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♯ ❝ HE MIGHT BE THERE, TOO. ❞
CHAPTER ONE ✧･ﾟ: * 🌪️🌀
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       FIVE LONG YEARS HAVE PASSED BY SINCE THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT HAPPENED TO THE CARTER SISTERS, AND LEFT THEM STRICKEN WITH GUILT. NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED THE TWO FOR THAT DAY, and that included the three that perished to the tornado they were chasing. Every day was a challenge for the younger sister, as Charlie felt the most responsible for what happend, and from that day it happened she hasn't been anywhere near tornados, rather them working behind the scenes.

      She was supposed to be the so called best at chasing storms, and knowing everything about them, but when her skills were needed the most she failed. Not only herself, but her best friends that died due to her mess up. Even worse, she felt most guilty for letting Kate go through losing the man she loved, as she knew how that felt all too well.

      Even so, Kate never blamed her twin for what happened, and never frowned upon her or held any bad blood, because in the end they were sisters through and through. And now all they had was each other. But, Kate knew how Charlie was carrying around the burden of that day on her shoulders, no matter how hard the girl tried not to show it.

      This is why Charlie was rarely seen at their shared apartment in New York, as she was always out and keeping herself busy with their job to keep her mind off of everything. And this is why they moved away from their home in Oklahoma for a new start and change, even if the pain followed them to their new home.

     They both made a new lifestyle in New York, even though it was hard to adjust to but it was slowly working. The sisters both worked at the National Weather Service, where their skills and knowledge could be used on the sidelines, as they both would rather now since the accident happened.

      Kate worked in the office area with all the other meteorologists, where as Charlie had a position in there also, but she was the photographer for the company, and would take professional photos for the news articles or the news about the storms. And of course, she used the same camera given to her when she was little, as she refused to use anything else.

     Charlie's once long brunette hair was now tinted with blonde highlight, and she had cut it all off, so it reached just the middle of her neck, bangs now tucked back from how much they did grow. She thought if she was going to change everything in her life, she may as well go the full way and chop some of her hair off.

     The girl was currently walking into the massive building where her work place was, Kate already inside the place as she had to start earlier for some reason. Her brown eyes glance over at the many people in the hallways, use to the loud noise the building would bring as outside was just as bad.

      Her boots thumped against the floor with each step she took, and wrapped the blue flannel she had around her more, as she moved her bag strap over her left shoulder, camera on the other one. Her necklace was hidden under her shirt also, but she could still feel the coldness radiating from it which brought her comfort.

      A small smile appeared on her face when she spotted a group of kids getting a tour of the place, the walls full of information about the tornados, and explaining what they were, plus a lot more. She kept her head down to avoid her co-workers talking to her, and made her way into the main office, where the voices of her team talked loudly.

     She sent a few strained smiled at those who greeted her, but didn't stop as she had to place up more photos onto the board for the department to examining. She pulled out the recent pictures she took once she stood in front of the white board, and reached up to pin them onto the others around them, using a magnet to keep the two up.

      Charlie stood back with her hands on her hips when she finished, and hummed to herself impressed at the shot she manged to get. A few were of the storm brewing in the sky, the clouds a nasty grey looking colour, while the others were the chaos the tornado left after it was finished.

    "I still got it. Of course I do." She mumbled quietly under her breath, a wider smile breaking out onto her face as she tapped her fingers along her side, before turning around away from the board to try and find Kate in the swarm of people.

     She furrowed her brows confused scanning over the crowd, but couldn't find a single head that matched her sister's hair, and she wondered where Kate went. Normally the girl would tell Charlie where she was at all times, due to the past accident, but today was different for some reason.

     Char decided not to ponder on it, and knew if Kate was in trouble or wanted to talk to her, she would text Charlie instantly so the brunette didn't see the point of worrying too much. And so, this made her zip up her side bag and placed her camera around her neck, going to walk out of the room before anyone else stopped her--

    "Hey, Charlie!" She paused mid step with a groan hearing someone call her name, and turned around with a grumpy expression spotting a male co-worker of hers sheepishly smiling at her, "There's a guy here to see you. He's in the conference room. Kate's already seen him, but he requested to see you now."

