[ other than javi being javi, this chapter is mostly filler. also, I caught myself almost typing Dakota and Rio, so please tell me if I missed one in my proofread. but also I'm going to bed. goodnight babes. ]

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BABY, GET BACK INSIDE!

CAROLINA CURSED WHEN SHE HEARD LILY'S DRONE TAKE OFF before she, Javi, and Kate even reached the truck. Finally, Javi got the memo that they were in a race, so he called out to the whole crew.

"Let's go, guys! Let's go!" he yelled as they rushed to the trucks.

But Tyler was faster, pulling out of the parking lot, honking mockingly as he did so. Carolina just smiled at him as he drove past, shaking her head in amusement

"Damn. Tyler's on it," Kate said, upset her trick didn't work for a second time. Carolina had always told her she was a shit liar.

As they took off, Javi glanced back at Carolina curiously, having caught how she smiled at the red truck.

"Alright," he said, pushing down hard on the gas pedal. "While we're here, wanna tell me what the hell is going on with you and Owens?"

Carolina paled, realizing now was the time as they were still a good ten minutes away from the storm. "Um, I kinda, um, met him and Boone a few days before getting here."

He drew his eyebrows in, confused. "Met them where?"

"At a bar," she said, wincing. "The, uh, day before you called me and asked me to come."

Javi wasn't stupid by any means, but he was shocked as he slammed on the brakes of the truck hard, the vehicle skidding to a stop and forcing the trucks behind them to stop as well. Then he fully turned to face her.

"I'm sorry. Did you fucking sleep with Owens?" he asked angrily.

But then Scott came over the radio, interrupting them. "Javi, what's wrong? Why'd you stop?"

"It's nothing," Javi said before starting the car again, holding the steering wheel a bit tighter now. "The one night stand you and was with that idiot?"

"Not just that idiot," Kate muttered with a sly smirk. "Boone, too."

Javi's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Carolina sunk down in her seat shamefully, him stomping in the brakes again. "Both? BOTH? You're telling me your first one night stand ever was with the two biggest idiots on the planet? Who are actively hindering our experiment?"

It was clear he was upset.

"Javi?" Scott called again, making him drive once more.

"Well, yeah," she mumbled, her head in her hands. "wouldn't have done it if I knew they — no, that's a lie. I'd have still done it."

It was the best night of her life, honestly. She wouldn't change a single thing except for leaving in the morning.

"Oh, my god," he groaned. "They're so sick. They're in their thirties and slept with a nineteen year old? That's sick!"

"That's not sick just because they're older," Carolina argued. "And - and, maybe, they don't quite... know I'm just nineteen."

It was really hard not to stomp on the brakes again, but Javi managed to control himself as he sucked in a deep breath through his nostrils. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Care?"

"A mess, that's what," she mumbled, leaning her head against the window.

"Why would you do this to yourself?" Javi asked, feeling like a parent as he chastised her.

"Because look at them, Javi," she whined, judging thinking about their handsome faces. Then she paid back attention to the task at hand, hoping to change the subject. "How far is the storm?"

"Getting closer," Kate said as they caught up with Tyler and Boone's crew.

The sky was still fairly clear, but it wouldn't be long before they hit the storm that was brewing. Once they passed the caravan, Kate could see in front of them a little better.

"What do you see?" Javi asked.

"Okay, it already has a nice structure. Moisture levels are just right, and lots of cape," she explained.

Carolina smiled, seeing a bit of the old Kate return. "What's else are you seeing?"

"Flow is clean. Pulling tons of warm moist air from the south."

As Kate kept talking, Carolina just leaned in, all ears. She was always amazed by how passionate her sister was about storms. Amazed by how she just knew things about storms that Carolina had to work hard in school to understand.

And Kate was so passionate — the way she used to be. This was the passion that had been missing since the day Jeb, Addy, and Praveen died. But maybe this week back in Oklahoma would be good for Kate. It filled Carolina with hope that her sister could recover from the tragedy that ruined her life.

Soon, a thin funnel made its way down. And Javi shouted in excitement. "Come on, come on, come on. Yes! Yeah, baby!"

But then Carolina leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "Hold on. What's happening?"

All of them watched in wonder as a second funnel made its way down. It was a second tornado, something Carolina had only ever read about in textbooks — it was the Fujiwhara effect.

For once, Carolina wasn't scared of getting close to the storm. She was excited. "Go faster, Javi! Go faster!"

"You ready?" Kate asked as Javi and Carolina cheered.

"Let's get our data," he said, hoping they'd actually accomplish it this time. Kate didn't seem near as skittish today. So, he held out his hand, and Kate grinned, doing their little tornado handshake.

Carolina couldn't help but roll down her window and stick her body outside to get a clear picture on her phone. She couldn't wait to show her friends and teachers back at school.

And when they passed the truck, she grinned at Tyler and Boone while hollering loudly, the wind blowing her hair back. Then she focused back on the video she was taking on her phone.

