving, for not calling?”
Selena smiled widely. “I think I forgave you a long time ago, Dems.”
“Can I- I mean just- can I kiss you?” Demi whispered. Selena just nodded, breath hitching as Demi drew closer. Her eyes fluttered shut moments before she felt lips press against her own. They held it, that simple pressure, before pulling away. They looked at each other for only a second before leaning back in, pressing their smiles together. The kiss deepened, both of them slanting their heads and parting their lips, letting the tips of their tongues brush and retreat, over and over.
They were pulled apart by a wolf whistle from David, to find everyone looking at them. They blushed as everyone broke out into applause and catcalls, whooping loudly. Selena then turned back to Demi, finding the smile on her face so enchanting that she had to taste it. They ignored the others around them as they got lost in each other.
*****
They set off again the next morning, ready to go, with Demi riding in the truck with Selena and David. The storm they were chasing today was predicted to be huge, an F4 definately, maybe and F5. It was quiet, Demi and Selena had argued that morning, with Demi not wanting Selena to put herself in danger anymore, not now that she had her like she’d always wanted her. This had lead to Selena saying it was her job that she loved and then both of them saying things they didn’t mean. So they were silent.
They pass information between them and HQ, about wind speed and ground speed, updraft and cloudcover, dew points and hooks and drop zones.
“Guys, you should pull off this one, it’s too unpredictable.” Jen’s voice crackles over the headset. Everyone but Selena, Demi and David are in HQ, with Greg and Ethan driving the motorhome.
“Are we in the path of destruction?” Selena asks, serious and measuring, weighing up whether to go after this storm.
“For now yeah. We don’t know what it’s gonna do, better leave it alone Sel.” Bridget answers.
“Alright everybody stop, Demi’s moving to Headquarters.” Selena says finally, getting an immediate squawk of protest from Demi.
“What? I’m not leaving this truck and you’re not going after this storm, Selena Marie Gomez!” She yells, but David’s already pulled over and Selena is opening Demi’s door. The rest of the convoy pull up behind them.
“Look Demi, I know you don’t understand why I do this, and I know you want me to be safe, but I have to get this sensor packet out. I have to. After that, it’s over, and I’ll give it up and come on tour with you, whatever you want, I promise. But I have to do this.” Selena explains quietly, holding Demi tight to her and looking straight at her.
Demi’s silent for a long moment, staring at Selena intently. “I’m holding you to that promise Selena,” she says finally, before pulling her in for a hard, passionate kiss that leaves Selena breathless. “You fucking better come back to me,” she murmurs against her lips.
“I will, I will.”
*****
They’re moving again, just her and David, barreling straight towards the oncoming storm. Demi was back in HQ, having agreed to stay there after Selena’s promise. Selena thinks she’s seen into her true meaning, how Selena needed to be here, no matter what. Needs to hold the storm to her chest and feel the wind whip her skin until it tingles raw. The storm looms over them like the spirit of God, black oily clouds and torrential rain making it impossible to see.
Selena knows she’s made a mistake when the hail starts, hammering against the truck and road like a shower of brimstone. But she doesn’t tell David to stop because there’s Demi’s future, her future, clutched in the back of her mind. She can’t have her future unless she finishes this, until she reaches that black core and sucks the marrow from these storms.
“Stop here,” she commands, climbing into the back of the truck as it halts, wincing as the hail strikes her skin like hammer-blows. She releases the sensor equipment, little metal spheres made to be swallowed by the storm. David flicks the appropriate switches on the dashboard, panel lighting up with endless scrolls of information.
It starts as a roar, first distant then frighteningly close. Then Selena looks up and sees it, the tornado snaking down and touching down with the scream of some mythical beast, a many headed hydra shrieking into the false night of the clouds. Huge, dark. Alive.
Selena panics, working faster with frozen fingers as she hurries to set up all the equipment as David screams at her to hurry it up. Almost there, almost... There! Work done, she looks again at the tornado. No more than half a mile away, ready to suck her up into oblivion. Fuck that, she has a future with Demi to get to, and no tornado was going to make her break her promise.
She can feel the wind now, pulling them in like gravity towards a black hole, before she smashes her fist into the sensor packet, the top popping open, sensors twinkling there like Christmas ornaments. She jumps out of the truck and runs with David to the dense cover of the woods. The wind screams, tears at them like a horrific monster, the trees bending and creaking, beginning to crack with a gunfire spatter of noise.
Some fifteen feet ahead is a small cavern, made up mostly of two boulders at an angle to each other. They head towards it, cramming themselves into the space and praying it will be enough. They hold each other tight as the tornado passes by, wind whipped rocks and branches tearing their skin in sharp glances, leaving them cut-deep and bloodied. Mud splashes against their clothes and coats them slickly as they become drenched and heavy with dirt, until their blood mixes with the rain and the earth and the sullen throb of their bruises.
After what seems an age of pain and terror, the storm passes, the wind relenting. They crawl out of their shelter, bodies sharp with pain and triumph and trembling from adrenaline. They wander back out onto the road, in awe of the destruction wreaked by the storm. Their truck is gone. So is the sensor packet.
Horns blare further down the road, HQ and the motorhome speeding into view. They screech to a stop a few meters away, Lorenzo and Demi stumbling out before they fully stop moving, racing towards those they loved.
Selena catches Demi in her arms, laughing against her mouth as she kisses her, over and over again. The others catch up, screaming nonsense and praise and “You did it!” in a jumbled mess of sound.
“How was it?!” Jen asks excitedly, hopping up and down on the spot.
Selena grinned widely. “Windy.”
This brings a round of laughs and hugs and back-slapping. They all start talking excitedly, about figures and numbers and data that the sensors have fed them from inside the tornado, voices overlapping giddily.
“Looks like we have a lot of data to go through,” Greg remarks, looking at the others.
“You guys do, I have a tour to go on,” Selena replies happily. She feels drunk, skin glowing like some deep alcoholic flush, pressed against Demi’s body, nerves tingling. But she also feels relieved, like it really is over. She has Demi, and- she thinks as Demi kisses her- that’s all she’ll ever really need.