     She raised her brows both confused and curious as to who it was, and nodded her head at the male, "Oh, alright. Thank you!" She called back waving, gaining one back that made her chuckle a bit and she turned around to begin walking towards the conference room.

     I wonder who it is, she thought to herself as she didn't know any guy in her or Kate's lifes currently, expect for one in her's that she hasn't seen for years, but that was an entirely different story. She shakes those thought away, just as she reached the open door of the conference room.

      She raised her hand to gently tap her knuckles against the door, and poked her head around the door with a kind smile, as she went to introduce herself, "Hey, I'm Charlie--" Her words die in her throat when she saw who it was, and instead felt her eyes go wide, jaw dropping in shock.

    Javi, one of her old best friends was standing in front of her with his normal warm smile he would look at her with, his long hair cut off into a shorter style, wearing a suit and looked much taller. He takes a step forward, and tilted his head to the side, "Hey, Bear. It's been a while."

     She continued to stare at him like she was seeing a ghost, eyes wide and mouth opened, before her face brightens up and a loud giggle left her, "Javi!" She squealed running up to him, and tackled him in a hug, arms wrapping around his shoulders, cheek pressed against his one.

     His chuckle vibrated against her chest as he spins them around a few times, his arms around her back just as tight before setting her back down, rocking them from side to side next. He really did miss his platonic other half, and wished he reached out sooner if he knew he'd get this response from her.

    "What-- what are you doing here?!" She exclaimed excited once they pulled apart, keeping her palms flat onto his shoulders as she scanned him over and grinned a bit more at his new hair, "Oh wow, new look. I'm digging the hair, Javi." She added, ruffling the top of his hair.

      He chuckled some more playfully pushing her hands away, and grasped her by the forearms, "Look at you though. You changed your hair too." He pointed out smirking at her grumble, and he gently squeezed her arm next, "I'm here because I wanted to catch up with you. I've already talked to Kate, I just thought now would be a good time."

      She raised one of her brows skeptically, but nodded her head in understanding, "That's nice of you to come see us. I'm sorry we never tried to reach out." She sighed softly, eyes now focused on the blue suit he was wearing, "Me especially... isn't very good at communicating anymore. I tend to keep to myself."

      "Nah, don't worry about it Char. We're here now talking, and that's what counts." He assured her with a warm smile, hands slipping off her forearm to gesture with his thumb outside, "You wanna grab some coffee, and catch up?i feel like inside your work probably isn't the best place for that."

      Her face scrunched up when they heard some yelling outside the room, and she deadpanned a bit before nodding, "Yeah, sounds like a great idea." She agreed smiling, taking his arm to lop around hers and they began to walk towards the door to leave the conference room.

     Together the two began to talk a bit about what's happened in their life's so far, as they walked towards the cafe near the building she worked in, avoiding the many people around them on the pathway. She even learned the Javi joined the military after the accident happened, and it made sense to her why she felt muscles on him, and why he seemed more mature.

      When they did arrive at the cafe it was busy as expected for daytime in New York, and the old best friends walked inside still talking, and laughing with one another. Javi pulled out a chair for Charlie, who thanked him with a playful bowl, making him roll his eyes at her teasing, and sat down on the other chair at the table chuckling.

     "My job in the military was operating one of these." He began to tell the girl sat in front of him, handing her his phone with a picture of the machine he worked with, and his figure was smiling inside it, "Phased Array Radar... PAR. You know, scanning for missiles."

     She snickered to herself a bit zooming into his smiling face, and glanced at the massive looking machine in the photo, "Wow, what a level up from Dorothy." She commented impressed, reaching her hand out to give him back his iphone.

     "Many levels. This thing was so powerful and so fast," He grabbed the phone from her hand, and placed it back into his pants pocket as he took a sip from the coffee he had, "I could watch a moth fly from, like, a mile away. But I kept asking myself... What if we point this thing at a tornado?"

      Her gaze sharped up now hearing him mentioning tornado's, and crossed her arms over her chest, bag hanging around her chair behind, "Well, Javi, it's the size of a building." She pointed out raising her brows at him, "You'd never be able to get it close enough. And I don't think you wanna break your precious PAR."