Tyler rolled his window down and called out to her. "Baby, get back inside!"

"Naw," Boone yelled, turning his camera to film her. "Let her have her fun."

"Come on, Javi," Kate said, wanting him to fully pass the truck. "And not to agree with Tyler, but get back inside!"

Carolina rolled her eyes playfully but did so just as Tyler passed them once more, leaving her window rolled down.

"Alright, let's stop playing games. Let's cut these guys off," Javi said, speeding up. He came around Tyler's side and passed them again.

When Tyler looked at them, Carolina blew him a kiss, making him smile and shake his head. And behind them, their trucks passed the caravan, meaning they were in the lead finally.

"There you go, Owens," Javi laughed. "Alright, which one's gone stay? Which one's it gonna be, Kate?"

"Okay, I'm on it," she said, looking at her computer. "Let's go for the right. Uh, there should be a road coming up."

"Alright, right, guys. Right," Javi said over the radio.

But then as they approached the split, Kate saw something that no one else really did, not even Carolina. "Go left! Take a left!" she shouted quickly, startling Javi who almost went up on two wheels doing so.

Scott called in over the radio, following them. "Javi, you sure? The right one's got better numbers."

Rather than answer, Javi kept driving. And worried about the others, Carolina crawled to the other side of the truck, watching as Tyler's truck drove right in the path of the other tornado. He got parked, and she didn't know how he expected his truck to not get blown away should the tornado not die out — it worried her to no end, not wanting him and Boone to get hurt.

But just as Kate predicted, the right tornado died out before even reaching Tyler's truck. And so Carolina let herself snicker, figuring it was quite a let down for them given that they were live on YouTube. 

"Whoo! Baby, let's go!" Javi exclaimed, quite satisfied by their failure. "That was amazing, Kate."

"How did you know that?" Carolina asked her sister, amazed as always.

"Well, did you see the wheat? Winds moved to the north, just what this storm needed," she explained to her, and Carolina sucked it all in.

Then everyone got to work. Soon, Scarecrow was in position, followed by Tin Man. Javi pulled in front of the tornado and stopped. This time, when they got out, no one hesitated to pull the PAR out of the bed. Once it was powered up, the panels lit up. Carolina just watched through the back window.

"We're all set. Kate, come on!" Javi yelled as the two ran to the truck.

"Javi!" Carolina said with a frown as he and Kate got in the car. "I think it's turning fast. We gotta go!"

Javi didn't even have time to turn around as the tornado came after them, him driving backward. Carolina held on tightly to the bar on the ceiling, suddenly not very excited about storm chasing anymore.

"How we looking? Talk to me!" Javi said over the radio while struggling to drive.

"We lost your radar, Javi. You got eyes on the tornado?" Scott asked him.

Caroline looked out the front window, gulping as the tornado got closer and bigger. "We have eyes," she squeaked out.

The tornado was growing, taking out trees and power lines. Then she watched as an entire wooden barn was ripped into the air, disappearing. Part of the chicken coop slammed into the front of the truck, making Javi swerve before turning the car around, now driving the correct way.

"What was that?" Kate asked, holding onto the bar on the ceiling.

"I think I killed some chickens!"

"I should've stayed at school," Carolina said, clenching her eyes shut.

Javi swerved off into a ditch, narrowly missing the tornado that blew past them. It threw Carolina around, whose head smacked against the window hard, making her groan.

Thankfully, the front of the truck was the only part caught in the storm, which jostled the car around but didn't pick it up. However, the equipment on top of the truck was ripped away. Carolina kept her eyes shut, taking in deep breaths.

And then all too soon, it was over, silence falling over them.

"Care?" Kate asked, looking back at her little sister. "Are you okay?"

"I'm - I'm good," she mumbled, peeling her eyes open and catching her breath. "I'm okay."

"Thank god, it just grazed us," Javi breathed out.

"Yeah," both girls agreed.

Then a brown chicken landed on the hood of the truck, startling them. Carolina smiled weakly, at least glad that some of the poultry survived.

"Javi. Javi, you hear me?" Scott asked over the radio.

"Yeah, I hear you."

"We've got two radars looking good. Third one was getting great data. We need to find it and download it all."

Kate was studying the Doppler, which indicated the tornado heading toward a town called Crystal Springs. "Javi, the tornado's heading to a small town."

"They already called it in," he told her. "There's nothing we can do now."

"But someone might need help," Carolina said with a frown. She'd seen enough storm devastation to know that all help was welcomed after something like this.

"There's a GPS tracker on the radar. We need to find it before it dies," he explained.

"Javi, we've got to help!" Kate insisted.

Javi shared a look with her before giving in, never one to deny Kate. And it was a good thing they went, as the town was decimated. Lives were ruined and lost in the storm. Ambulances had arrived, and police were driving down the debris-covered streets, announcing that a curfew would be in place.