     "Until now." He ignored her obvious jab at him, and shuffled in his chair to lean forward towards her more, "The military, they came up with portable units, and they're small. I got my hands on a few prototypes."

      She narrowed her brown eyes down on him curiously, and nervously, wondering what he was trying to hint at. Javis' glaze flickered from her one, to the counter behind her figure, and suddenly stood up, "Yo, my man, can I borrow this real quick?" He asked the shopkeep, pointing at some small butters on the table to which he gained a nod back, "Thanks. Appreciate it."

     He came back to sit down now directly next to her, and placed the butters on the table as Charlie watched interested, "Alright, look. Let's say this is a tornado, right?" He began to stir around a spoon in her water, making a spiral now form inside it, "My team drives up. We place a portable PAR here." He placed a butter on one side of the water now.

     "It's giving me incredible high-resolution images, but they're still kind of flat. So what do we do?" He continued on glancing at her ever so often, as she nods her head to show she was listening, "My team sets up two more, here, and here." He placed the other two butters around the left over spaces, "Now we have a--"

     Charlie's face was lit up like a kid on Christmas, as her eyes were wide full of wonder staring at the creation he made, "A three-dimensional scan." She talked over his words in awe, and felt his stare on her but didn't look up, "Javi, that's amazing."

      "Yeah, the most perfect scan of a tornado ever." He agreed reaching his hand out to place it over her forearm, and it made her glance up from the glass, "Charlie, we can use this data to save lives back home. I've already spoken to Kate about this but, you're the only person that can get me close enough to a tornado to do this."

     Her shoulders tensed up hearing what he said, slipping her arm out of his hold to fold them against her lap, as she bit her bottom lip nervously, "I don't know Javi. I mean I haven't been on a hunt for years, and I don't think--" Her voice trails off into a quieter one, and clenched her pants material in between her fists.

     "You have a gift, Bear. A magnificent one that can help save life's, and you know that." He speaks up once she stopped in a soft tone, his eyes pleading looking into her conflicted ones, "Kate only agreed to join if you did, and I can't do this without you."

      She pursed her lips in thought, pondering for a few seconds as she didn't know what to do no how to feel. She knew Kate would follow her regardless of her choice, but she also didn't know if either of them were ready to be out in the field again. She knew she also missed the thrill and feeling of it, but at the same time was terrified to be out there again.

     In the end she knew what she wanted to do, but first had to sleep on it and discuss with Kate some more. And if they did go back to their home, she must even get to see him, even if the chances were slim and not very big. She still held onto hope, like she held onto the camera he gave her.

     "Let me get back to you on that answer, Javi. You have my number, so contact me on that." She eventually talks softly with a lopsided smile, placing a few dollars on the table and leans over to press a soft kiss against his cheek, "It was good seeing you though."

      He watched her get up to leave the cafe with a frown, his dark eyes not leaving her figure until she was out of sight, and waved a farewell to her when she turned around to do so. He sighed to himself, and knew the only thing to do now was wait for her answer. 

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      THE NEXT DAY QUICKLY CAME JUST AS FAST AS THE OTHER ONE ENDED, AND THE NOISE OF THE SUBWAY OUTSIDE OF HER WINDOW WOKE THE GIRL UP FROM HER SLEEP. Charlie was now sat up in her bed still, her all over the place in her blue pjs, sheet's tangled in her legs and was looking at her phone that she picked up from the side table hearing it pin with a new notification.

      Her lockscreen was an old photo of her and the blonde male from her childhood posed in a picture together, and her homescreen was a group photo of her, Kate, and their old deceased best friends. Both pictures meaning everything to her, and even had them hanged on the wall above her bed which made them stand out, something that she wanted.

     She licked her bottom lip to wet it a bit, and pressed on the notification Javi sent her. Her stomach twisted seeing the news article of a new tornado that destroyed another neighborhood in Oklahoma, and pressed out of it to close her phone, letting the new sink in properly.

      Her body shifted in her spot on the bed, brown eyes flickering to the photo of her and her blonde sweetheart when they were children, his green eyes staring right into her ones. She swallowed the lump in her throat wondering what he looked like now grown up, and if he was still the one whom she knew everything about.