Carolina donned a pair of work gloves and helped gather all the important things — photo albums and clothes and anything salvageable. Then when they took a break, Javi, Kate, and Carolina headed toward the Storm PAR cars that had arrived.

"You were right back there. It's good that we came to help," Javi admitted.

"I wish we could do more," Kate sighed. "Javi, can the data from the PAR radar show us how the tornado died?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know," Kate mumbled. "Maybe we could use it to prevent all this."

"There's the Kate I know," he grinned. Then Javi spotted Riggs with Scott and his grin fell. He dug out the truck keys. "Hey, look, um, here. Take the truck, alright? I'll go deal with locating the radar. You should both rest."

"No, I wanna stay and keep helping," Carolina said. "Maybe you or Scott can take me back since my truck is still at the gas station."

He nodded before walking off, leaving the sisters alone. The girls then headed to the truck, only to hear Tyler whistling, clearly looking for a dog that was hiding out. "Come on, buddy."

Carolina smiled, thinking it was incredibly sweet of him. But Kate wasn't thrilled as she spotted the nearby camper where Dexter was selling t-shirts to some people, which she wasn't impressed by.

Before Kate could comment on it, Tyler and Boone were running up, both with concerned looks on their faces.

"Baby, are you okay?" Tyler asked, looking her over for injures as Boone cupped her face, looking at the bruise on her forehead from hitting the window hard.

"We saw the tornado heading right for Javi's truck," Boone said. "I ain't been that scared in a long time."

Though Kate was annoyed at them, she was touched that the two men seemed to care about her little sister so much. That was all she wanted for the girl — someone that cared about her like she deserved.

"I'm okay," she said, holding Boone's wrists. Then she smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Better than you, I figure, after that lame ass video you got of a dying tornado."

Tyler scoffed as Boone chuckled, giving her a bit of space. Then he nodded to Kate. "It was a nice play on the left twin."

"Yeah, well, didn't help these people any," Kate said bitterly.

All four of them then overheard Scott introducing Riggs, an investor in Storm PAR, to the owner of a bar that'd been destroyed. He seemed to be offering him his card. Carolina tilted her head, wondering what he was doing.

And clearly, Tyler wasn't impressed by Riggs' arrival. "Didn't know Storm PAR was in the business of helping."

"Well, from what I see, they're trying to make a difference," Kate mumbled.

"That's one way of putting it."

Carolina raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It ain't nothin'," Boone said quickly.

But Tyler was never one to control his temper as he looked between the girls. "Do you even know who you're chasing for?"

"What are you talking about—"

Clearly upset, he came closer to Kate, blaming her more than Carolina. "How much more these people gotta lose before y'all are done making a difference?"

"What are you—"

Carolina was cut off by Kate who nearly shouted. "Sorry, says the guy setting up shop, selling t-shirts and mugs after a storm's hit!"

Rather than retort angrily, Tyler smirked at the ground, knowing that Kate didn't know anything. Carolina glanced at the caravan with a frown, knowing that Kate had a point.

"Kate, you can't—"

Yet again, she was interrupted, this time by Ben, who had a pen and paper in hand. "Tyler, do you have a minute for some questions?"

"Yeah, I got a dog to find. Talk to Kate. She seems to have all the answers," he said snarkily. Then he turned and left. "Come on Boone."

Boone looked at Carolina apologetically before following after him.

"Now's not a good time, Ben," Kate said, also storming off.

"I - I'm sorry about them," Carolina said to the reporter before going off after Kate, who'd already reached the truck.

And before she could try and calm her older sister down, Lily rushed over, a few bags of chips in her hand. "Care, Kate, take some food."

"Oh, don't have any cash," Kate told her, shaking her head.

"Nah, it's free. That's why we're always selling those t-shirts," she explained, nodding behind her.

It was then that the sisters actually saw what else Dexter and Dani had on their merch table. Food and coffee to hand out. And they were even giving shirts away to those that had nothing else clean to wear. It made both of them, especially Kate, feel about two inches tall as they realized how giving the crew really was.

"Oh, well, save it in case you run low," Kate said, shaking her head.

"Okay, well at least take some water," Lily said, handing them both a bottle.

"Thanks."

Carolina looked down at the bottle before back at Tyler and Boone, who were shifting pieces of siding around, searching for the dog.

"You sure you wanna keep helping?" Kate asked her sister softly.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll meet you at the motel soon. It's by the rodeo arena we passed, right?"

"That's the one. Be careful," Kate said, kissing Carolina on the forehead. "I'll see you later."

Carolina watched her sister drive off before she pulled her gloves back on. Then she headed toward the two men that had been occupying her mind for days.

"Need any help?" she asked gently, hoping they weren't mad at her after what Kate said.

Thankfully, both men smiled softly at her. "Yeah," Boone told her. "Finding this dog is top priority. Need all the help we can get."