       Now moving her attention to the other photo of her friends and Kate, she felt a bittersweet smile appear on her face looking at the one happy family they had, now down to three. If anything, she needed to do this for them, and finish what they started, as she owned them that and much more. She couldn't save them, but she can save all the other innocent people from the storms.

     "So are we doing this, Bear?"

       A familiar voice spoke from behind her, causing Charlie to snap her head around quickly to see Kate leaning against the door, dressed clothes that she would usual wear for chases, "Whatever you decided, I'm there with you."

      The brunette just stared at her sister with a conflicted expression, shuffling more off her bed so she sat down on the edge of it, and let her legs dangle off the side, "I know, Kat. And I really do appreciate that." She breathed out in a whisper, gaze focused on the section of the room where her chasing gear was hung up.

     "He might be there too, you know?" Kate reminds her younger twin softly, head motioning to the childhood picture of Charlie and the blonde haired boy, "And I know that will probably be a shit show seeing him again, but it also could be a good thing. We go for a week and see what happens. And if at any stage you wanna come back here, we leave straight away. Alright?"

     Charlie's hair covered her entire face for a few seconds, it falling over everywhere until she nodded her head at Kate's words, and lifted her head up to smile widely, "Alright, deal." She agreed, hand coming out to high-five her sisters in between them, "Back to Oklahoma it is then."

       And so this is where it brought the sisters next. They were sat inside Javis' truck riding along the familiar roads of their home country, Oklahoma and it all felt sereal for Charlie, who was lucky enough to be up front in the passengers seat, while Kate was in the back getting their equipment prepared.

      She was wearing a grey coat that just reached her elbows, the button undown to reveal the same colour shirt underneath, and the coat was tied in a bow to meet in her stomach both ways. She had a few beaded bracelets around her wrist, necklace hanging out on display, cargo pants on and black boots that reached her middle calf, all while her hair was done in two braids.

      Her eyes scan over the beautiful scenery outside of the window, heart feeling full getting to see it all again after so long. The only thing that made her tense however, was the bridge that she and Kate lost everything at, and glanced away when they past that, to instead focus on the smiling Javi beside her driving.

     "Nice upgrade from the old van, right?" He was the first one to speak breaking the silence between the trio, as his fingers motion to all the gadgets around them while still keeping his eyes on the road, getting closer to the gas station where the team was supposed to meet up.

      Kate and Charlie share a look with each other, the latter looking more amused as she sent Javi a lopsided grin, "Oh yeah, it definitely is." She agreed leaning back into the chair, and tapped the laptop screen curiously seeing it changing to different data's, "Everything is so cool in here. How are you paying for all this?"

      "Got investors, you know. Storms are getting more erratic, a lot of new housing developments going up," He both answered and began to explain, which had Char raising her brows interested, "so the developers, they want full-time weather data. So, anything a new building goes up, I want a StormPAR radar right there letting the people know exactly what the storm's gonna do. I'm telling you guys, I really feel like we're gonna change the game."

     Charlie beamed at him with a wide grin that showed her teeth, and sent the same one to her sister, who had a similar expression on her face. They all shared a smile after that, the music from the radio creating a smoothing sound in the background just as Javi was turning into the gas station, and pulling up to a steady stop where a lot more people and vehicles were.

     "Oh, wow. There's a lot of people here." Charlie mumbled to herself and Kate once they were walking on the ground, the girl having latched onto her sisters arm who smiled knowingly at her, and patted her hand gently, "I didn't think this many would be into chasing tornados."

    "You'd be surprised, Char. Just wait till people find out you two are here." Javi nudged the said girl's side playfully, walking on her other side and he chuckled amused seeing her flushing in the cheek shyly, "Come on, my group is this way." He added pointing to the similar cars they arrived in near the fuel pumps.

     Once they had gotten closer to the group of unifformed males, Javi stepped forward a bit as the trio came to a stop in front, "Bring it in, team." He orders and they listen, all coming together to look at the new arrivals, "Alright. You guys have all heard me talk about Charlie, and Kate. How on one has better instincts."

      His dark eyes land on Charlie who stood in between them both, a fond grin appearing as she perked up meeting his stare, "She's the smartest person I know. And she's the best, they both are." He talked about Charlie who smiled sheepishly, "And you will never work with a more talented team then this one. We got PhDs from NASA, FEMA, NOAA, NWS."

     "Oh, you've got the whole alphabet." Kate commented with a hum of amusement, making her sister gently nudge her side in a scolding way, and Kate just shrugs her shoulders having an innocent smile.

     "Only the best. Expect for Scott, my partner here." Javi goes up to the tall male wearing sunglasses, "He went to MIT instead of Muskogee State. But, uh, he makes up for it," He places a firm hand on Scott's shoulder, and shakes him around a bit talking to the sisters, "with his beautiful, amazing personality."

      Scott gave the two girls a forced grin that showed his teeth, and only Charlie sent a toothy smile back from her spot still in front, while Kate just deadpanned at him not impressed.

      "Well, the sisters are only giving us a week, but while we have her," Javi made an excited hollowering noise, a static expression across him as he paced back and forth talking. "it's gonna be the wildest tornado week you've ever seen, fellas."

     "Yeah, and everybody with a $10 weather app knows it." Scott now speaks up looking over the crowd of people around them, and glanced back to the sisters with Javi seriously, "We got to stay ahead of this circus."

     Charlie was going to open her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud song that was playing from somewhere, and the incoming vehicle's driving towards the fuel station. Her head peeked over Kate's shoulders, hearing the song clearer now and she instantly recognized what it was, as she use to listen to it daily.

     The crowd started going crazy for some reason when the main truck in front pulled in, and her gaze narrowed down on the metal bull symbol placed on the front of the old red truck. She moved out more from behind her sister as the vehicles got closer, and felt Javi come up on her other side watching the scene.

     Someone poked their head out of the truck slowly passing them, and the male held a massie camera that was trained on the group, "Hey, StormPAR. We're live on Youtube. Say something." He tells them in a funny voice, and it gained a few rude comments back.

     However, Charlie wasn't bothered by the camera nor what was happening around her, as she was focused on the figure in the drivers seat, wondering who was behind the wheel. All she could see was a red flannel on a person's back, and nothing else since the one in front was blocking her view.

     "Who are they?" Kate's question to the others knocked the girl out of her trance, and moved her attention away from the truck past them now, back onto the group around her waiting for an answer as she too was curious.

     "Chasers out of Arkansas." Javi answered with a sigh, also watching the famous group coming to a stop in the middle of the fuel station, as the people started to gather around the truck, "Pretty sure you know one of them, Char."

     She made a confused noise hearing him say that, and looked to him lost as he pointed to something behind her. She followed where his finger lead, fully turning her body around and instantly felt her stomach drop drastically seeing who it was now appearing out from the drivers seat.

    "No way.... No way--" She breathed out in utter shock that stole her breath away, her heart racing the more she saw him standing on the truck's ledge. Her emotions surged to the surface—relief, joy, and a touch of sadness all mingled together. She had imagined this moment a thousand times, but nothing had prepared her for the reality of it

     If it weren't for Kate's strong grip on her arms, Charlie would of crumbled to the ground ages ago from how weak in the knees she felt, as well as how badly her hands were shaking. She couldn't tear her wide eyes away, it felt like she was a deer in headlights, and the headlights being the blonde haired male.

    "That's Tyler Owens." And when Javi said that name, she knew, she knew that was him. The same kid from her childhood that she's longed to see for as long as she could remember, "He calls himself a Tornado Wrangler." Javi added on rolling his eyes.

     Charlie heard Kate commented something but didn't register it, as her brown eyes found the figure of her childhood sweetheart one more, but this time his sunglass covered gaze was already on her figure from across the yard.

    Her heart leapt even more when his face breaks out into a wide, charming smirk, and he dipped his head a bit, fingers bending the top of his stetson in a greeting of sorts before he turned back around leaving her in a freaking out mess.

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 4687
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :

WAHHA HES HEREEEE FINALLYYYY and now the fun begins 😈 i have so much planned for this couple and im so excited to write it out fr. i can also tell already this is gonna be one of my underrated fics and one of my underrated couples ive written but that's okay cause it won't stop me from writing them ‼️

ALSOO LOOK AT THE MANIP MY GIRL TISHA MADE FOR ME IM SOBBING THEY ARE SO CUTE AGHH my babies fr thank you again bae